More than a social media app

We may not be able to save TikTok, but it left us with something invaluable: a business model. In 2023, TikTok made $16 billion in the U.S., transforming livelihoods.

Imagine something similar but different:

• No billionaires made or served.

• An app owned by its users, circulating wealth within the community.

• In-built tools and functionality for organizing.

• Micro and trade economies supporting small, local businesses.

• Built with Web3 in mind, so that the app can eventually become self-governing, making leadership obsolete.

This app could help:

• Fight back against monopolistic corporations.

• Small businesses thrive.

• Restore the dying middle class.

• Provide us with a reliable vehicle for organizing in the revolution that has already begun to unfold.

• Give everyday people better opportunities to make a living doing what they love, just like the Creator Fund and TTS have (but more $ to go around because no big shareholders).

TikTok proved our power lies in connection, creativity, and community. Now, we have the chance to build something even better—together.

All it takes is enough of us pulling in the same direction.

10,000+ of you signed up in less than 48 hours.

That’s the power of TikTok. Before this app, no one could have filmed a 2-minute elevator pitch in their grandmother’s basement, posted it online, and gotten a thumbs up from so many humans from all walks of life.

And we can’t lose that. Because that same, powerful mechanism of connectivity is what has made TikTok a place where:

• Small businesses generated leads and sustained themselves;

• Musicians broke free from greedy record labels;

• Indie authors bypassed the indentured servitude of traditional publishing;

• Everyday people found positive, supportive community;

• Storytellers and entertainers made a living by being themselves; and

• Information traveled too far and too fast for our corrupt media to control.

We all know the ban has nothing to do with protecting our data; otherwise our government would have passed sweeping data protections that applied to all apps.

Especially Meta, who’s infamous for its data leaks…and has now shattered US lobbying records in an effort to ban TikTok.

#FvckZuck.

None of these entities have our best interests in mind.

Which is why it’s time for a revolution…

And this time, the revolution doesn’t look like guillotines or Boston tea parties. It’s people pulling in the same direction—together.

Because our power has been, and always will be, in numbers.

You, me and all our neighbors. Whether a DAO, or a co-op or something not yet discussed, we’re going to figure out a fair and equitable way of ensuring this belongs to We the People. So that it can never be sold to a billionaire, and always remains in the hands of the People it is designed to serve and empower.

In fact, for this reason, we will NOT be accepting VC or large investors. This is entirely grassroots, true to the spirit of the app we’re creating.

It’s something that does not yet exist but that the world desperately needs as the collective fights to restore balance and steward in a new paradigm.

It does not matter who you voted for, or what your religion, race, nationality, skillset, or background is. This is Team Human vs everything that seeks to keep us divided.

WE NEED YOU.

A collective of people voting on key decisions is how we’re going to build something empowering to many. Anyone can be part of the decision-making and help spread this through word-of-mouth.

At the heart of this initiative is the belief that the power of the People is in numbers.

Regular newsletter updates will be coming out of Substack, but the list got so long that it was flagged as spam. I’m currently in talks with their team to get it sorted so that we can kick off our communications.

In the meantime, join us here:

• Reddit for discussion, debate, and voting. The upvote/downvote functionality allows the best ideas to rise to the top. And it’s public, so anyone can join.
  

• YouTube for video updates.
  

• Telegram for one-way text updates.
  

• Discord will come later when we need to deploy specialized task teams. It is disorganized and chaotic for having dialogue. For more information, see the next section in the FAQ.

Systems and processes, and a bit of trial and error.

To start: Reddit is our sandbox. Discord is our toolkit. The communications (newsletter, YouTube, Telegram) are our compass that keep us aligned.

Here’s how these systems flow together:

1. Community Discussions (Subreddit):

   • Conversations, debates, and idea-sharing happen on the subreddit.

   • Members contribute insights, proposals, and feedback.

2. Synthesis and Updates:

   • Key ideas, challenges, and developments from the subreddit are summarized into newsletters and videos for clarity and broader reach.

3. Decision Points:

   • When a critical decision arises (e.g., app name, infrastructure choices), a poll is conducted for the community to vote on the best course of action.

4. Implementation (Discord):

   • Once a decision is made, task forces or working groups on Discord carry out the selected solution, ensuring focused execution.

A simple example

1. A post on subreddit asks folks to submit their name ideas for the app

2. The upvoting/downvoting will help us narrow it down to the top candidates

3. The top candidates are pulled into a poll and the collective will vote on a name

A better example

1. The techies debate on Reddit about what we should do for servers & cloud infrastructure

2. Communications team summarizes the key points and possible paths forward in a video and newsletter, clearly and simply laying out pros and cons

3. The collective, informed on the decision in front of us, votes

4. The tech team breaks out into a task force on Discord to pursue the solution we’ve decided on

I see my role in this as being a steward, not a CEO: creating the space where these conversations can be had, a collective vision can be developed, and we can execute accordingly.

And while we have yet to decide on the technology behind this, blockchain is an appealing option because of how it ensures transparency. And in any case, the goal is to build this so it can become self-governing, and any form of leadership we need in the building stages eventually becomes obsolete.

As for my motivations, I am a pew-pew toting libertarian who — like so many of us, regardless of our politics — is sick of the exploitative and corrupt systems we have in place. And I do not believe anyone (least of all a politician or government) is going to save us. It is up to you, me, and all our neighbors.

That is to say, financial gain is not a motivator for me in this project, as the app is intended to be built by the People, for the People, and with the People. So I am content to continue supporting myself through my little agency and as a small content creator on my personal channels for the duration of this project.

I would define this as conscious capitalism, which incorporates the best of two economic systems that at first blush seem like total opposites.

This app is not socialist because socialism involves the centralization of control by the government. Meaning the government handles wealth redistribution, and makes all the decisions around production and distribution. Maybe that would work in a society where we could trust our government.

On the other hand, in a capitalist economy, enterprises own the control of production. It just so happens that our enterpries is a collective of People ;)

And yet in the same way that some people are allergic to the word “socialism” others are equally allergic to the word “capitalism” because they look around at the inequity, the disappearing middle class, the wealth gap — and they hate the system that created it.

It’s worth noting that the system we’re witnessing is capitalism gone cancerous. It has no checks and balances. It is not sustainable. This form of capitalism cannibalizes itself by grinding into the dirt the very People it relies on to produce the value.

Conscious capitalism looks like:

• Salary caps based on the lowest-paid employee

• Decentralizing tech and connecting the People

• Letting People own a piece of the companies they’re a part of and help build

• Introducing a triple bottom line. Most companies have a single bottom line, which is revenue; but we should also be measuring the success of an organization by the impact we have on people and planet. A triple bottom line = people, planet, and profit.
  

So you may hear some language like “wealth redistribution” and “collective ownership” that echo of socialism, but it’s the values of fairness and community that we’re emulating — not the system itself, which inherently centralizes control.

Conscious capitalism is what we get when we combine the free market, entrepreneurship, and innovation of capitalism with the community-driven decision-making, collective ownership, and equitable sharing that prioritize the well-being of people and the planet.

However, it’s worth noting that conscious capitalism doesn’t fully embrace centralized redistribution (a key feature of socialism) but instead focuses on collaboration, fairness, and sustainability within a market-driven system.