Start-ups reproduce capitalism by creating new ventures that split people into an owning class (who lay claim on the firm’s residual income) and a working class (who don’t own the firm, and get paid a rental price for their labor). This social relationship is exploitative, in the very precise sense that the owning class – after a tipping point when their initial capital advances (plus any risk premium) are repaid – steal value created by others. Although not recognized as such, this is institutionalized theft, which, if the venture grows and becomes successful, operates on a global scale. But it doesn’t have to be this way. In this talk, I briefly explain how worker-owned co-operatives are jointly owned by their working members, and (ideally) shun equity capital (which cedes ownership of the firm to non workers) and instead raise loan capital (which avoids that).

The first 25 minutes are an introductory talk, and the last 15 minutes respond to points raised in the discussion (not recorded).