Reciprocity as a Business Model

If you went back in time to a prehistoric village and asked, “how do you solve the coincidence of wants problem?” they’d look at you strangely: “What? We don’t have that problem. If I need grain and my neighbour has it, he gives it to me, and then I owe him one.” This idea, “I owe him one”, is simple and powerful: the fundamental unit of commerce i... See more

The noted archaeologist Richard Leakey ascribes the essence of what makes us human to the reciprocity system. He claims that we are human because our ancestors learned to share food and skills “in an honored network of obligation.” Cultural anthropologists such as Lionel Tiger and Robin Fox view this “web of indebtedness” as a unique adaptive mecha

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Ultimately, the non-transactional thing works on the basis of trust. You have to have trust first, before you can get that virtuous cycle going, because you have to start by giving and not knowing what you'll get back. It's something like an abundance mindset, trust in the community. But at the same time, if you give and you don't get meaningful va... See more

In modern culture, we are so accustomed to the transactional, money-for-service relationship that characterizes our capitalist paradigm that, outside of our immediate families and close friendships, we rarely experience reciprocity at the community level. If there is something we need, we think of buying it before ever considering relying on each o

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For the first time in evolutionary history, one individual could give any of a variety of resources without actually giving them away. The result was the lowering of the natural inhibitions against transactions that must be begun by one person’s providing personal resources to another. Sophisticated and coordinated systems of aid, gift giving, defe

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If companies can provide incentives for early adopters to participate before critical mass is achieved, they’re more likely to pose a credible threat to incumbents. As Charlie Munger said, “Show me the incentives and I’ll show you the outcomes.” A lot of business models that failed in Web 2.0 will become viable in Web3. The next generation of platf... See more

What I’m proposing asks you to give up the possibility of earning more than you are owed, to instead find satisfaction in reaping exactly what you’ve sown.

To treat the business as an ongoing, regenerative space of offering value and support. To receive returns based on your labor, your contributions, and to center collective success over individua... See more