Dropout's ability to offer profit sharing and prioritize creative experiments stems from not having external shareholders to satisfy. This simple business structure is the key enabler of its worker-friendly and artistically-driven policies, avoiding the need to hoard profits for outside investors.

To overcome the cold start problem in a network effects business, especially in a conservative industry like finance, a powerful strategy is to create a coalition or consortium model. By giving early adopters ownership and governance rights, you align incentives, build trust, and transform would-be competitors into enthusiastic evangelists for the new network.

The founders delayed institutional funding to protect their long-term brand strategy. This freedom allowed them to avoid paid ads, which a VC might have demanded for quick growth, and instead focus on building a more powerful and sustainable word-of-mouth engine first.

Top-performing, founder-led businesses often don't want to sell control. A non-control investment strategy allows access to this exclusive deal flow, tapping into the "founder alpha" from high skin-in-the-game leaders who consistently outperform hired CEOs.

OpenAI's non-profit parent retains a 26% stake (worth $130B) in its for-profit arm. This novel structure allows the organization to leverage commercial success to generate massive, long-term funding for its original, non-commercial mission, creating a powerful, self-sustaining philanthropic engine.

Venture capital can create a "treadmill" of raising rounds based on specific metrics, not building a sustainable business. Avoiding VC funding allowed Donald Spann to maintain control, focus on long-term viability, and build a company he could sustain without external pressures or risks.

Both companies leverage their independent ownership to make long-term, values-driven decisions that might be challenged by public market investors. This structure provides the freedom to prioritize purpose over immediate profit, such as restraining growth or making bold political statements.

Salesforce embedded its 1-1-1 model (1% equity, product, time) at its founding when the company had no valuable equity, product, or many employees. This strategy of starting small built philanthropy into the company's DNA from day one, allowing it to scale into a massive program without disruptive cultural or financial shocks later on.

For founders unable to get traditional loans, a viable alternative is offering high-interest (e.g., 15%) subordinated debt to angel investors. The best source for these investors can be existing, passionate B2B customers who believe in the product and want to be part of the success story.