For a few years now, we have been hearing about the approach of a “silver tsunami.” For those unfamiliar with the term, it refers to the demographic phenomenon of an aging population, associated mostly with the large wave of retirement that the baby boomer generation is about to go through. With small businesses employing roughly …
Ownership
Updated Section 1042 Tax Benefits
There is a section of the Internal Revenue Code (IRC) that provides some tax benefits for people who sell their companies to either an ESOP or to a worker cooperative. This blog will explain how 1042 provides tax advantages when selling to a cooperative. If you are thinking of becoming employee-owned or selling your business to …
Thoughts from a new economies’ attorney: patterns that create different kinds of (business) ownership – cooperative capital
In my last post, I talked about how capital looks like in a traditional business. As a recap, traditionally, capital is invested in the business with a goal of extracting profits and controlling how the business is done – the more money an investor (owner or shareholder) puts in the business, (i) the more return …
Thoughts from a new economies’ attorney: patterns that create different kinds of (business) ownership – traditional capital investment
If you are reading this post, chances are you are an innovator, you are looking for guidance on alternative business forms, you run or are part of a mission-driven organization, you are considering adopting democratic governance models in your business or nonprofit, or some combination of those. I have to alert you that this is …
Cuba and Cooperatives (Part 3): Social, Economic, Racial, Gender and Sexual Justice Through Constitutional Reform
Information derives from a lecture by Cuban Criminal Justice and Cooperative Attorney Oldalys Perex Martinez, on January 15, 2020 We’re mainly taught in the U.S. that Cuba is “ruled” by a militaristic, one-party, authoritarian regime (e.g. links intentionally omitted). The on-the-ground perspective in Cuba is quite different; so too are the facts. Cuba’s people democratically …
Cuba and Cooperatives (Part 2): Cooperatives in Cuba, a Love Story (of sorts)
Much of the primary information comes from a lecture by Dr. Jesus Cruz Reyes, on January 13, 2020 in Havana, Cuba. Dr. Cruz Reyes is Cuba’s foremost cooperative economist and is on the faculty of economics at the University of Havana. The Cuban “State Enterprise” is undoubtedly the single largest economic consumer and producer in …
Cuba and Cooperatives (Series): Opening Invitation
Cuba is a study of contrast and contradiction. How does a 950-mile long island of 10M people, situated only 90 miles from the U.S., sustain its people, culture and autonomy while living under the proverbial boot of the most powerful country on earth? And, while promoting a deeply connected civil society that puts racial, sex, …
New Models for #platformcoop Design, Part 5: Reciprocal Ownership
In this series so far, we have analyzed the potential for a sistered for-profit entity and cooperative entity to separately optimize for financing and member-orientation. Since publishing this series, I’ve received some good feedback from readers. Some have asked about additional terms and benefits that could be designed into the TechCo – Cooperative “pre-nuptial” agreement. …
New Models for #platformcoop Design, Part 4: Option B – The TechCo and Co-op Marriage
Click here to read the previous post in the series, Part 3: Option A – The Integrated Tech/Data Cooperative In light of the design and practical challenges that face certain kinds of #platformcoops, we have re-incarnated a traditional private equity strategy that houses different operational functions within separate legal structures. I call this the “TechCo …
New Models for #platformcoop Design, Part 3: Option A – The Integrated Tech/Data Cooperative
In the previous blog post, I used real estate development as an analogy to illustrate a #platformcoop. In this #platformcoop model, the technology architecture is developed, funded, and deployed within the same legal vessel as that which processes, distributes, and monetizes the throughput data. The tech platform is owned by the same stakeholders as the …
