I'm crowdfunding a book—we've raised $38,000 already!

But writing about a better economy isn't enough, we have to build it too.

In case you missed it: I’m crowdfunding my next book advance and giving readers a share of the profits.

The book is called We Should Own The Economy: A vision for the future of capitalism (and the world).

We’ve already raised $38,000 of my $50,000 goal—only $12,000 to go!!!!

Writing about a better economy isn’t enough—we have to build it too

I’ve been meeting with the investors in this project every day and I am beyond inspired. You are founders and entrepreneurs building better companies, you are investors who want to fund them. You run nonprofit organizations that create more employee owners. You are engineers building platforms that strengthen democratic governance. You are researchers at our largest academic institutions. You are some of my heroes—the writers I’ve most admired and the entrepreneurs I want to study and learn from. All of you are builders—excited to learn from this project, but also to put these ideas into action.

This gives me hope that we can do so much more with this book than merely write it. Together, we can build businesses and change government policy. We can come out of this project, not just with a bunch of words bound together but seismic shifts in how our economy is owned and how our governments are run. After all, the solutions I’m writing about already exist—there are employee owned companies, we have platforms for better democracy—they are just incredibly niche and hindered by our existing systems. My goal is to take what’s already working and see how it can be massively expanded if we improve the structures that are right now impinging their growth and adoptability.

That means writing, but also building too. I want to evoke

Anu

’s archetype of a writer-builder.

Nick Tommarello is one of my inspirations here. In 2012 he wanted to invest in his friends' businesses, but it was illegal. Angel investors were already a thing, of course, but by law they had to be accredited investors with millions of dollars in net worth to legally do it. So Tommarello mounted a 10-year campaign to change one law that would allow all of us to be angel investors. He succeeded, and started the company WeFunder which I am now using to raise investment in my book. One lay person who never worked a day in politics changed the way businesses are funded and the ways in which we participate in wealth.

I want to do the same.

I want to be a writer-builder. I want to write about solutions that are currently niche, while also turning them into ones that are incredibly mainstream. I am researching an article now on the public policies that are holding employee ownership back—namely that employee owned companies and cooperatives have a much harder time raising money because of their regulatory structure. As I meet with experts who are helping me understand what policies need to be changed, I am also reaching out to every congress person who has ever written an employee ownership act or bill to see how it could be done. Even if it takes us 10 years, one small policy shift could mean a massive economic shift. It could change who owns the economy. It could change the trajectory of our future.

I could not be more grateful for your help in this effort. I’m just one writer, but alongside this group of builders, we can shift the tide.

You all know the quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it’s the only thing that ever has.”

I’ve never believed that more.

Thanks for inspiring me, thanks for being here, and most of all thank you for building with me.

Elle Griffin

Meet the builders

Here are just a few of the inspiring people who have invested in this project and are ready to help build it. I’m thrilled to be collaborating with such an influential crew:

Disclosure: I am 'testing the waters' to gauge investor interest in an offering under Regulation Crowdfunding. No money or other consideration is being solicited. If sent, it will not be accepted. No offer to buy securities will be accepted. No part of the purchase price will be received until a Form C is filed and only through Wefunder’s platform. Any indication of interest involves no obligation or commitment of any kind.