Exit to Community: A New Option for Startups?

When a startup company takes early investment, typically the expectation is that everyone is working toward one of two “exit” events: selling the company to the investor-owners of a bigger company or selling to stock-market investors in an initial public offering. What if there were a third option, an “exit to community,” in which a startup transitions to ownership by the people who rely on it most?

Those people might be users, workers, customers, participant organizations, or a combination of such stakeholder groups. The mechanism for co-ownership might be a cooperative, a trust, or even crypto-tokens. The community might own the whole company when the process is over, or just a substantial-enough part of it to make a difference. These kinds of outcomes could help prevent the accountability crises that now beset today’s most successful venture-backed startups.

In this participatory webinar, we’ll hear from entrepreneurs, investors, and activists who are working to make exit-to-community a viable option in the startup economy. We will also work together to devise some plausible pathways for how such exits might become a reality.

REGISTER HERE to receive participation details. Registrants will receive a Zoom link before the event. There is no cost to register.