Big tech was built on extraction — your data, attention, and effort siphoned into profits for a few. The Equitable Standard defines a different kind of corporation: your data is never sold, the company can never be sold to private equity or venture capital, and the rules are locked so those promises can't be quietly reversed.
Each provision is a direct answer to a specific failure in how corporations are structured today.
Founders must choose between selling to private equity or venture capital and abandoning their vision, or staying and risking burnout. The people who built and use the company lose out either way.
The fix: The company can never be sold to private equity or venture capital. Founder shares can't be sold. On exit, control transfers to the community — not to outside investors. A new Chairman is chosen from the community.
Users generate the data, content, and network effects that make a platform valuable — yet have no say in how it's run. Every decision is made by people who don't answer to them.
The fix: Users hold a defined share of all voting rights, and two presidents are elected annually by the community. Leadership answers to the people who created the value.
Every piece of data a user generates becomes a corporate asset, sold, licensed, and traded behind terms of service no one reads. Your data is the product.
The fix: User data is never sold, never licensed, and never shared with third parties for any purpose. It stays owned by the user. What you produce is yours — full stop.
Private equity and venture capital take control of companies and extract value through layoffs, fee hikes, and asset stripping — sacrificing long-term health for short-term returns.
The fix: A hard prohibition on selling the company to private equity or venture capital. No outside investor can ever gain controlling power. No asset-stripping, no forced restructuring, no exit to an acquirer.
Corporate decisions are made behind closed doors. Reports are audited once a year by people who report to management. Users can't verify a single claim.
The fix: Public voting, public server logs, and public financial reports. Every API call and transaction open to audit. Trust through verification, not marketing.
Big Tech employees carry extractive playbooks and insider knowledge into every new venture — the primary vector for corporate capture of community-run platforms.
The fix: Big Tech employees wait a set period before they can vote — a buffer that prevents corporate capture while still allowing participation.
The Equitable Standard isn't exclusive to any one company. Any corporation can commit to it and be certified.
Any incorporated entity — startups, existing corporations, and cooperatives. The only requirement is a genuine commitment to the standard's principles: no data sharing, no sale to private equity or venture capital, user governance, transparency, and founder protection.
Certified companies receive a publicly verifiable seal and are listed in a public registry. The seal signals to users, investors, and partners that value flows to creators, not extractors. Compliance is reviewed periodically and the commitment is irreversible — you can't opt out.
Three steps: submit your basic information and a statement of commitment, undergo a compliance review by the Equitable Standard board, and if approved, receive the seal and a registry listing. The review takes about 30 days, and applying is free.
A set of governance rules that define what an equitable corporation is. Any company can apply to meet the standard and earn certification. The rules cover no data sharing, no sale to private equity or venture capital, user governance, transparency, and founder protection.
No. A core, locked commitment is that the company can never be sold to private equity or venture capital, and no outside investor can gain controlling power. This is structural — it's written into the founding documents and cannot be revised away by a future board or majority vote.
SPCs are generic and vague — the label tells users nothing concrete. Non-profits cap the founder's earning potential and give users no real control. The Equitable Standard is different: it locks in no data sharing, bars any sale to private equity or venture capital, and gives users real governance — plus a verifiable seal. It's a legal commitment with real teeth, not a marketing label.
No. The Standard doesn't require you to abandon business secrets — you need them to be profitable. The transparency it demands is about governance, finances, and data practices, not your product or strategy. Protect your IP; be open about how you run the company.
Applying is free. Certification is 1% of distributable profits annually, capped (and adjusted for inflation), with no setup or hidden fees. You only pay when profitable — bad years can't cripple the business. Certification is permanent and can't be revoked by you; the commitment is irreversible.
Nothing is inherently wrong — they're valid, time-tested instruments. But under the Standard, they cannot buy the company or gain control. The company is structurally barred from being sold to PE or VC, so founders and users don't have to give up the company, its data, or its vision to raise capital.