Lab10 Collective - Constitution¶
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This contains a draft of an English version.
#35 contains a link to a more recent German version, intended to become the legal basis.
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Introduction¶
We live most likely in the best possible times if we look at typical indicators for human prosperity and still there is quite some unrest among the western economies. Especially in Europe, where we have a broad middle class which was formed out of the rubble of secound world war and the limiting political and economical structures introduced by the Americans. We all look with great expectations towards the future if every day is better than the previous, but now after some decades of sideways development, the shift of wealth back to the rich and economical turmoil on finacial markets, the disappointment among the middle class is giving way to increased nationalism and fashism of all sorts.
Stopping this dangerous trend, which likely leads to the decline of Europe as an economic powerhouse, we have to focus on rapid innovation in combination with a strengthening of p2p interaction. The current Neoliberal doctrine leads to ever bigger corporations and power concentration and in the hands of a few. Corporations in that position exploit any kind of cheep labour and tax loophole they can find and countries and states around the globe can not serve the general public. Probably one of the most striking examples for this is California - the most valuable and globally active companies are situated there and still the state has so little tax money that they have difficulties fullfilling their public responsibility and pay wages for their employees.
So far the European Union has not done a very good job and that is likely also connected to the unwillingness of countries to send their best politicians leading a way towards a unified economical, military and diplomatic policy. Currently the EU liberalization efforts of various markets mainly support the concentration of power, and finally the hand over to American and Asian companies. Now that we have reintroduced boarder controlls and some countries speculate about leaving the Euro it is almost on the level where we started.
With all this limitations in mind we propose a very different structure, which does not depend on the Neoliberal doctrine and can handle the complexities of European national structures and regulations in a far better way. We furthermore believe in a future of zero-marginal cost for many goods and an automation promoted by information technology on a scale unseen before. We are on a brink of a new economical system, where trade is a mixture of free and payed goods and regular work will be highly automated and most jobs will be created in the automation industry, e.g. autonomous cars, software agents or artificial intelligence.
We need to break the pattern of bigger is better on several levels:
- Innovation: Some people believe that big corporations are innovation machines, but that is generally not true. The best innovations come from small teams capable to think out of the box and not beeing bothered with day to day business. What we need to create is an organizational structure that is attractive for the best brains on the planet.
- Innovation Finance: Good people need good tools and it is most anoying if you have an idea but the only thing that limits you are the finances. Consequetly only faily big companies - e.g. Google - can run their own labs and in parallel finance universities. Because hardware development is much more expensive, we will focus mainly on software projects, where finances are far less critical and many tools are available for free. If there are public grants for innovation projects then we will use them whereever possible.
- General Finance: Amazon, Google, Apple, the American president, ... all of them have found their ways to evade tax, to finance infrastructure, public healthcare or social wellfare. While it typically not illegal what they do, it is still connected to pay for the best tax lawyers and consultants which is only open to the very rich. As we have already seen that innovation is not so much constrained from a financial point of view, but the scaling of spin-off companies will be likely dependant on socially motivated and councious angel and venture capital.
- Education: While in Europe we have a very good base education freely available for everyone, the USA has the best Universities. Consequently the brain drain from Europe and Asia towards USA is enormous and from a personal perspective totaly understandable. The only way to break the financial dominance of American universities, is by using freely available knowledge and courses via the internet. With fixed curricula and the general approach to educate people for company employment, we will not be able to catch up in information technology and entrepreneurship. We see the most radical and promising way through the abolishment of educational staff and switch to self-education based on challenging projects and peer-reviews.
- Motivation: Whoever has worked in a big company knows that it can only work with processes, standards and to follow procedures. Compliance with internal regulation tries to save big companies from harm, tough the biggest harm usualle happens with consent from upper management, e.g. Volkswagen, Enron, Goldman Sachs, ... The bigger the company the more harmfull it can be to your own carreer if you decide autonomously and with full responsibility. Over time this kills creativity and motivation. We will set up many small scale organization were we work on purposefull and challenging projects allowing teams full autonomy how to solve it.
- Economies of Scale: If you buy more you will get a lower price and it sounds kind of logical. But if we work towards full automation and we switch to total customization, there is no need to get a better price for higher volume, because there is no way to improve productivity by repetition. Purchasing cooperations are another way to tame this problem which is suitable for everything that can not be fully automated.
- Ecological Conciousness: We drink water from Nestle, we eat food producted with Monsanto seeds, we wear Nike trainers, we by Apply products produced by Flextronics, pollute the environment with our poorly utilized gasoline cars, etc. The only thing big corporations care is their revenue and profit. Our pension and insurance funds even force them to look at the most efficient way to exploit others and pay as little taxes as possible. Beside improving general knowledge and transparancy about bad behaviour, we can start with our own behaviour by not buying junk food, overpriced consumer goods and create incentives for environmentally friendly behaviour.
Vision¶
We want to create a project oriented, international active network of lab10 collectives, where members are willing to work on top-notch ideas to make to world a better place by establishing a p2p-economy and create value for themselves, customers, investors and society.
We want to collectivise technical innovation and lead a smooth transition towards an economy of abundance. Ownership will be spread among many people and creating value helps to build a future share in profits, while we also want to establish a new token of exchange as a basic income, helping to promote a fully automated, zero marginal cost economy and with no need to work. Organisations are managed through a consensus driven, non hierarchical and social structure and we will have a special focus on decentralization and privacy related projects.
Vision
We want to establish an economy of abundance with full automation and no need to work, supported with a basic income for people allowing to unleash their creativity.
Mission
Aiming for our vision we need to open technical innovation to everyone and spread company ownership among the people creating value. Also a new token of exchange working as a basic income and the acceptance structure has to be set up.
To assure a continued decentral organization we will set up a consensus driven, non-hierarchical and worker owned cooperative structure that will focus on decentralization and privacy related projects.
Focus¶
Blockchain and decentralization technologies.
Values & Culture¶
Externalities¶
- Privacy of Users: Data is never collected, except with full transparency and awareness to the user in combination with a time limited experiment. Data is always protected and only shown anonynomized. After an experiment the data shall be either deleted or stored offline for future use.
- Cooperation Partners: Because we strive for a p2p-economy we will work towards decentralization and we will not support monopolistic structures slow in value creation, high margin pricing and poor cost efficiency in their persuit to retain their position.
## Internals - Agile Engineering: Agility is key to be successfull and adaptive to changing environments and therefore we will use methods and tools from Scrum and Lean Startup but don't institutionalize them. Spotify has made a nice video explaining this approach.
- Trust: Instead of control we trust each other and there is no reason for fear in case of failure.
- Support: When working on top-notch ideas we need to learn fast by searching the web and support each other in problem resolution. Learning works best if you have to solve the problem yourself, but asking others will be more efficient if you are stuck.
Mission¶
We want to create a scaleable cooperative organizational structure with clear governance and as little hierarchy as possible. Therefore we have named it a collective and it will be incorporated as a cooperative focusing on digital enabled goods and services developed by innovation teams in an self-organizing project culture.
Pillars¶
Open-Innovation - Whatever we do will be cutting edge and we will drive innovation to the highest possible level. Ideas will come from all possible sources and project starts will be ranked in line with our values and available ressouces.
Growth - 50% of profits from projects and lab10 collective initiated companies will be reinvested into the growth of the organization and support of important and beneficial open-source projects.
Invention - Research for new solutions on pressing issues will be supported at Universities, partner organizations and in rare occations done by team members from the collective.
Open-Source - Software is either from the start open-source or will be be made open-source latest after two (2) years from initial product-market fit.
Education - Software engineering (programming, design, UX, etc.) is of paramount importance for a modern economy and therefore we do not leave it to chance and will start our own education program similar or in cooperation with 42.
Open-Organization - Although the collective will be very structured, governed and incentiviced, it will be open to join or leave whenever team members or investors feel obliged to.
Organizational Setup¶
Collective Contributors¶
There are four (4) types of members, creditors and official supporters beside the naturally far bigger network of mutual friends of the lab10 collective.
Active Members¶
Every project team consists of active members that contribute a substantial amount of time for the project. They own shares of the lab10 collective.
Passive Members¶
Members that are currently not contributing a substantial amount of time for a project. They own shares of the lab10 collective.
Advisors¶
They support project teams in various domains with their expertise and do not own shares of the lab10 collective.
Investors¶
In line with the invested capital they receive shares of the lab10 collective. They can be also active as "Advisors", "Creditors" or "Official Supporters".
Creditors¶
If someone is providing capital but does not get shares of the lab10 collective, there will be an annually payed interest for the capital. The interest rate can be predefined or defined by the creditor between 0 and inflation+3%.
Official Supporters¶
They are named and active supporters helping us to follow our vision and reach our goals. They do not own share of the lab10 collective, but might act as donors.
Gender Equality¶
We believe in diversity and therefore every team must have at least 25% active female members, striving for 50% and a maximum of 75% females. It is furthermore advised to be also diverse in culture and age, without being as strict as for gender.
Working Together¶
Great results come from great teams and therefore we do everything to make Active Members as productive as possible. Motivation within a defined but flexible structure is the key towards high productivity. The three main pillars for motivation are highlighted by Daniel Pink in the video: The surprising truth about what motivates us
- Purpose
- Autonomy
- Mastery The way we work together could be described as a kollaborative Anarchy, meaning that there is structure and rules but no hierarchy. Everyone is free to choose the team and project to work in if the future team is willing to work with you and the current team is not left in limbo.
Active members of the lab10 collective are believing in the projects and vision of the organization and follow its "Purpose". The open-organization will give the best possible "Autonomy", combined with the fast realization power of teams. And "Mastery" will be achieved through groups where specialists can improve their skills through exchange - the relevant names are coined by Spotify.
Squad¶
A team is called Squad which is a group of active members with 5 to 12 people and end-to-end responsibility combined with goal oriented autonomy. They either work on a specific project or are part of a bigger project that is connected as a Tribe. Active members of a squad can be set up internationally but the majority should be on premises, to foster exchange and support.
Tribe¶
Before bigger projects are carved out from the lab10 collective as a separate entity there is likely a point where several Squads are working together as a Tribe, following a combined focus. A Tribe consists of 3 to 5 Squads and should not exceed 30 to 40 active members.
Chapter¶
As there is an end-to-end responsibility for every Squad the specialists within certain areas are connected via Chapters and supported by mentors with exceptional experience who apply socratic leadership.
Guild¶
A Guild is a bunch of people with certain interests not constrained to project specific areas. Topics could be "Leadership", "Language XYZ" or "Yoga" and it is open to everyone from the lab10 collective as well as every other interested person. As an Open-Organization we provide the space for Guild Un-Conferences and Meetups.
Allthough we want to grow, we do not want to grow the lab10 collective into bureaucracy and a standard process rich organization. Therefore the maximum size of one lab10 collective should be arround 150 active members. If there is demand for more projects and running projects can not be carved out as separate entities or there is hightend interest of a first project Squad in a different city, then the formation of another lab10 collective should be actively supported.
Various software modules are always within the responsibility of one Squad but if change requests from other Squads can not be implemented due to ressource constraints, then changes can be done by any other Squad and provide a pull request for the changes. If code is not already open-source and visible to everyone, it will be visible and reusable to every active member in every lab10 collective in every city.
Bad Behaviour¶
It is expected that all members are contributing to the success of the lab10 collective and although we will work very openly and deliver outstanding flexibility. Active Members are supposed to do spend their time to help progressing the collective and help earning the profit for every member. If someone is accused that his/her participation is mainly to make a name for him-/herself and run side business activities where the payment is not provided to the collective, the dispute will have to be handled through the dispute resolution process.
- Use of lab10 collective code (not-open-source) and run a side business
- Do consulting and speaking engagement in connection with the main activity of the collective earning more than the base profit share - LCP.
A highest possible verdict could be the revocation of shares without compensation and termination of the membership.
Value, Profit and Interest Distribution¶
Tokens¶
- lab10.coop shares LCS
- lab10.coop profit LCP
- lab10.coop base LCB
- lab10.coop interest LCI
As in every cooperative (a collective is just a form with less hierarchy) the members unite in a purpose and come together because they can achieve something, which would not be possible if they would act alone. For the lab10 collective it is the creation of innovative, cool and crazy stuff that would not be created by big corporations with lots of internal BS-bingo, meetings and politics.
Nevertheless, no one can fight living cost out of thin air and therefore it must be clear that the lab10 collective is clearly oriented towards profit. This profit will be used to reward Active Members, Passive Members and Investors depending on their contribution and number of shares. Furthermore, Creditors will receive the defined interest as long as the solvency of the lab10 collective is not in danger.
Every project will have their own budget, mainly to protect their downside and not affect the overall performance and finance of the coop.
Value creation in form of contribution comes before "rent" for capital. This means that if someone is an Active Member within a Squad, then the value created there will always be rewarded before excess money it provided for "rent".
Profit that exceeds demands from all three parties will be diverted towards investments for new projects and scaling the lab10 collective network. If there is excess money from profits it will be split among the three parties in the same proportion as the first trange.
If only Active Members can be rewarded for their value generation (likely within the first two (2) years) the Investors will be get their "rent" for capital in "Liability Tokens" which can be cashed in as soon as profit exceeds the necessary threshold.
At the end of every year there is usually a distribution of profit. But if an Active Member needs to cash in LCP earlier, than this can be done up to 75% of the total amount at every time. The lab10 collective must make sure that the necessary financial liquidity is always available.
Share Generation¶
We believe that early Active Members and Investors should have an financial incentive compared to less risking contributors in an already established and running lab10 collective.
ICO - 150000 shares every 3 years
Monthly - 1500 shares distributed among all Active Members
Monthly - all Active Members will get LCP in line with their contribution - in average every Active Member will get 2000 lab10.coop profit tokens.
--> Convergence towards 33% shares among (former) Active Members
New ICO's are only viable if new shares can be sold for doubled price as in the previous ICO.
Voting¶
As a collective we highlight the very strong influence through members which is not just expressed through their voting power but also the growing share ownership among members beside investors.
The collectively persued projects are only of value if customers see them as valueable and then they will generate enough profit so that all stakeholder can be satisfied.
Project Pre-Evaluation: Every type of member is invited to pre-evaluate various ideas as well as suggest additional ones. Idea owner develop the idea until its termination or vote for a project start. (consider regular meeting through Hangout sessions)
Project Start: Every Active Member has one vote, plus an optional "I wanna be part of this Squad" vote
Constitutional Change: Every Active Member, Passiv Member and Investor has one vote.
Profit Distribution: 4% interest for Investors (EURIBOR + x%), What open-source project should get 15% of investable profit? What happens with money after 3-5x the average base profit share is payed out? Adjustment of base profit share.
Investments: Investments come typically as unplaned opportunities and as long as there is no cash pool to draw from it should be a democratic decision, if something that comes up should be invested in. To make sure that we do not overspend - only an estimated quarter of the whole year investment can be done at once. Not spend possible investments from previous months add up to the total available amount.
ICO: Every Active Member, Passiv Member and Investor have the right to vote. >50% of votes must be in favor of the proposed ICO. Voting power is in line with everyones shares and is caped at 10%.
Governance¶
Once a year this constitution is put towards discussion for improvements and changes must find a >75% majority among Active Members