By author Morgan Jassen on w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶



2020-12-30 18:46

Meditating on Company Ownership Status and Employment Status and Client Status

An idea of is, of the same company being all of: Employee, Owner, Customer. 

This idea is under-rated in popular culture.

No, not owning an ETF that mimics the S&P 500.

Owning the ETF that mimics the S&P 500, is smart and fortune can be gained that way. 

But how about owning the individual companies that one likes, that one uses, and in which one works?

As an employee, why would want to "take ownership" of the company projects *without owning the company* shares/stock?

Shouldn't one want to actually literally own the company shares/stock?

That's it. That's the yawp. This blog yawp is about wanting to be involved and be accountable, and wanting to make an "economic difference".

There is something about owning the ETF that mimics the market that doesn't *feel* quite right.

Shouldn't one want the whole package? 

The ownership, responsibility, risk, and reward.

The whole package feels like it will make one's life and character and finances to all be in alignment, not fractured. 

Sure one can own multiple companies. But shouldn't one also want to work in/on those companies, and also patronize those as a client?

Why should one invest in a large cross-section of what is basically the entire (perceived strong) market? 

People say to be an investor or a smart investor, you don't invest on feelings, instead you invest what will produce the money.

However that may fracture one's life. 

Thus this is the crossroads juncture. Is the definition a win/lose one? 

Can we make a new definition of investor?

Can we make money and invest successfully without investing only in things that only make money?

The difference may simply be that we need to be win-win investors. And not be lose-lose investors too, but the nuance being that we also should refuse to be win-lose nor lose-win nor (just) win investors.

Here's a fictional story to illustrate how I envision this yawp working. The numbers are rough but it paints a picture:
Myself and 10 of my friends/family, all work as employees at 9 different companies. 
I own stock in 3 of those companies. (3 which I like).
Also, as a group, we are frequent customers of 6 of these same companies.
I am a former employee of one of the companies as well.
The companies provide goods and services that we like.
I own stock in 4 of these companies (one of which me or my friend is also employed at).

In other words, my and my friends/families' lives are interwoven, with a total of 15 companies, in different positive ways.

We work hard. We own shares. We also give as consumers as well.

In summary, why not be all of a company's owner, employee, and customer?



This blog post first published at https://w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶/2020/blog/
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w̶i̶e̶l̶d̶s̶i̶l̶v̶e̶r̶.̶c̶o̶m̶ statement - I blog about products for which I own company shares.