Karthik Uppu

personal stocks

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

Personal Stock v0.9:

The Personal Stock is an instrument that lets a person share equity in their success across their life.

It defines success as a person's net economic upside from selling stakes in companies, other personal stocks, and similar instruments with extreme upside potential.

And it creates shares that represent a proportional participation in this upside.

Shareholding doesn't come with any control or influence over the person.

Nor does it come with any sort of claim or ownership of the underlying assets the person holds. Shareholding is only participation in the cash that comes from in-scope assets, net of losses, transaction fees, and taxes.

Many of the personal stock's features resemble a company. It borrows the company's patterns around issuing and transacting shares. And it also introduces new features and patterns that are required to make this work for a person.

It lets a person define a floor: a portion of their upside that they retain before shareholders participate. This lets people carve out a safety net so that their basic needs and lifestyle goals aren't jeopardized by sharing equity in their success.

It lets a person buy back shares from any shareholder without requiring their permission, so that they can eject misaligned or toxic shareholders.

But they do not choose the price at which they buy back shares. That price is determined by a formula that aims to reflect the latest price of their shares.

It lets a person control their liquidity. Equity is scarce. I expect people to be thoughtful about who they share their equity with and how much they share, to maximize their success.

It lets shareholders vote on whether to reinvest the person's upside back into them to fuel growth or distribute pro rata to shareholders.

At a person's death, their assets that are within the scope of this instrument are liquidated, and those gains are distributed pro rata to shareholders (including the person's estate).

A personal stock is represented by two structures:

1. A legal agreement
2. A state ledger

The agreement contains all of the details about how the personal stock works, including formulas that the person has defined, such as their floor.

Every shareholder signs the agreement before they can hold shares. And they are never bound to an agreement that they have not signed.

This instrument is early. In the initial years and decades, I expect a lot of iteration. This is another area where buybacks are critical. A personal stock owner needs the ability to buy out shareholders who are no longer aligned with the direction they want to iterate in (i.e., who don't agree with a new version of the agreement).

The state ledger contains all of the events related to the personal stock, allowing you to derive information such as holdings, the cap table, etc.

Since this instrument is legally grounded, in the case of legitimate fraud, parties have access to courts.

For everything outside of fraud, the market will handle it. For example, a personal stock owner who doesn't offer liquidity for their shareholders will find it hard to attract future shareholders, and their behavior will reflect in their valuation. Reputation matters. As the market matures, it will increasingly incentivize good behavior.

The Personal Stock is open source. This is something that we will create together. I can't imagine a future without personal stocks. Eventually, every single person will have one. It's important that we design this instrument to be safe and useful.

I've designed this instrument for myself. I'm sure other people will have different goals and needs. Feel free to fork.

This is a work in progress. I'd appreciate feedback!

Repo: https://t.co/mblJWgAvHD

Thanks @AksharYadavalli, @gautamtata, and @akaranam for feedback on drafts.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

https://t.co/1gouO2ziFU

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@WisprFlow - do you guys handle this?

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@WillowVoiceAI - I love your product, but you guys really need to work on single-word dictation within a paragraph or sentence.

It's messing up a ton when I go back to tweak small things here and there in things that I've already dictated.

This probably isn't a use case that matters to you guys, but it would make a world of a difference for me. Like simply taking into account the next word should be more than enough information to choose the right word. Thanks.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

Who are personal stocks for?

While the starting point will likely be future founders, increasingly, personal stocks will be for everyone.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

Personal Stock v0.9:

The Personal Stock is an instrument that lets a person share equity in their success across their life.

It defines success as a person's net economic upside from selling stakes in companies, other personal stocks, and similar instruments with extreme upside potential.

And it creates shares that represent a proportional participation in this upside.

Shareholding doesn't come with any control or influence over the person.

Nor does it come with any sort of claim or ownership of the underlying assets the person holds. Shareholding is only participation in the cash that comes from in-scope assets, net of losses, transaction fees, and taxes.

Many of the personal stock's features resemble a company. It borrows the company's patterns around issuing and transacting shares. And it also introduces new features and patterns that are required to make this work for a person.

It lets a person define a floor: a portion of their upside that they retain before shareholders participate. This lets people carve out a safety net so that their basic needs and lifestyle goals aren't jeopardized by sharing equity in their success.

It lets a person buy back shares from any shareholder without requiring their permission, so that they can eject misaligned or toxic shareholders.

But they do not choose the price at which they buy back shares. That price is determined by a formula that aims to reflect the latest price of their shares.

It lets a person control their liquidity. Equity is scarce. I expect people to be thoughtful about who they share their equity with and how much they share, to maximize their success.

It lets shareholders vote on whether to reinvest the person's upside back into them to fuel growth or distribute pro rata to shareholders.

At a person's death, their assets that are within the scope of this instrument are liquidated, and those gains are distributed pro rata to shareholders (including the person's estate).

A personal stock is represented by two structures:

1. A legal agreement
2. A state ledger

The agreement contains all of the details about how the personal stock works, including formulas that the person has defined, such as their floor.

Every shareholder signs the agreement before they can hold shares. And they are never bound to an agreement that they have not signed.

This instrument is early. In the initial years and decades, I expect a lot of iteration. This is another area where buybacks are critical. A personal stock owner needs the ability to buy out shareholders who are no longer aligned with the direction they want to iterate in (i.e., who don't agree with a new version of the agreement).

The state ledger contains all of the events related to the personal stock, allowing you to derive information such as holdings, the cap table, etc.

Since this instrument is legally grounded, in the case of legitimate fraud, parties have access to courts.

For everything outside of fraud, the market will handle it. For example, a personal stock owner who doesn't offer liquidity for their shareholders will find it hard to attract future shareholders, and their behavior will reflect in their valuation. Reputation matters. As the market matures, it will increasingly incentivize good behavior.

The Personal Stock is open source. This is something that we will create together. I can't imagine a future without personal stocks. Eventually, every single person will have one. It's important that we design this instrument to be safe and useful.

I've designed this instrument for myself. I'm sure other people will have different goals and needs. Feel free to fork.

This is a work in progress. I'd appreciate feedback!

Repo: https://t.co/mblJWgAvHD

Thanks @AksharYadavalli, @gautamtata, and @akaranam for feedback on drafts.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@dvvdle Beautiful

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@amasad AI is "no code".

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

The best investors already invest in people.

The idea and everything else is secondary.

Personal stocks will let us more directly express this.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

https://t.co/mG15RnQesv

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

Personal Stock v0.9:

The Personal Stock is an instrument that lets a person share equity in their success across their life.

It defines success as a person's net economic upside from selling stakes in companies, other personal stocks, and similar instruments with extreme upside potential.

And it creates shares that represent a proportional participation in this upside.

Shareholding doesn't come with any control or influence over the person.

Nor does it come with any sort of claim or ownership of the underlying assets the person holds. Shareholding is only participation in the cash that comes from in-scope assets, net of losses, transaction fees, and taxes.

Many of the personal stock's features resemble a company. It borrows the company's patterns around issuing and transacting shares. And it also introduces new features and patterns that are required to make this work for a person.

It lets a person define a floor: a portion of their upside that they retain before shareholders participate. This lets people carve out a safety net so that their basic needs and lifestyle goals aren't jeopardized by sharing equity in their success.

It lets a person buy back shares from any shareholder without requiring their permission, so that they can eject misaligned or toxic shareholders.

But they do not choose the price at which they buy back shares. That price is determined by a formula that aims to reflect the latest price of their shares.

It lets a person control their liquidity. Equity is scarce. I expect people to be thoughtful about who they share their equity with and how much they share, to maximize their success.

It lets shareholders vote on whether to reinvest the person's upside back into them to fuel growth or distribute pro rata to shareholders.

At a person's death, their assets that are within the scope of this instrument are liquidated, and those gains are distributed pro rata to shareholders (including the person's estate).

A personal stock is represented by two structures:

1. A legal agreement
2. A state ledger

The agreement contains all of the details about how the personal stock works, including formulas that the person has defined, such as their floor.

Every shareholder signs the agreement before they can hold shares. And they are never bound to an agreement that they have not signed.

This instrument is early. In the initial years and decades, I expect a lot of iteration. This is another area where buybacks are critical. A personal stock owner needs the ability to buy out shareholders who are no longer aligned with the direction they want to iterate in (i.e., who don't agree with a new version of the agreement).

The state ledger contains all of the events related to the personal stock, allowing you to derive information such as holdings, the cap table, etc.

Since this instrument is legally grounded, in the case of legitimate fraud, parties have access to courts.

For everything outside of fraud, the market will handle it. For example, a personal stock owner who doesn't offer liquidity for their shareholders will find it hard to attract future shareholders, and their behavior will reflect in their valuation. Reputation matters. As the market matures, it will increasingly incentivize good behavior.

The Personal Stock is open source. This is something that we will create together. I can't imagine a future without personal stocks. Eventually, every single person will have one. It's important that we design this instrument to be safe and useful.

I've designed this instrument for myself. I'm sure other people will have different goals and needs. Feel free to fork.

This is a work in progress. I'd appreciate feedback!

Repo: https://t.co/mblJWgAvHD

Thanks @AksharYadavalli, @gautamtata, and @akaranam for feedback on drafts.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

https://t.co/1gouO2ziFU

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@willyhopps @A24 @osmo_studio Awesome!

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@emilkowalski or both or something else

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@emilkowalski Do you think AI can help produce artisinal meaningful things?

Trying to distinguish whether you think this is a filtering problem or a problem with the process of creating with AI itself - that is is inherently more difficult to produce artisinal products with care using AI.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

A founder must be able to swiftly and fluidly move across all levels of abstractions and time horizons. From story to code. From this moment to decades later.

What you create must work today and you need to make sure you're climbing the right hill in the long run.

And actually I don't think it's "movement". It's almost as if the mind must be able to perceive extreme ends of the spectrum simultaneously when thinking about something.

Instantaneous intuition rather than shifting back and forth.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@thesohom2 right! and to also incentivize their help across a much longer time horizon.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

It takes a village.

The further we want to go, the greater the support we need.

That's why I'm working on an open-source legal instrument that lets us share equity in our success across life, so that we can incentivize people to help us realize our potential.

Like a company, you would have shares that others can hold. Your shareholders would have a proportional claim on the wealth you'll create through stakes in companies (and similar assets with extreme upside potential), across your life.

In the way a founder shares equity in their company, you can share equity in your life – with teachers, mentors, collaborators, and anyone who can help you on your journey itself.

By holding a stake in your success, your shareholders are incentivized to help you succeed across everything you may ever work on, and even to help you discover the right things to work on.

This also lets you raise venture capital to finance bold exploration and experimentation that isn't tied to a specific company. Capital that you can raise even before you start a company or work at one.

This instrument is creator-first by design. Shareholding is not a claim on your income, only on upside, and it doesn't come with any control or influence over your life. You control who holds your shares and can buy back shares from misaligned shareholders. You can carve out a safety net of future wealth that is excluded from shareholder claims. You can reinvest your profits to fuel your growth, and also earn royalties when you create wealth for your shareholders.

I'm working toward launching myself so that I can build my village.

If you want to launch yourself / help me launch / have feedback, let's chat!

More:

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

I wish it told me at the start how long it would likely take.

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

everyone should use git

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

lawyers should use git

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

@aadilpickle congrats!!

[Karthik Uppu @koopuluri]

lawyers should use git