Why isn't Twitter doing more to get bots off their platform? Why isn’t Uber taking better care of its drivers?
What if...they can't?
Venture-capital backed companies like Twitter and Uber are held accountable to maximizing returns to investors. If and when they become public companies, they become accountable to maximizing returns to shareholders. They’ve promised Wall Street outsized returns — which means Twitter can't lose bots if it would significantly lower their user count and in turn lower advertising revenue, and Uber can’t treat their drivers like employees if it competes with profits.
But what's the alternative? What might it look like to design an ownership and governance model that incentivizes a technology company to serve all of its stakeholders over the long term – and primarily, the stakeholders who create value?
This week on Your Undivided Attention, we're talking with two experts on creating the conditions for humane business, and in turn, for humane technology: Mara Zepeda and Kate “Sassy” Sassoon of Zebras Unite Co-Op. Zebras Unite is a member-owned co-operative that’s creating the capital, culture, and community to power a more just and inclusive economy. The Zebras Unite Coop serves a community of over 6,000 members, in about 30 chapters, over 6 continents. Mara is their Managing Director, and Kate is their Director of Cooperative Membership.
Two corrections:
RECOMMENDED MEDIA
Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break
A seminal 2017 article by Zebras Unite co-founders, which kicked off the movement and distinguished between zebras and unicorns — per the table below.
Meetup to the People
Zebras Unite’s 2019 thought experiment of exiting Meetup to community
Zebras Unite Crowdcast Channel
Where you can find upcoming online events, as well as recordings of previous events.
RECOMMENDED YUA EPISODES
A Renegade Solution to Extractive Economics with Kate Raworth: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/29-a-renegade-solution-to-extractive-economics
Bonus — A Bigger Picture on Elon & Twitter: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/bigger-picture-elon-twitter
Here’s Our Plan And We Don’t Know with Tristan Harris, Aza Raskin, and Stephanie Lepp: https://www.humanetech.com/podcast/46-heres-our-plan-and-we-dont-know
Your Undivided Attention is produced by the Center for Humane Technology. Follow us on Twitter: @HumaneTech_
A Renegade Solution to Extractive Economics — with Kate Raworth
Two Million Years in Two Hours: A Conversation with Yuval Noah Harari
Won't You Be My Neighbor? A Civic Vision for the Internet — with Eli Pariser
Are the Kids Alright? — with Jonathan Haidt
Your Nation's Attention for the Price of a Used Car — with Zahed Amanullah
Spotlight: The Social Dilemma
Facebook Goes '2Africa' — with Julie Owono
When Media Was for You and Me — with Fred Turner
Digital Democracy Is Within Reach — with Audrey Tang
Spotlight — Beyond the Boycott
The World According to Q — with Travis View
The Bully’s Pulpit — with Fadi Quran
The Dictator's Playbook Revisited — with Maria Ressa (Rerun)
The Fake News of Your Own Mind — with Jack Kornfield and Trudy Goodman
The Stubborn Optimist’s Guide to Saving the Planet — with Christiana Figueres
The Spin Doctors Are In — with Renée DiResta
When Attention Went on Sale — with Tim Wu
Changing Our Climate of Denial — with Anthony Leiserowitz
Stranger than Fiction — with Claire Wardle
Mr. Harris Goes to Washington
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