It is a few days before valentine's day in 2025. Mark Miller has just turned 16 and wants to earn some money so he can take his valentine to the movies. What are his options, at 16 with no prior work experience ? Maybe, one of the many unicornish "Uber-for-X" startups are offering him the ability to do some task, in return keeping a percentage of <i>his</i> earnings as they normally do today (normally 20-30%). Maybe he gets to deliver groceries, or maybe he runs an errand for his neighbor. It is good that he is able to earn, but his valentine is now getting a gift 20% cheaper. He is not able to buy her popcorn at the movie because the "Uber-for-X" startup has mooched off his 20% earnings, as a result Mark is not getting any smooches from his valentine!<p>Wait a minute - that is not fair! He needs to be able to keep 100% of his earnings, plain and simple. Every human on this planet should be able to say, "I am available for work today, this is what I can do and these are my terms and there is <i>my</i> hard work involved -- if you like, then ask for my service, and I will pay the platform how I see fit". For the simple act of connecting me with a customer who is willing to pay me for <i>my</i> hard work, a 20% commission paid to an app is not ok with me and there need to be better, more worker-focused alternatives available which still connect me with a global marketplace but let <i>me</i> dictate the terms for <i>my</i> hard work.<p>This is the manifesto for this enterprise - empowering humans to be their own absolute boss and re-setting the terms in their favor. The app is the servant, and the worker is the master.<p>An initial version of this vision, "Runnr", is available on both iOS and Android, built with a lot of love. It does almost everything which a typical on-demand app can do and more. The focus is very narrow right now - on students only for jobs in their own neighborhood in a limited geographical area. Check out http://www.runnr.ca