[tomlue]

I run a bootstrapped cheminformatics company that’s been gaining traction, and I currently own it outright. I’m genuinely interested in a model like you’re describing—something that aligns everyone’s incentives and keeps them at the top of their game, not just waiting to vest or check out once they do.

In my experience, equity alone can become more of a distraction than a motivator. It sometimes encourages people to mark time rather than consistently push the envelope. I’m wondering if a profit-sharing model, possibly combined with some consulting-group best practices, might be more effective at sustaining high performance over the long haul.

If you know of a proven employee-owned approach that doesn’t dilute accountability—and actually ensures teams stay fully engaged—I’d love to explore it. My goal is to bring in the best talent, focus everyone on building the best product, and reward them in a way that keeps us all hungry for continued success.

[righthand]

I don’t have a model specifically but companies like “Bob’s Red Mill” and “King Arthur” are employee owned and rather succesful. Though those are not tech companies I can’t imagine the base model being drastically different when adapted.

[genewitch]

Theres at least two sporting good store is employee run and for some reason my brain can't remember the name (it insists its DEI)

But https://www.nceo.org/research/employee-ownership-100

There's a lot. I didn't know brookshires was a cooperative

[vonmoltke]

> Theres at least two sporting good store is employee run and for some reason my brain can't remember the name (it insists its DEI)

It's REI, and it's actually a consumer co-op owned by its members, not employee-owned.

[genewitch]

oh, off by a bit, then. Thanks.

[smnscu]

Here's a potential starting point: https://tech-coops.xyz/

Fairly often you see service-focused small companies (i.e. agencies) being run as coops, e.g. my friend's NZ .NET shop http://iontech.nz/