Journey Through RootCircuit
RootCircuit is a worker-owned collective. We provide the infrastructure, resources, and community for members to turn ideas into reality while nurturing a democratic environment.
But what does this mean in practice?
Let's follow your journey as an enthusiastic new member!
Chapter 1: Join the collective
You start by attending one of our regular member meetings. The room—currently virtual, though we dream of physical spaces—buzzes with energy. People are discussing ongoing projects, sharing challenges, celebrating breakthroughs.
You see the platform—still under development—where all active projects live. Some are fully formed teams looking for specific skills. Others are just sparks of ideas seeking collaborators.
You have three paths forward:
Option 1: Start with RootCircuit's core projects
Not sure what you want to do yet? Join one of the main RootCircuit projects—building the new internal management website or creating a new community tool.. These projects benefit the collective directly and serve as training grounds where you learn how we collaborate, meet other members, and discover what excites you.
Option 2: Join an existing project
Browse what's already happening. Someone is building an open-source tool for community organizers. Some are creating a collaborative art installation. Some are developing a circular economy marketplace. You can see who's involved, what they need, and jump in where your skills align.
Option 3: Propose your own idea
Pitch it at the meeting, explain your vision, and see who gets excited. If people are intrigued, you can form a new project together. Simple as that.
Chapter 2: The life within a project
You've joined a project—making a website for a circular economy marketplace.
How's the life in your project now?
Each project operates like its own little world within the RootCircuit ecosystem. Your team meets on its own schedule, organizes work however makes sense, and taps into collective resources when needed.
Need a design software? RootCircuit provides shared tool licenses. Stuck on a technical problem? Post in the collective forums—there's probably someone with expertise. Need a quiet space to record audio? Use the shared workspace hours. Want feedback on a prototype? Bring it to the next member meeting.
But who's in charge? Are there leaders?
After your onboarding, you're invited to your first project voting meeting. Someone steps forward with a proposal—not a manager, just fellow members launching an initiative. They're proposing a change to the project board, and team members will vote on it.
There's no organizational chart imposed from above, beyond what's legally required. Decisions happen through regular assemblies where the team discusses and decides together. Major decisions—whether to pivot, who takes on what role, how to divide revenue—go to votes. These democratic tools work at both the project and collective level.
Leadership positions can exist—coordinators, treasurers, resource managers—but they're elected and accountable to everyone. No permanent management class. Just members taking turns serving the collective, knowing they can be voted out if they don't serve well.
Wait, do I get to vote right away?
No. You need to attend a few meetings as a member before gaining voting rights. We need you to understand the consequences of your votes before you cast them.
If you become inactive and stop attending meetings, your voting rights will be paused until you've attended a few meetings again. Democracy requires participation.
Interlude: About funding
A few months have passed. Your project's website is finally online. So far, everything was funded mainly by project members themselves and partly from the collective. But your team feels it needs more resources to scale.
You meet with a RootCircuit board member to ask "Can my project get more funding?"
You can keep getting funding from RootCircuit itself, but direct outside investment is not allowed. Additionally, we don't want any project to become so large that the collective becomes a de facto subsidiary of it.
Does that mean scaling isn't possible?
No, not at all. You can always branch out into a daughter collective.
Chapter 3: A daughter collective
If your project exceeds a certain size—in terms of revenue relative to the collective—or requires outside investment, it transitions into a daughter collective. This transition can also be initiated by project members themselves when everyone agrees it's the correct time to do so. Congratulations on your project going well and moving on to the next phase!
How it works in the daughter collective?
RootCircuit creates a new legal entity for the daughter company. Project members automatically have the right to be part of this new entity. Like RootCircuit, daughter collectives are worker-owned—but workers own 51%, not 100%. The remaining 49% can be distributed according to the will of project members, including to outside investors if needed.
RootCircuit's contribution—through shared resources, infrastructure, and support—is represented by 10% of the 49% non-worker shares (or a negotiated amount representing RootCircuit's investment). Additionally, the daughter collective automatically inherits the shareholder agreement from RootCircuit.
The IP transitions to the new collective along with the project. Details are handled case by case. Otherwise, the new entity is totally independent.
Epilogue: Successful daughter collective
After a few years, your project—now an independent daughter collective—is doing really well. You're about to distribute your first dividends—RootCircuit still owns negotiated shares. If you don't want them to receive dividends, you can buy them out according to the previously negotiated terms.
But what does RootCircuit do with dividend money?
Remember how projects could get funded directly by RootCircuit? Here's how that works: Revenues from dividends, after covering operational expenses, go to a general fund. Each RootCircuit member gets a proportional vote to allocate this money to any project they like.
The only rules: no self-funding and no "I'll fund you if you fund me" arrangements. If a member doesn't use their funding right—maybe they're not interested or not convinced by any current projects—that money goes toward RootCircuit's core projects.
One day I want to leave...then?
Your ownership stake vests gradually. If you leave the collective or a daughter collective, your voting rights end immediately, but your monetary share tapers out over time. We don't want someone who worked for 10 years on a project to get nothing because they left 5 days before a big sale.
Extra: Our values
Can we build anything? Any kind of business?
Almost. We have certain principles that guide what we create together—because not everything that's technically possible should be built, and not every profitable venture is worth pursuing.
Community & Autonomy
We grow together by sharing resources, talent, and knowledge. Our projects should empower people and build community, not control or manipulate them.
Creating for Good
Projects should benefit our communities—whether through art, tools for daily life, or solutions to real problems. We don't create things that harm our communities.
Sustainability & Equality
We're conscious of the environment we live in and the inequalities we inherit. Our projects strive for sustainability, embrace circular economy principles, and work to reduce rather than reinforce existing inequalities.
Keeping Democracy Alive
Democracy shouldn't stop at the ballot box. We practice it in our work, our communities, and our economic lives. Every project, every decision, every allocation of resources—it's all grounded in the principle that people who do the work should control it.
These aren't just nice words—they're filters for what we build. If a project violates these principles, it doesn't belong in RootCircuit. We vote, we discuss, we hold each other accountable. Because the point isn't just to create successful ventures. It's to create a different way of working together.
See how collaborative creation can amplify your ideas and connect you with like-minded creators.