Ownership model

Syncopate is a company. This means there are shares, and someone has to own them.

So who owns Syncopate, how are new owners brought in, and what does ownership mean?

Our model is simple: anyone who has been at Syncopate for 2+ years can become an owner.

Why 2 years? Glad you asked! Although we are notoriously picky with recruiting, we might screw up and bring in a bad apple. We’ll probably notice and get rid of a bad apple faster than 2 years! The 2 year rule reduces the risk that the bad apple is also a shareholder, which would complicate the getting-rid-of process.

Now you might thinking “Huh, so anyone is allowed to become a partner? Really?”.

Exactly! The idea is that, if we wouldn’t trust someone to co-own the company, why would we trust them to represent Syncopate at all? So if, after two years, we don’t trust a Syncopater enough to offer them ownership, that’s a sign they shouldn’t be at Syncopate at all.

We modelled Syncopate on Crisp, a Swedish consulting company. In the bad old days Crisp used to have a kind of “selection process” for new partners. Most people hated it, felt like a stupid beauty contest of some sort, and the people who were NOT offered partnership were of course really disappointed and wondered why. So they ditched that model. And we didn`t adopt it at all.

So, every year we send an invite to all non-owners who have been around for at least 2 years, and ask them if they want to become owners.

What does ownership cost?

We strive to minimize the financial value of the company. Yes, you heard it right. I know, that’s like the opposite of what other companies do. But remember, the purpose of Syncopate is not to enrich it’s owners. The purpose is to help consultants be happy.

We’ve all seen consulting companies that work like pyramid schemes - where old-timers are like fat cats parasiting from the hard work of newcomers. That’s exactly what we don’t want to be.</rant>

When you become an owner (which is entirely optional), you buy stock at the current price. You will have the exact same amount of stock as the other owners. And if/when you leave Syncopate, you must sell your stock back at basically the same price.

This means there is no financial incentive to own stocks, no cashing out.

What does ownership actually mean?

Ownership means very little in practical terms. You won’t get rich, and you won’t gain more influence (power is gained through meritocracy, not ownership - see our decision process). In theory there are situations where ownership CAN make a difference, like if our normal decision process completely breaks down and we have to resort to shareholder voting for a critical decision.

So what’s the point of being a shareholder? Well, it’s mostly symbolic - the warm fuzzy feeling of co-owning this fine company.

What if someone buys Syncopate?

In theory someone could come along and shell out a bunch of cash to buy Syncopate, and in that case the owners would in a sense cash out. But with the current structure we see that as extremely unlikely. Syncopate itself is just a container, a platform. The real value is the consultants, and they aren’t even employed by Syncopate. So although someone can technically buy Syncopate, they can’t really buy the people inside Syncopate. And besides, who would buy a company that explicitly strives to minimize it’s financial value :o)

But who knows. The world can be strange sometimes.