One new set of technologies that might have the potential to make exit to community and community-ownership easier and more transparent can be found within the world of Web3.
One could describe Web3's core idea as enabling ownership on the internet via digital technologies. And this idea has recently led to the invention of digital tech that can simplify community-ownership initiatives. For example, last month, Swiss (yep them again! 😆) crowdfunding platform WeMakeIt has started selling its entire business to its community (so far, over 5,000 people bought in). This is only possible due to new legislation that enables businesses in Switzerland to sell shares of a business in digital format. WeMakeIt is therefore now selling its company shares via tradable digital tokens on the blockchain, without any bank, intermediary, or actual signatures needed. And no, you don't need a crypto wallet or any of this to participate 😉.
Once an Exit to Community is done, governance issues come into play. How can community owners take part in decision-making, what about profit-sharing... and all that stuff. Here Web3 offers the so-called DAOs (Decentralized Autonomous organizations). DAOs essentially offer a new internet-based operating system for organizations that are collectively owned and managed by their members. Everything runs transparently on blockchain-enabled digital tokens. DAOs have built-in treasuries that no one has the authority to access without the approval of the community and decisions are governed by proposals and voting to ensure everyone in the organization has a voice.
The main benefits of DAOs are transparency and decentralization. As everything works via digital tokens, every token owner, proposal, vote and outcome.... - basically all the governance records - are stored on the blockchain which is readable or accessible by anyone. This creates trust and enables a more seamless and much faster, decentralized decision-making. It also allows for an easier way to distribute profits or ownership among the community by using so-called token airdrops (which can be a form of Exit to Community if it's linked to ownership). A DAO can easily airdrop digital tokens to those who have built or used its services or products, even with nuanced distribution rules (e.g. the earliest and most active customers receive more).
As DAOs still face quite some hurdles (e.g. legality, no intrinsic purpose-driven model, the tech-bros culture), and cooperatives need better, more modern organizational tools, a model that blends the two might be an interesting solution. For example, U.S.-based Opolis is a digital employment cooperative that helps freelancers, solopreneurs and gig workers access typical employment benefits (payroll, healthcare, retirement insurance...). Last year, the cooperative launched a DAO and its own $WORK token to its employees and members to manage governance and incentives. The company still runs like a cooperative (i.e. 1 vote per member) but now also leverages web3 tech for its community-owned business.
"At the end of the day, the best framework for an organization may not be a choice between a cooperative or DAO model, but a blend of both. [...]
By learning what we can from the past, and looking forward to the future, We can create communities that embody the best of both worlds: effective, principled, well-resourced organizations working to build a more equitable, democratic, and collectively-owned future." - Austin Robey
If you are eager to dive deeper into these topics, we highly recommend you to check out these sources:
