Why VCs Will Never Give Us Money (And We're Okay With That)

Company  Co-Ops 

Less than 1% of startups secure venture capital funding. At Limeleaf, we're part of that 99% – but by choice.

Since founding our company, a few people have asked how we plan to fund product development. Most assume we'll try to raise VC money. Today, we'll explain why we aren’t taking that approach and what we’re doing instead.

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Step 0 of Starting a Tech Worker Co-Op: Define Your Goals

Company  Co-Ops 

Worker cooperatives ("co-ops") are a growing alternative to traditional hierarchical tech company structures, which often rely on venture capital funding. Unlike conventional startups that take VC money in exchange for an equity stake, co-ops prioritize worker ownership, democratic decision-making, and profit sharing and strive to embody the 7 Cooperative Principles established by the International Co-operative Alliance.

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Founding Limeleaf: Part 3, Finding Support in the Cooperative Community

Company  Co-Ops 

When we started Limeleaf, we wanted to do things differently. We wanted to create a democratically managed business where every worker had a voice and a stake in the company's success. In short, we wanted to start a worker cooperative (even though we don’t call ourselves that, for reasons we covered in Part 1).

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Founding Limeleaf: Part 2, Writing Our Operating Agreement

Company  Co-Ops 

In this second installment of our series on starting a tech company as a cooperative business, we’ll discuss how we wrote our Operating Agreement (OA).

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Why Limeleaf Operates as a Co-Op

Company  Co-Ops 

Cooperatives have gotten a bad rap over the years. They’ve been portrayed as impractical, plagued by decision paralysis, and insufferably hippy-dippy.

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Worker Ownership Is Resistance

Co-ops 

This a dark day for many of us in the United States. A government that we believe will undermine the fundamental values of our country and harm vulnerable citizens has assumed power. While no one can predict the future, if their stated plans are any indication, we are in for a tumultuous four years that could erase over a century of progress for working people.

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