
Hacking Business Models: “This weekend, Monty and I got together for a different kind of hacking session.
“Instead of developing software, we were working on developing a set of rough principles and rules for running a Free Software/Open Source business. We both have a good amount of experience working with various FLOSS projects (like Mozilla, MySQL, PHP, etc.) and FLOSS companies (like eZ Systems, Mozilla, MySQL, Zend, etc.) and hope that we can put this experience to good use. [...]
“Purpose
* Create a sustainable business model that can be adopted and adapted by others.
* Create a fair and democratic company that is owned by the workers.
* Have long-term, trustworthy and meaningful relationships with our staff and customers.
“Principles
* Egalitarian: The belief that all people should be treated equally. This includes equality, non-discrimination and inclusivity.
* Sustainable: We have a long-term view on our business. We watch our profits & spend wisely, we take care of each other, we support the things we depend on.
* Transparent: We communicate in an honest and genuine way. Any information or process that can be made open, will be made open.
* Fun: Create a workplace where people can have fun and want to work.
* Agile: Be flexible, receptive & adaptive, especially when dealing with staff and customers.
“Methods
“Concrete tools for helping us live according to our principles, including:
* Consensus-based decision making.
* Corporate transparency – any information or process that can be made open, should be made open.
* Licensing that helps benefit our company, our staff, our customers, our partners and society at large.
* Profit-sharing with staff, contributors and worthy causes.
* Don’t try to change people. Focus on getting the best from their strengths. Develop ways to work around their weaknesses.
* Prefer to work with people who share our values.
* Work against patents and other legislation that harms individual rights.
“Monty’s amendments
- Subscribe to the Open Source philosophy and support the Open Source community.
- Be a virtual company, networking with others.
- The company or its individual business units should not grow until they are
unmanagable by the chosen methods. If this happens, then the company needs to
be split up or re-organized into largely independent business units.
“Default Employee Rules: [...]”
http://zak.greant.com/hacking-business-models