Dilution should require a vote from owners.

Would it be helpful if that had been written into the company’s AoI and server software?

Yeah I wouldn’t mind an experienced dev taking over the architecture, but I will proceed myself if that person doesn’t come along. If you were worried about it not being applicable outside the US, stuff like the eligible_1099 field could be converted into a “country_config” object or something like that. I’m already planning on supporting all currencies so it would make sense.

In terms of modularity, I’ll have to think about it some more. I’ll spend some time looking into those projects and consulting about it with the LLM today.

Now about that spreadsheet and reddit post. That’s not just something to consider, that’s a person to contact. I would love to see how their ideas have developed in the past 4 years. I’ll have to grab a burner today. Thank you!

To the office, to fight the corpos!

Why not use existing projects? A combination of my specific design requirements not existing anywhere else and my lack of software architecture experience. My background is in systems and organizational theory, and while I have experience in mathematics related programming, this is my first server architecture. So that being said, I’m certainly open to ideas as long as that doesn’t stop it from working right. I am planning on integrating different tools like messaging, and I’ll certainly use something like Continuwuity for that. It’s just that for the core database design it really needs to have a specific integrated schema, at least that’s my opinion. Like I said I’m open to ideas, my goal is to get the project done.

I’m not familiar with ERPNext but it looks interesting. As you pointed out this is US based, so it looks like I would have to take that into account as well.

In terms of sensitive information, the US does have laws about Personal Identifying Information, so the “Party” table has a corresponding “PartyPii” table with information that isn’t subject to audit and can be deleted. Home address, email, phone, etc. It is also stored encrypted, so while I’m sure I don’t have it all figured out yet, these things are on my radar.

In terms of MVP, I will certainly be testing out front-end funtionality as I build it. Start with a login page that accepts a default user and brings you to a dashboard page. Get the accounting going so you can make Journal Entries, etc. Prettymuch going by the “Core Design” section at the start of the README and testing in chunks. But in terms of actually seeing if it meets it’s intended function, unfortunately that comes down to an actual beta version I think. I will need to host it and invite people to participate with “points” instead of money.

Someone over on beehaw suggested Svelte for front-end mock-up so I’ve been playing around with the tutorial. It’s certainly neat. I should be able to get demo pages going without too much trouble, they just won’t look too special.

And yes, I have begun thinking about the day to day. I think non-management members need to have a pretty significant capability with just a mobile version of the pages, since not everyone has an actual computer. But either way I want the information to flow smoothly through the organization.

Thanks for your input!

Hey thanks for your thoughtful analysis, I didn’t know I needed a gimp suit for business! Sounds like those grocery workers certainly had them on! I don’t know how people are supposed to live like that.

You certainly make a fair point about capping pay. There should probably be a max ratio for the hourly rate (or monthly/yearly as the case may be). Assuming the officers get an hourly rate like everyone else (which is the way I want it to work), you would want that max pay ratio to be defined explicitly. The bonuses are also voted on so if that gets to be too much the voters can knock it down.

I started a public matrix room for the development of the server software. I’m pretty far along on the database schema now and you can even check out the new and improved Articles of Incorporation I drafted, including an analysis of it after I ran it through an LLM for an objective take. Message me if you can’t get it through matrix.

There will also be a set of Bylaws and it’s an open question if max pay ratios and bonus rates should go in there or in the AoI. If it goes in the AoI you have to file an amendment with the state, but the Bylaws are just internal votes.

In terms of the software, I’m going to make it so you can do things like anonymously submit or endorse your boss’s expulsion from the company, then send it to an anonymous vote. Pretty extreme to be sure but I’ve had bosses who deserved it. On the technical side I’m confident in my plan for secret votes and other challenges, but I would certainly welcome any input on it.

https://matrix.to/#%2F!dVwyUzAwiuIflwnpEF%3Amatrix.org%3Fvia=matrix.org

EDIT: And here’s the repo if you’re interested: https://codeberg.org/Brachylophus/Apoidea

Obviously everything is off, we’re falling into tyranny. Anybody wants to take action, look in my post history or PM me.

Thanks for all the great solutions, I’ll be looking into your advice. Like you said it is definitely a massive project for a beginner, I’m going to take it a step at a time, and maybe do a smaller experimental app first to get my bearings. The good thing is I’m not in too much of a rush so I have time to learn.

My current thinking is that the vote is electronic but you get a paper receipt with a bar code or something. Not sure how it will turn out, like many of these apps it’s a whole project in itself

I was thinking lemmy because of the voting structure. Since it’s internal discussion it could be used by the management to gauge sentiment in the company. It wouldn’t be for federation.

You’re probably right about it being too complex though, just not sure if there’s a lightweight option that’s a closer match than discord discourse (does discourse having voting?). Something to consider.

Sorry I know that’s a bit unclear. The “staff roles” and “managers” are roles that the CEO is able to assign to staff through the software. In other words, it’s the mechanism the CEO uses to construct their hierarchy. Same with performance metrics, those are written expectations that would be entered into the system for each person’s role.

Hmmm, doing some research on containers now, and it does seem like the right way to do this. I’m still learning about server architecture but I didn’t mean to imply it had to be a monolith, the key is it having the capabilities I need.

I’m going to look into Docker and see what I can deploy on it. Seems like a good first step.

Thanks

Yes definitely a beginner with anything networking or web design.

Modular is good though, ideally I would like to bring them all together as one package to share as open-source. I don’t know how that would work with permissions for the applications, but I imagine it would be OK with most (foss) licenses.

There are also some things that might need customization. For example, the value of someone’s vote is determined by the equity recorded in the accounting books, so those two applications will need to share information.

In any case you have given me some direction and I appreciate it, thanks.

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Hello Jacob,

Great post, I think it’s important for us to have discussions about actual solutions that we can begin implementing now for the future we want to see, which is why I’m working on a management structure for a new type of worker’s co-op. I think it fits right into the solar punk ideal, or at least I hope it does. More importantly it answers your question.

In your wiki article you mention that hierarchies in the workplace are often abusive, and I wholeheartedly agree. The problem, as I see it, isn’t the hierarchy itself, it’s that the hierarchy was never elected to their positions, so they have no reason to act in the best interest of the workers. Normally a CEO or other officer gets their position through generational wealth or nepotism, or some other corrupt reason. I would like to correct that.

Most co-ops remove the hierarchy entirely, and while that does remove the abuse, it comes at the cost of lowered overall productivity and strategic direction. So instead of removing it, in my co-op the hierarchy component of management is still there, led by a CEO, but that person has to present a business plan to all the worker/owners and be elected in a popular election. I call this Hierarchy by Consent. They are then empowered by the group to enact their business plan.

I posted earlier today on this sub if you want a more detailed explanation, but if you like you can instead head straight for the draft Articles of Association. I also plan to create open-source management software to go with it, so that will be a big project.

Happy to talk more here but you’re also welcome to PM if you want to see more of my project.

Cheers!

Yes, specifically with a hierarchical management structure for productive work. The idea is to put together a standard template for people to use to found these companies.

Are you aware of a comparable template?

EDIT: Just wanted to expand a bit on this. In my research I did come across this document, which is a template for a set of bylaws for a co-op. It has a Board and it does have a President, but the President’s responsibilities are as follows: “preside at board and membership meetings and will exercise and perform such other powers and duties as may be assigned from time to time by the board of directors.”

So it lacks a CEO or any kind of executive officer, and unlike my AoA, it doesn’t mention business plans at all. I have other issues with it, but I did consider it when writing my template.

Hello everyone, I’m brand new here and this seems like the perfect place to introduce myself.

I applied to join your community so that I can learn about secure network programming and perhaps find collaborators for an ongoing project.

The project is a template for an Articles of Association for a new type of worker’s cooperative. Rather than completely removing hierarchy as traditional cooperatives do, in my model the executive leadership is elected based on their business plan.

I believe that the executive at the top of an operational hierarchy should be legitimized through a popular election enfranchising all stakeholders, a concept I call Hierarchy by Consent. I believe this will lead to more productive and equitable companies. You can read a more detailed description on this Beehaw thread I created.

In order for the Articles of Association to be useful to anyone, there needs to be open-source all-in-one management software because these organizations could become quite complex right from the get-go. For example, it will need secure voting systems. I haven’t officially started on the software yet but my first step will be to create a requirements list.

My background is in mechanical engineering and systems, and I’d consider myself to be an intermediate programmer. I’m comfortable with local programming including database and GUI design but I lack experience with networking.

If anyone has any suggestions on what directions I take in my research, I’m all ears!

Thanks, Juniperus