A hopeful sci-fi story in which I invite you to join a network of smart and kind professionals, who support one another both in their work and personally 🧑‍🚀 We want to set up a co-operative sometime within the next 12 months and conquer the world with our kindness within 10 years. What brings us together and guides our efforts is our shared desire for fairness and freedom, and our concern about dependence on big tech oligopolies 👾 That's why we want to support businesses in a transition to free software and European digital services.

The proposal got some initial traction on the fediverse and I feel like we might be off to a good start! So first I wrote a manifesto to explain how I want to work. Then a set of practical principles. Below is my proposal how to apply those principles to get somewhere.

Towards the co-op as good as we are

Future is notoriously difficult to predict, and while very optimistic about our journey together, I'm sure it will take us to places stranger than I can imagine. But since we are such a good company, I'm looking forward to it! With that in mind, it's always good to have a plan that can guide our next steps. Let's just not get too attached to it :-) So here it goes.

🧙 Prologue: The Gathering of the Wise

I'm in the process of gathering many¹ people who are smart and kind, who share my values and who can communicate in written English². Those are really the only requirements. I welcome 🤓 techies 👩‍🎤 artists ✍️ writers 👨‍🏫 teachers 🤑 salespeople 📣 marketers 🕴️ lawyers 🤘 entrepreneurs... maybe even 👹 managers³. The more diversity we have, the better. We gather in the Club⁴.

🌱 Chapter 1: In the Nursery⁵

While we continue to recruit, we need to start exploring who we are, what's out there for us and what do we want. At the moment we are a group of strangers. Before we commit ourselves to build a shared enterprise we need to get to know ourselves as a group and know our environment (market, regulations, policies, competition etc). For this to happen I suggest the following, two-pronged approach.

1. Market research, marketing and sells

The sooner we get profitable, the better. So starting today, try to meet possible clients where they are and ask them how can we provide value to them. Send emails, call them, go to conferences, fairs, trade shows or other industry events and introduce yourself and us as a group. Don't say that we're a company or a co-op, because we're not (yet). You could start with something like this:

Dear {name of person},

Do you worry about {your organisation's} dependence on American digital products?

My name is Tad. I'm a software developer and entrepreneur based in the Netherlands. Like so many in Europe and Canada, I am deeply alarmed by the recent changes in the geopolitical climate. In particular, I worry about our collective dependence on American IT systems and products. That's why, together with more than 20 experienced IT and business professionals from across our continent (and friendly parts of North America), I'm setting up a company to help businesses and organisations strengthen their independence and long-term security.

We specialise in software development, system and network administration, cybersecurity, compliance, data migration, advocacy and IT education . We are still in the early stages of the process, but the work is urgent, so we are already looking for a market match. We want to align our offering with the practical needs of our future clients. We would like to know what value we can add to {your organisation}. Below are some specific questions we would like to ask you.

• Given the current geopolitical climate, what are your concerns about {your organisation's} reliance on American software systems?
• What steps are people in {your organisation} taking to reduce this dependency?
• What are the pain points, difficulties or concerns around this transition?

I'd really appreciate the opportunity to hear from you about these issues, or anything else that's on your mind. Please feel free to book a 15 or 30 minute video call with me at {cal.com link } or suggest another way I can reach you. If you know someone else who might be interested, please forward this email to them.

Thank you so much!

Of course feel free to adapt and translate it to the language you and your addressee can speak. If they respond (even with a "fuck off" or a poop emoji), open a topic so that others know that this is a lead you are following. Ask another member to prepare for, and attend the meeting with you. I'll always be happy to join, but try different people too. After a meeting let us know how it went (in the topic you opened). What went well? What didn't? What did they say?

That way, we will learn about the market, but also about each other. As we learn we can start coming up with specific offers, determined by the demand we discover, and our capabilities as a group. And then we can start advertising our services or products and try to directly sell them to potential customers.

2. Community building

Maybe sales calls are not your thing. That's ok. If you are not busy hustling, get yourself busy building a community. Check out the mutual support group and see if you can help someone. It doesn't even have to be co-op related. Remember that you are now a member of a social club and that people should go first! So if someone is moving to a new place and needs an extra pair of hands to move a couch - be a friend if you can. Or maybe you can give us a lecture or a workshop on something you know? Be constructively creative.

While doing so, try to work and interact with as many people in our group as you can. That way we will get to know each other in the context of actually working together. People have different personalities, so it's good to know with whom you click. As we cooperate, we will build trust and naturally we will discuss our aspirations, experiences and concerns. This will create a fertile ground for the next chapter.

🤝 Chapter 2: The Co-op

We are not there yet and before we move on to this phase of our project, I think we should:

1. have some substantial and stable revenue,
2. feel comfortable working together, and
3. have some clarity on shared future goals.

At present it's difficult and a bit futile to speculate how the co-op will be organized. What I know today, is that I want it to be collectively controlled by us and to foster fairness and freedom. I think in principle we all want the same, and since we are smart and kind, we are going to figure out the details. We shouldn't rush there. I would consider it a success if we get there in 12 months or so. If it takes longer, that's probably also fine.

🚀 Epilogue: The Glorious Ascend

Ok, seriously I have no idea what the future holds for us, but I like to think big while taking measured steps. So here are a few wild ideas in the spirit of optimistic sci-fi. Probably in years to come we will laugh at them, hopefully from a place even better. Please do share your wild dreams too, so I don't make a fool of myself alone 🤣

1. We are a global, well known and respected consultancy, eating the launch of the likes of big four while being fair and square.
2. We are a large software and digital services provider, displacing Microsoft and Google, but impossible to gobble up by vulture capitalists, and forever beloved by our customers.
3. We have a profit sharing network providing financial security and freedom to work or take a break for thousands of members around the world.

Sky is the limit, but it's a vast space, so let's go and find out where we end up!