Why Worker Cooperatives and ESOP's are the antidote to VC's Inequality machine The Ownership Alternative: Why Worker Cooperatives and ESOPs Are the Antidote to Venture Capital's Inequality Machine Every year, billions of dollars flow into venture capital funds clustered along the US-101 corridor between San Francisco and San Jose. This capital chases the next unicorn, generating eye-popping returns for a tiny sliver of investors while leaving most workers with nothing more than a paycheck. Meanwhile, a quieter revolution is unfolding in places like Oakland, Boston, and Minneapolis—one that puts ownership directly into the hands of the people who do the work. Worker cooperatives and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs) represent the most promising, yet chronically underfunded, solution to America's staggering income inequality. It is time we paid them the attention they deserve. The scale of America's wealth gap is almost incomprehensible. In the United...