I understand the cynical takes and it's totally fair to be wary. We're all used to seeing startups where the only goal is to make money, and when they're ventu

I understand the cynical takes and it's totally fair to be wary. We're all used to seeing startups where the only goal is to make money, and when they're venture backed, the goal is to make a _ton_ of money - externalities be damned. If that's the case here, then the cynical takes are logical. But it is possible (just possible) that there's something else going on here. It's possible that the founders genuinely are dedicated to increasing the prevalence of employee owned and governed businesses. And that they've found social impact investors aligned with that mission. In that world, they aren't looking for astronomical returns, just modest returns and enough revenue to keep going. If you assume that's what is happening here then a lot of these decisions make sense and don't look so ominous. Employee owned businesses often struggle to get financing and insurance from traditional banks and insurers. Because those companies don't know what to make of them. So creating financing and insurance products allows Teamshares to provide those services to businesses that would otherwise struggle to get them. (And if they're doing that - why not offer them to others as well?) The gradual increase in ownership is how employee buyouts often go. And retaining the 20% ownership stake also makes sense - it's a pay it forward thing, allowing Teamshares to continue to help businesses make the transition to employee owned. If you assume it's on the level - that the founders and investors are genuinely interested in helping owners sell their small businesses to their employees when they retire - and that they're genuinely dedicated to increasing the prevalence of employee ownership - then this is _brilliant_ and _incredible_ and to be lauded. It is also possible the whole thing is a scheme to screw the employees and extract a ton of wealth from them for venture capital. Only time will tell. Personally, I'm going to choose to be optimistic and hopeful for the moment.