Community and Capitalism — Publicly Traded Person

Community and Capitalism — Publicly Traded Person

I am James Gallagher, a Founder, and Pioneer who is passionate about capitalism, startups, and technology.

I am James Gallagher, and I am your latest investment. Last month I was listening to an episode of Village Stories by Village Global, where Erik Torenberg interviewed Mike Merrill, the world’s first publicly traded person. Mike sells shares in himself to the public and allows them to weigh in on influential decisions in his life, holding the mantra of “Community Through Capitalism” close in his work.

This prompted me to think about the potential of capitalism and how it relates to human ambition. I am offering shares in myself in exchange for the ability to vote on decisions in my life. I am giving the crowd the authority to make decisions for me based on my belief in the shared wisdom and insights that I can be exposed to. The power of online communities has became clearer in recent years, and their ability to influence real change is fascinating.

I now sell shares in myself because I love the new community that I am part of.

Like publicly traded companies, being a publicly traded person allows me to benefit from an increased sense of accountability in my projects and life. In addition, I will be required to be fully transparent and make as much information public as possible, so shareholders can make more informed decisions. This should help ensure that my decision making is powered by facts and the opinions of those who have a financial stake in my success, as opposed to your gut instinct which can lead to irrational choices.

Financial markets are conversations and have given birth to new networks of people who are passionate about the intricacies of specific companies. The same benefit should be realized through publicly traded people, as investors are the community that ensure you strive to succeed and make better decisions. The passion shareholders have for my success, coupled with the financial incentive to help me make better decisions, creates an environment that facilitates and awards experimentation.

My rule for selecting shareholder questions is anything that requires significant contemplation, or is something I would consult my friends about, will be put up for a vote. This means that shareholders can make a true impact on my life, and be compensated for helping me make better decisions through the capitalist system.

The JamesG project allows me to explore new ideas and opportunities while filtering out the projects that may not be the most productive use of my time. I am interested in some guidance on how I should live my life, and opinions on what opportunities I should and should not pursue based from the crowd. Shareholders will be able to make decisions about my business practices and projects, learning opportunities, and all other aspects of my life which I believe are important enough to merit additional input.

I am committed to abiding by the decisions made by my shareholders, and to put up for a vote any decision that will have an impact on my life. I hope to post at least one question per month for shareholders to vote on, which will be accompanied by frequent progress updates so you can make more informed decisions regarding my life.

I am confident that this experiment will allow me to make more informed choices, as well as advance the capitalist landscape by providing new insights into the human potential that capitalism can develop. I have started this program with a small pilot and have already seen the value of this system, and am excited to see how this experiment progresses.

You can become an investor in JamesG at trade.jamesgallagher.app, and get the ability to vote on decisions in my life. Have questions? Send me an email at james@opencommit.com.

Community and Capitalism — Publicly Traded Person was originally published in Hacker Noon on Medium, where people are continuing the conversation by highlighting and responding to this story.