Have you ever considered that any business can actually be built from scratch without any investments, involving a multitude of different specialists? More precisely, without centralized investments from a "wealthy uncle." Instead, through personal investments of time or material resources by each necessary participant in the process.
How are you used to doing things? You calculate how much money is needed and, having received it from an investor, you use it to pay for other people's work, rent, goods. And these people get this money from you, and that's it. What's wrong here? The investor gets the opportunity to continue controlling your entire business, imposing their interests. Situations of tugging the blanket arise, and somehow this system has barely survived what seems like 100 very interesting years for historical processes. It's living out its last days and weeks, from the perspective of eternity, or even the earthly calendar.
But how else could it be done? Suppose you've come up with a business idea. It could be a small store, an innovative product, or a service. Absolutely anything. You tell the people who might need it about it. You receive their support in the form of some fixed agreement for future use, and from some, even in the form of finances, all of which you can regulate according to your discretion and needs. So far, this just sounds like crowdfunding. The difference is that this becomes a straightforward task, where you need to pay for advertising and break through the information clutter and even find money for this advertising and designer expenses beforehand. This becomes part of the social culture; people get used to the fact that they are not being "sold" something, but offered ideas for future realization. Look at another aspect of this process. The team. It's needed even before the first signs of support appear. These are the people who "believed your word" (or any other knowledge model). Those who want to be part of the process, essentially co-founders. In the current business environment, it's not customary to have, say, 20 co-founders, because disputes over "who's the boss" would start. But in a world of more mature consciousness and the technical tools suited to it, such a format is entirely realistic. For example, we bring into the team all the people we need for a range of tasks, and they, like us, invest their time. Then this work result is sent to the audience that has already supported it and is ready to pay for it. They also have the right to vote and submit their own ideas for consideration. It results in a whole symbiosis of co-creation with and for people. Yes, there are founders, but they are merely initiators, not having full power over pricing policies and other important aspects.
Why, in my view, is such a system better? First, of course, we must answer the question of better for whom. Well, for consumers and employees (as they would now be called), it provides greater correspondence to needs, fair prices, and compensation for work. Why? Because there isn't an "investor uncle" sitting somewhere (he simply doesn't exist) trying to profit from everyone.
And why are we still not living like this? Because, besides the servile consciousness of people who simply haven't even realized yet that this is really possible, though initially difficult and unusual, there simply wasn't the technology that would fully enable it. I mean, leaving no room for corruption or any other abuse of the system. A technology that allows everyone the right to vote, participate, invest, disagree. Such a system that would weed out the parasites and the greedy. But one that would allow for the creation of products and services that genuinely benefit us, not turning us into addicts (frightening to look at the food industry) or snobs (here's looking at you, status symbols and gadgets).
So, have you guessed what this technology is called? Of course, blockchain! And such organizations are called DAOs — decentralized autonomous organizations. Every participant in such a DAO has their special token — a membership card. And it, of course, is smart, allowing you to exercise the rights that were declared or paid for. Artificial intelligence can act as a perfect analyst of processes, statistics of any kind, saving people's time and effort, even suggesting new ideas as a basis for your imagination. And in such a society, you can be a full-fledged participant-creator of everything you consume, or at least just an observer, knowing that in such a system there is simply no place for lies and manipulations, which some business schools still teach the dying generation of businesspeople. :)