Neil Smyth on Trumanitarian: The Alchemist
“Imagine building a house, but you don’t own the pipes, nor the foundations, and others can decide who communicates with who.”
This is how our CEO, Neil Smyth, explains what is happening in society due to the pervasiveness of profit-maximizing digital platforms.
Neil was recently invited to discuss this issue and Alkemio’s mission to offer an alternative on Episode 92 of the Trumanitarian podcast, hosted by Lars Peter Nissen. In this blog post, we highlight some of the key themes.
The Problem with the Digital Status Quo
Neil addresses a critical issue in today’s digital landscape: profit-driven platforms control the very infrastructure of our online spaces. This limits users’ ability to choose how to collaborate and their access to data. With the analogy of building a house but not owning the foundations, Neil illustrates that this isn’t a hypothetical future; it’s our present reality. This phenomenon, often referred to as “techno-feudalism”, is already here.
Introducing Alkemio: Collective Action Reimagined
Alkemio was designed to enable collective action, providing safe digital spaces for collaborative work, backed by an organization dedicated to societal benefit.
A significant milestone for Alkemio was its adoption of Steward Ownership. This commitment assures that Alkemio’s purpose remains central: the venture cannot be sold, and profit serves purpose. This diverges starkly from the prevailing model of digital platforms, where shareholder profits often take precedence over societal interests.
Additionally, Alkemio’s Open Source commitment guarantees the freedom for users to run their own version of the platform, if they so choose. While Alkemio hopes to sustain its vision through a commercially hosted service, the open-source promise means that users always have the alternative of self-hosting.
The vision is for Alkemio to be a seed for a larger collaboration, creating a digital foundation with public interests at the core.
The Challenges of Scaling a Mission-Driven Platform
Among the many themes discussed, Lars Peter asked Neil what’s needed to scale a platform like Alkemio. Competing with established tech giants means breaking free from their playbook.
Neil believes that we cannot realize a different digital future by playing the same game that brought us here. We need to play a new game! Only by offering a different narrative and fundamentally different product can a new digital foundation for society be realized.
Alkemio believes that focusing only on profit - like in a traditional business where shareholders come first — limits how much we can prioritize society’s needs. Instead, we believe it’s time to change the approach, aiming to create technology that benefits everyone, not just a few shareholders. By redefining the rules, we can push for progress that genuinely supports communities, collaboration, and long-term value.
Scaling Alkemio still requires capital, though Steward-Ownership ensures this capital is attached to achieving the “society-first” goals of the company. This organizational model safeguards the company mission, while offering investors reasonable returns.
Over time, the network effect of many communities engaging in collective action will drive the paradigm shift needed to embed this vision into society.
Rethinking Our Digital Tools
One of the most compelling takeaways from the conversation is Neil’s challenge to listeners: reconsider the digital tools you use every day. Are they serving your interests, or are you serving theirs? And as AI becomes more integrated, have you thought about its effects on your autonomy?
Neil encourages us to imagine a digital ecosystem where collective action is free from profit-driven pressures.
Listen to the Full Episode
To dive deeper into this conversation, tune into Episode 92 of the Trumanitarian podcast. Listen to it here!