Bocoup Is Now Worker-Owned

anyone curious how employee ownership can work for large tech enterprises, a good starting point can be the material made available through the Beyster Institute - <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rady.ucsd.edu&#x2F;why&#x2F;centers&#x2F;beyster&#x2F;index.html" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;rady.ucsd.edu&#x2F;why&#x2F;centers&#x2F;beyster&#x2F;index.html</a><p>The founder built an $8 Billion dollar employee owned company, SAIC - and then allowed it to be carved up once he left having failed to ensure the culture of employee ownership was rooted as firmly with the board of directors as it was with the rank and file employees. I worked there for 12 years and saw firsthand the slide away from the ownership model, and it was instructive for me in my early career years.

Never heard of these guys. Do they do good work?<p>I know of several examples of worker-owned coups where the product is excellent: Cheeseboard pizza in Berkeley, Moog synthesizers, etc.<p>I&#x27;ve always wondered whether this model could extend to cutting edge technology, where the contributions of a few extremely talented individuals could be the decisive factor.<p>That&#x27;s not to say Bocoup is limited by this question, because it could be their work does not require any cutting edge research, but instead is deploying existing stable technologies in an artisan&#x2F;workman&#x2F;guildsman like professional manner--which I think is the sweet spot for worker-owned&#x2F;worker-directed activities.

What are some success stories of coops? I’m thinking United , REI , Winco.<p>I’m curious why aren’t there more and why they generally have mediocre success if not failure

Cool. What do financials&#x2F;shares look like? How does the company grow from just 6-8 people? I&#x27;m curious because this is what I&#x27;ve always wanted to start. I know that worker-owner&#x2F;member orgs can exist at scale as well (Mondragon is one example) but the internals and growth is fascinating to me.

Browsing the barebones site and reading the Code of Conduct, I get the sense that political activism is a higher priority than engineering. There&#x27;s a dedicated BLM page, where they honor George Floyd, but not the woman who was pistol-whipped by Floyd and his crew during an armed robbery, while the woman was home alone with her children.[1] I am aware that this is wrongthink.<p>Americans rejected this worldview in the recent presidential election. While I have no issue with people advocating for their flavor of justice, I can&#x27;t imagine this being the most savvy business decision in the current climate. I certainly would not be interested in hiring or working with an agency for whom caustic ideology appears to be more important than any other concern. Their hostility towards people with my skin color is palpable.<p>[1] <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;graphics&#x2F;2020&#x2F;national&#x2F;george-floyd-america&#x2F;policing&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;graphics&#x2F;2020&#x2F;national&#x2F;george...</a>

Announce your company is worker-owned in a blog posted by a guy whose profile pic shows him in a banana suit. Not the best way to build confidence in the new ownership...