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That would mean that programmers need to go and start their own companies.

And thus become purse holders. The cycle repeats.

What about worker-owned collectives in technology?

This has seen some adoption in manufacturing and industry, but I am only aware of a few in tech.

FWIW, my comment was tongue-in-cheek.

I'm a programmer and I started a business. I think it's unlikely I would have been able to successfully organise a cooperative, so I have a fairly standard business where people write code with me and I pay them.

From a simplified perspective, isn't a collective "just" paying those people you work with a higher portion (and probably expecting more responsibility out of them)?

It’s also much higher risk and opportunity cost up front. Having to convince a team of people that they should adopt my vision and also not get paid for a year is tough. Not impossible, but really rather tough.

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