Altocode is an openbound

Altocode is a new type of company: an openbound.

I believe that most of the value of capitalism come from the need to build and run profitable companies. And that most of what's destructive of social value in capitalism comes from profit maximization by established companies. Between these two lie the opportunity of openbounds.

The goal is to create the template for a company that will be loved not just by its customers, but by the general public. A "be the change you want to see in the world" type of company. A company that won't be a disappointment to its early customers, because it will structurally refuse to sell them out.

Any company can only be successful if a significant number of individuals decide to trust it with its business. Openbounds are about maintaining and growing that trust over time, instead of destroying it for profit once the company becomes more powerful than its users.

Openbounds differ from profmaxs (profit maximizing companies) in only two ways:

1. Open source: everything they do and build is done in the open. Except for customer/employee sensitive data, the company works in the open.
2. Bounded rate of return on its capital: the company is built to provide service. It can receive investment, but its rate of return on capital is bounded.

There are many ways of defining open source (public domain? GPL?), and of defining bound (on dividends, on exit, interest rate?). Altocode is just starting, so I'm in no position to suggest one variant over the other. I'm more interested in the possibilities of exploring with the different possibilities of open source and bounded profits. A company is openbound if it 1) works in the open; 2) is in the game of improving the world, not maximizing profits.

For customers, the implications of an openbound are two:

1. Open means that it's easier to walk away: you know how the company makes your product, which makes it easier for you do actually execute on it, and it also makes it easier to find good competing offers.
2. Bound means that the business will tend to align its incentives with yours.

The bottom line of an openbound, for its users, will be that the business will not have a tendency to enshittify. And if it does, the switching cost will be much lower.

For founders, the implications of an openbound are also two:

1. You can focus on the purpose of your company without distractions. Even if you manage to get funded (which will be trickier since you're looking for aligned, impact capital), the capital will not deter you from your mission, because they are invested in it. Profits are a boundary condition to be satisfied, not a variable to maximize.
2. There's no big exit. No big cash out. You're doing it to do it, not to retire early to a life of comfort. An openbound is not a vehicle to personal financial wealth.

Altocode is about the products it builds, but also about this way of working.

I aim to build a business that will survive and thrive while working in the open and without bringing in profit maximizing capital. The continuity of the company (and its competitive advantage) will solely built on the trust of our customers.

Altocode hasn't yet launched a paid version of a product (let alone a successful product), but when we do, we commit to donating 10% of our turnover to open source projects. That's a concrete way to already show our alignment. None of what Altocode builds is possible without open source software.