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).
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).
At Limeleaf, how we do our work is equally important as the work itself. As we explained in a previous post, Limeleaf operates as a worker cooperative, and we are dedicated to embodying the Seven Cooperative Principles.
Cooperatives have gotten a bad rap over the years. They’ve been portrayed as impractical, plagued by decision paralysis, and insufferably hippy-dippy.