What, if anything, is preventing for-profit platform co-ops from obtaining VC money and chasing a similar growth-to-unicorn curve?
Is it just cultural inertia, i.e. nobody has tried yet?
Is it just cultural inertia, i.e. nobody has tried yet?
1. No prospects of a big payout (IPO, acquisition).
2. VCs like to have a single point-of-contact (the CEO) and few other owners. In a start-up, the CEO is answerable and serves only the investors. Co-ops behave more like a member-driven organization whose obligation is first and foremost to its members.
3. No option for majority ownership. A co-op eventually has to be majorly owned by the employees rather than by investors.