The Ownership Economy

This week we sit down with Allison Lingane, founder of Ownership Capital Lab, a nonprofit singularly focused on growing investment capital for employee ownership. Allison, with nearly 15 years in the employee ownership space, including co-founding Project Equity, shares her journey from creating scalable paths to opportunity through education to realizing the critical need for a robust capital market for shared ownership.This episode dives into how employee ownership, often considered the "best kept secret," can move beyond its current silos and into the mainstream. Allison discusses the core thesis of Project Equity—making employee ownership normal and self-generating—and how this led her to establish Ownership Capital Lab to specifically address the challenge of attracting capital. With a goal to inject an additional billion dollars of capital into the space, Allison explains the current landscape where dedicated employee ownership funds, totaling around 27-30 with $500 million in assets under management, are still largely "emerging managers".Listeners will gain insight into:The innovative approach of newer funds that attract mainstream business owners with acquisition offers rather than solely employee ownership proposals, making employee ownership competitive with private equity buyouts.The impressive 12-15% IRR return profiles of private credit employee ownership funds, which are designed to outperform mainstream private credit with lower default rates.The critical need for senior debt that can match the speed of private credit to ensure employee ownership funds can compete effectively.The importance of the proposed American Ownership and Resilience Act, which aims to provide specialized employee ownership funds with access to matching low-cost government capital, positioning employee ownership as a vital tool for retaining American commerce.Ownership Capital Lab's work in developing the first-ever roadmap for employee ownership capital growth and fostering connections and education among investors and funds.The pervasive misconception among institutional investors, like some foundation endowment committees, that companies opting for employee ownership are "duds," highlighting the ongoing need for broad education.Allison will be elaborating on these crucial topics for scaling employee ownership at a summit in New York on October 7th. Don't miss this insightful conversation on how to unlock the full potential of employee ownership through strategic capital investment and education. You can learn more about Allison's work at ownershipcapital.capital.Get your ticket to the summit to see Alison speak here: https://www.ownershipeconomy.com/registration

This week, Rene Reinsberg, co-founder and CEO of Celo and Self joins us. Rene's early journey was shaped by his small business owner parents, helping him establish an early entrepreneurial drive consistently focused on empowering individuals and "the small guy". This led to founding an early machine learning/AI company sold to GoDaddy that helped small businesses compete online.Rene's pivotal move into crypto in 2016-2017 stemmed from realizing Ethereum would enable programmable money and user-driven ownership. This vision inspired Celo, a protocol aiming to rewire economic systems using stablecoins, micropayments, and verifiable identity to foster positive-sum wealth for users, particularly in economies with high inflation. A key learning is Celo's unique approach to wealth creation and its strategic evolution through a governance-led decision to transition to an Ethereum Layer 2, enhancing economic efficiency, user adoption, and integrating with Ethereum's robust ecosystem.Finally, Rene introduces Self, his latest venture, empowering individuals with control over their data and privacy, breaking "walled gardens". Self addresses privacy-preserving identity by leveraging biometric passport chips and zero-knowledge proofs to verify unique humanness without revealing personal data. The transformative potential of privacy-preserving digital identity with Self is a crucial takeaway, offering solutions for civil resistance in airdrops, enhanced decentralized governance, and verifying real humans for AI search tools, including a recent integration with Google. This technology also offers a path toward universal basic access to compute by distinguishing humans from bots in the AI era.

Join Jason Wiener, founder of Jason Wiener PC, a law firm dedicated to alternative ownership structures, as he dives into innovative ownership models. He discusses the principles of 'full spectrum ownership design' and the importance of aligning business goals with community needs. Jason explores alternative financing methods like revenue sharing notes that support cooperative enterprises while maintaining sustainability. With insights into succession planning, he emphasizes the value of proactive strategies in ensuring equitable transitions for owners.

In this episode of The Ownership Economy podcast, a discussion is held with Dr. Bill Castellano, Director of the Rutgers Institute for the Study of Employee Ownership and Profit Sharing. Dr. Castellano's extensive background, including over two decades on Wall Street in strategic HR management and his academic role, is explored, noting his early exposure to employee ownership through an ESOP and equity compensation.The empirical and scientific evidence supporting the value of employee ownership is a central theme. Benefits such as enhanced employee engagement, increased productivity, higher customer satisfaction, and improved business survivability, even during economic downturns, are discussed. The role of employee ownership in addressing wealth inequality and increasing retirement savings for a broad range of employees, including low-to-moderate income workers and people of color, is emphasized, often provided as an additional benefit.Various forms of employee ownership, including equity compensation, worker cooperatives, ESOPs, and Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs), are differentiated. Significant tax incentives associated with ESOPs (e.g., 1042 capital gains relief for C-corps, federal tax exemption for S-corps) and EOTs are detailed.Despite these compelling benefits, barriers to widespread adoption are examined. These include a lack of awareness among business owners regarding employee ownership as a succession strategy, the perceived complexity of regulated programs, and difficulties in securing financing for these transactions. Policy initiatives, such as proposed bills for guaranteed loans, are presented as potential solutions. While significant growth has been observed in EOTs, it is noted that the overall percentage of the workforce participating in employee ownership programs has remained largely stagnant over 15 years.Finally, the intersection of employee ownership with the future of work and artificial intelligence is explored. Employee ownership is presented as a crucial model for navigating the transformation brought by AI and automation, fostering employee engagement and ensuring successful business adaptation rather than widespread job elimination. The institute's mission, including its research, conferences, and policy analysis, is highlighted, with resources available at ownership.edu.Get your ticket to this year's summit here: www.ownershipeconomy.com/registration

This week, we chat with Rowland Hobbes, Founder and CEO of Stake. Rowland, who will be speaking on the housing track at the upcoming Ownership Economy Summit 2025, offers insights into how to use modern fintech to accelerate renter wealth building and give more people upside in ownership through renting.In this episode, we cover:The pivotal moment Stake's strategy was shifted from offering renters equity to focusing on immediate cash back will be discussed. It will be revealed how direct feedback from renters indicated that for many, "it's the money, stupid"—implying that current financial relief for essentials like groceries, medicine, and childcare was considered far more critical than future equity. Initially, Stake had explored giving equity to renters, envisioning ownership through their residence, but this approach did not resonate with renters in market testing, partly due to a lack of trust that the equity would materialize and a desire for immediate utility.How an innovative, mutually beneficial business model was developed by Stake, encouraging landlords to fund cash back for renters, will be explained. Drawing inspiration from loyalty programs and the Costco membership model, it will be shown how properties can achieve better performance, with delinquencies reduced by 44% and renewal rates increased by 15%, through investing in their renters' financial well-being. This approach converts existing landlord spend, such as "one month free" offers, into cash back for renters, proving more effective than negative behavioral incentives like late fees.The broader vision for "tenant equity vehicles" and embedded financial services that empower renters beyond just paying rent will be presented. How renters are helped by Stake to build credit, save money, and access fair banking will be discovered, fostering a movement towards institutionalized financial savings for renters, akin to 401ks or 529s. The evolution of tenant equity vehicles, including profit sharing in the form of cash back, will be detailed, highlighting collaborations with entities like Enterprise Community Partners and government initiatives in Colorado.Invaluable lessons for anyone interested in mission-driven ventures, financial innovation, and addressing systemic wealth gaps are offered in this conversation.Rowland Hobbes will be speaking at the Ownership Economy Summit in New York on October 7th, 2025! Grab your ticket here, 20% listener discount is active until the end of August: https://www.ownershipeconomy.com/registration

Gigi Danziger, co-founder of Eutopia Holdings, and Albert Wenger, partner at Union Square Ventures, dive into innovative steward ownership models aimed at reversing extractive capital trends. They discuss diverse projects in the Hudson Valley, like a basic income pilot and sustainable farms, emphasizing community engagement and environmental sustainability. The duo highlights challenges such as community distrust while envisioning a future where ownership evolves with AI to ensure equitable wealth distribution, aiming for a world where everyone can thrive.

Join Ben Fielding, the visionary founder and CEO of Gensyn, as he delves into the world of decentralized AI. He shares his journey from deep learning research to tackling the monopolization of compute resources. Learn how Gensyn's Verde system ensures trust in distributed networks, improving the reliability of machine learning. Discover their ambitions for open protocols reminiscent of the early internet, aimed at democratizing AI capabilities and fostering collaboration across the tech landscape.

In Episode 081 of The Ownership Economy Podcast, we welcome John Abrams, pioneering founder of South Mountain Company, a 40-person architecture and building worker co-op. John shares his journey from inadvertently starting his business in 1973 to converting it into a worker co-op in 1987, where every member-owner has one share and one vote after a unique 5-year tenure. He discusses how this model offers a positive succession story for founders, how this contrasts with traditional business exits that often leave founders with broken hearts, and employees feeling let down. John also breaks down the main approaches—Worker Co-ops, ESOPs, and Employee Ownership Trusts (EOTs)—and advises founders to start now in their transition planning. John Abrams will be sharing his invaluable expertise and case studies at the Ownership Economy Summit on October 7th in New York, for founders looking to build cooperatives or shared ownership enterprises. Grab your tickets to the summit here at the lowest price before they go on 7/31:https://www.ownershipeconomy.com/registration

Is Crypto Finally Becoming... "Boring"? A Deep Dive into Mainstream Adoption with Coin Fund's DavidJoin us for a captivating conversation with David, Managing Partner and Head of Investments at Coin Fund, as he shares his unique journey from Venrock and consumer internet startups to the forefront of the crypto space. With nearly a decade in the industry, David believes we're on the cusp of a "boring moment" for crypto – and that's a good thing!In this episode, we unpack:The "Road to Boring": Discover why the widespread adoption of stablecoins is the key indicator of crypto's maturity, enabling the movement of fiat-like money on blockchain rails at incredibly low costs.Legislative Catalysts: Learn about the pending US legislation, including the Genius Act and the Market Structure bill, that could unlock massive institutional adoption and dramatically increase stablecoin market cap and transaction volumes, potentially reaching over $1 trillion and $100 trillion respectively.Unlocking New Behaviors: Explore how a "pay" button in every app, 24/7 global payments at fractions of a penny, and yield-bearing stablecoins will transform personal finance, payroll, and business operations. David discusses how these innovations stand to disrupt traditional financial services like remittances and even fundamentally reshape banking's net interest margin.The "On-Chain" Movement: Understand what it means to be "on-chain" and how the combination of stablecoin usage and strong demand for digital assets like Bitcoin and Ethereum is accelerating the movement of wealth onto blockchain networks.DeFi 3.0 & Real World Assets: Get insights into the next evolution of decentralized finance, including the explosive growth in staking, perpetuals, and the tokenization of Real World Assets (RWAs) like private credit and potentially even equities, leading to 24/7 global trading.The Future of Digital Collectibles: David provides his outlook on NFTs, distinguishing between the past "picture-based" boom and the current, more practical uses of NFT technology in areas like AAA gaming and "IP on-chain".David also highlights the immense opportunities for founders to build the next generation of decentralized financial products, including privacy-protecting payment solutions. Prepare to hear why a small community of developers has built infrastructure poised for adoption by giants like Amazon and JP Morgan, signaling a catalytic moment for the entire crypto ecosystem.Tune in to understand why crypto's journey to becoming "boring" means it's more exciting and impactful than ever before.

Christian Kroll, founder of Ecosia, a search engine that plants trees, discusses the trials of building a purpose-driven company. He shares his journey of turning Ecosia into a steward-owned entity, revealing the unexpected legal challenges faced in Germany and the importance of integrity from investors. Christian reflects on how a focus on environmental impact can create a competitive edge against giants like Google, while emphasizing the need for strategic flexibility to balance profit with purpose.