Posted by finn lewis on November 22, 2010 at 10:45am
Hey stefanwray.
We're Ecobee, (http://www.ecobee.org) a small UK based Co-operative Drupal shop. We are a company limited by guarantee and all employees are directors. I guess our legal setup will be of less relevance to you if you're based in the US, but open and democratic governance of the company is the most important aspect for us, along with trying to do business with other co-operatives wherever possible.
What sort of model are you looking for? I'd be happy to share our experiences.
At first glance, forming a co-op of freelancers might seem like a contradiction in
terms. After all, isn’t the whole idea of being a freelancer to be independent, your own
boss, a lone wolf wandering the range?
Many of us who have been employees, then freelancers, then worker-owners of a co-op have found the worker co-op model to offer the best of both worlds. You still get much of the self-determination of being your own boss—but you don’t have to do it all alone. Here are some of the advantages that a freelancer may find in being a worker-owner of a co-op:
Someone to back you up
So much of the time, freelancing is feast-or-famine. During the crunch times, or just vacation time, you have teammates that also know the client and can step in for you—as a fellow worker-owner, they can garner the same authority and respect that you do.
Provide 24/7 coverage without taking years off of your life
Those of us in high-availability work that can have a call coming in any time of the day or night can share this burden. For those of us looking to start a family or go back to school, this can make a critical lifestyle difference. And since a co-op is democratic, everyone can be doing their fair share of the late-night duty, instead of just one or two lower-rung people getting stuck with it all of the time.
Leverage complementary skills
Over time, we all tend to become specialists—perhaps too much so. A shift in technology or industry can wipe out a niche carefully cultivated over many years. By being part of a team, we are engaged with co- workers with distinct but related strengths, and the natural cross-pollination of knowledge and ability enriches everyone. Unlike traditional companies, the shared-fate structure of a worker co-op incentivizes the sharing of skills between professionals who might otherwise see each other as competitors.
Economy of scale in overhead and administration, more options in facilities
and support systems
Prepared by members of the Network of American Tech Worker
Cooperatives (NATWC) for members of Freelancers Union
Edited by Brent Emerson and Jim Johnson
Written by Jim Johnson, Brent Emerson, and indicated story authors
Designed by Ben Mauer and David Eads
Thanks to Andrew McLeod and Joe Marraffino for their review and
comments
Version 1.0 (6 March 2009)
Posted by Benji Mauer on January 17, 2011 at 7:10pm
Hey Niccolo, thanks for posting the guide. I'm a member of Quilted (http://quilted.coop) and psyched to talk more about this topic if you or anybody on this thread has any specific questions.
Check out the 'resources' wiki page for this group: http://groups.drupal.org/node/85584. It contains a list of affiliated resources, drupal-oriented worker cooperatives, and a section for support/solidarity organizations that could use some more info.
Good to see some folks from ecobee & quilted on this post! Both of your co-ops were models for organizing our own recent upstart! Possibly we could share some knowledge and our legal documents/processes to help others who are wanting to start tech worker co-ops? We actually used an LLC-based model, which is a bit unusual but not uncommon.
Also, if anyone is interested in starting one in the state of Ohio - I can point you towards a ton of resources and great people. We have the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, the Ohio Commonwealth RLF (an rlf just for worker-coops and ESOPs) and more.
But we at Agaric are a worker cooperative, and in addition to Quilted above we can be found with several other Drupal shops that are part of the broader Tech Co-Op Network.
Comments
Not soley Drupal, but yes..
I believe Openflows is a Co-op. At least one member (EricG) is involved in the Drupal community, and works in Drupal.
http://www.openflows.org/
Drupalist Cooperatavistas
I believed http://Quilted.coop is a worker coop and Chicago Tech Coop too.. both do Drupal
there is also http://software.coop and http://gcoop.coop
We're a Drupal co-op
Hey stefanwray.
We're Ecobee, (http://www.ecobee.org) a small UK based Co-operative Drupal shop. We are a company limited by guarantee and all employees are directors. I guess our legal setup will be of less relevance to you if you're based in the US, but open and democratic governance of the company is the most important aspect for us, along with trying to do business with other co-operatives wherever possible.
What sort of model are you looking for? I'd be happy to share our experiences.
Here's an interesting write-up...
Here's an interesting write-up...
http://www.vintagedigital.net/content/setting-software-co-op
Tech Coop Howto Guide for Freelancers
http://www.scribd.com/doc/26587085/Tech-Coop-How-To
At first glance, forming a co-op of freelancers might seem like a contradiction in
terms. After all, isn’t the whole idea of being a freelancer to be independent, your own
boss, a lone wolf wandering the range?
Many of us who have been employees, then freelancers, then worker-owners of a co-op have found the worker co-op model to offer the best of both worlds. You still get much of the self-determination of being your own boss—but you don’t have to do it all alone. Here are some of the advantages that a freelancer may find in being a worker-owner of a co-op:
Someone to back you up
So much of the time, freelancing is feast-or-famine. During the crunch times, or just vacation time, you have teammates that also know the client and can step in for you—as a fellow worker-owner, they can garner the same authority and respect that you do.
Provide 24/7 coverage without taking years off of your life
Those of us in high-availability work that can have a call coming in any time of the day or night can share this burden. For those of us looking to start a family or go back to school, this can make a critical lifestyle difference. And since a co-op is democratic, everyone can be doing their fair share of the late-night duty, instead of just one or two lower-rung people getting stuck with it all of the time.
Leverage complementary skills
Over time, we all tend to become specialists—perhaps too much so. A shift in technology or industry can wipe out a niche carefully cultivated over many years. By being part of a team, we are engaged with co- workers with distinct but related strengths, and the natural cross-pollination of knowledge and ability enriches everyone. Unlike traditional companies, the shared-fate structure of a worker co-op incentivizes the sharing of skills between professionals who might otherwise see each other as competitors.
Economy of scale in overhead and administration, more options in facilities
and support systems
Prepared by members of the Network of American Tech Worker
Cooperatives (NATWC) for members of Freelancers Union
Edited by Brent Emerson and Jim Johnson
Written by Jim Johnson, Brent Emerson, and indicated story authors
Designed by Ben Mauer and David Eads
Thanks to Andrew McLeod and Joe Marraffino for their review and
comments
Version 1.0 (6 March 2009)
Thank for posting Tech Coop Guide
Hey Niccolo, thanks for posting the guide. I'm a member of Quilted (http://quilted.coop) and psyched to talk more about this topic if you or anybody on this thread has any specific questions.
Thanks!
Ben
Check out the wiki for this group!
Check out the 'resources' wiki page for this group: http://groups.drupal.org/node/85584. It contains a list of affiliated resources, drupal-oriented worker cooperatives, and a section for support/solidarity organizations that could use some more info.
Good to see some folks from ecobee & quilted on this post! Both of your co-ops were models for organizing our own recent upstart! Possibly we could share some knowledge and our legal documents/processes to help others who are wanting to start tech worker co-ops? We actually used an LLC-based model, which is a bit unusual but not uncommon.
Also, if anyone is interested in starting one in the state of Ohio - I can point you towards a ton of resources and great people. We have the Ohio Employee Ownership Center, the Ohio Commonwealth RLF (an rlf just for worker-coops and ESOPs) and more.
video and other resources
some more resources, filmed and gathered by us
http://permaculture.tv/?s=worker+coop
also, i like http://american.coop and http://news.workercooperatives.com
gcoop
Hello stefanwray,
I don't know if you are interested today, but if you need something, you can reach us.
We are at Buenos Aires, Argentina. We work with drupal and sugarcrm projects.
Our goal is to work only with free software projects.
cheers!
--
Luciano Rossi
gcoop.coop
Missed this thread
But we at Agaric are a worker cooperative, and in addition to Quilted above we can be found with several other Drupal shops that are part of the broader Tech Co-Op Network.
benjamin, agaric