Compass
Forms of Power.
Most people only know one shape of institution — the founder-owned company. The cost of that gap is enormous: every other form gets read through the wrong vocabulary, and the most important questions stop being asked.
Read five forms side by side. Same eight questions, five honest answers. Where they differ is where power actually lives.
Private company, one or few owners.
Shareholders, board, quarterly returns.
On-chain governance, token-weighted votes.
One member, one vote, member-owned.
Legible, layered, anti-capture.
Who owns it?
Where residual value flows — and where it doesn't.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founders and any investors who bought equity. Usually a small cap table.
- Public company
Anyone who holds shares. In practice: concentrated among funds, founders, and large holders.
- Token DAO
Token holders. Often dominated by a handful of early addresses and the founding team.
- Traditional co-op
The members — workers, consumers, producers — collectively, in equal share.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Explicit, public ownership map. Every claim must be legible before fundraising can begin.
Who decides?
Not who votes — who actually decides when it matters.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founders. Veto built in. Board, if any, is advisory.
- Public company
Board + CEO. Shareholders vote on major items but rarely change outcomes.
- Token DAO
Whoever holds the most tokens, or whoever is awake when the vote happens.
- Traditional co-op
One member, one vote. Slower but distributed.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Disclosed quorum + binding rule, published before any pledge. Drift is publicly tracked.
Who gets paid?
The cash-out question. This is where most theater happens.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founders and equity holders on exit. Workers get salary.
- Public company
Shareholders via dividends and buybacks. Executives via stock comp.
- Token DAO
Token holders on price appreciation. 'Treasury' often controlled by core team.
- Traditional co-op
Members through patronage refunds, dividends on use, or wages — not on equity.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Off-platform. GROUNDWORK never custodies money. Fulfillment is publicly tracked, separate from governance.
Who can change the rules?
Constitutional power. The most important question and the most hidden.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founders, at will. No public process required.
- Public company
Board with shareholder ratification. In practice: management proposes, board approves.
- Token DAO
Whoever passes a proposal — often a handful of large holders.
- Traditional co-op
Members via documented amendment rule, usually supermajority.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Published amendment rule. Pending changes queue. Public window before anything takes effect.
What happens when it fails?
Exit, accountability, recourse.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founders close it. Workers and pledgers absorb the loss.
- Public company
Bankruptcy or sale. Shareholders ranked behind creditors.
- Token DAO
Tokens go to zero. No legal recourse in most jurisdictions.
- Traditional co-op
Members vote on dissolution. Assets often locked to mission or another co-op.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Failure is itself a public event on the register. Authenticity is not 'success' — it is honest reporting.
How transparent is it really?
Disclosure is not legibility. The difference matters.
- Founder-owned LLC
Almost nothing required. Private financials.
- Public company
Heavily disclosed but heavily aestheticized. Long documents, few readers.
- Token DAO
On-chain transactions are public. Intent, off-chain coordination, and informal power are not.
- Traditional co-op
Member-facing transparency. Quality varies.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Designed so a casual reader can read it in under three minutes. Complexity is flagged, not rewarded.
What can capture it?
Every form has its characteristic failure mode.
- Founder-owned LLC
Founder fatigue or sale to a hostile acquirer.
- Public company
Activist investors, short-termism, executive pay capture.
- Token DAO
Whale governance, mercenary capital, vote buying.
- Traditional co-op
Member apathy, capture by a professional management class.
- GROUNDWORK-style
All of the above — which is why drift, founder veto, complexity, and concentration are all visible by default.
What does a member actually do?
The participation question. Most forms ask very little of members.
- Founder-owned LLC
Nothing. You're a customer or an employee.
- Public company
Vote in proxies you didn't read. Sell your shares.
- Token DAO
Vote in proposals you didn't read. Sell your tokens.
- Traditional co-op
Show up to AGM. Vote on slate. Optionally run for board.
- GROUNDWORK-style
Read the governance. Pledge only after legibility is met. Report manipulation. Propose revocation if power is abused.
Why this page exists
You cannot read a register you have no vocabulary for.
Cooperative literacy is the missing layer in almost every public debate about ownership and power. People argue about "companies" when they mean LLCs, "shareholders" when they mean concentrated funds, and "DAOs" when they mean a handful of token whales.
GROUNDWORK is built so the difference is readable. This page is the prerequisite — once you can tell the forms apart, every initiative on the register stops looking like noise.