Post-growth DNA

Disrupt Development is pioneering the world’s first post-growth enterprise model in the global development space.

Wait. What is post-growth

“Post-growth” is a worldview that sees society operating better without the demand of constant financial growth. A post- growth economy puts living systems and everything needed to maintain it at the center of economic and social activity as opposed to the never-ending accumulation of money, and the pursuit of growth of all kinds without regard for its consequences.

Disrupt Development believes that we can only achieve a radically better world for people and the planet if societies and businesses actually put social impact above the relentless pursuit of economic growth. We therefore question entrepreneurial common wisdom and re-envision business as a vehicle for pure positive impact as opposed to exponential financial growth.

How? Steward-Ownership

We life our post-growth vision by being a steward-owned enterprise. Unlike 99,99% of (social) enterprises, Disrupt Development guards purpose over profit. In its core ‘steward ownership’ is the most progressive and radical legal form globally where an enterprise can do most good.

Traditionally, a for-profit (social) enterprise exists to maximize returns for its shareholders (shareholder capitalism). In many national legislations, it is stated that shareholder profit should be the north star guiding the decisions of its management. This fact that all decisions in (social) enterprises are being made to maximize financial returns for the shareholders is one of the major factors that the world is in all the crises like inequality, climate change, pollution, poverty, etc.

Disrupt Development ‘hacked’ this (shareholder) capitalistic system:

  • The charity of Disrupt Development is the only shareholder of the Disrupt Development enterprise.

  • Usually shareholders have voting rights (decision-making) and financial rights (profits/dividend). We have organized it differently:"

    • Voting rights - Governance and decision-making is decentralized and is executed by Disrupt Development members directly involved in running the enterprise or directly connected to it, rather than by shareholders, investors, or outside influences.

    • Financial rights - Profits are reinvested or donated towards advancing the purpose of Disrupt Development via the Disrupt Development foundation.

      Our stewards are the guardians of our enterprise.

Our stewards are the guardian of our enterprise. And we can’t be sold as a commodity in the future. Disruptive right? And this movement is growing. Patagonia, Bosch, Carlsberg, Triodos Bank and many more enterprises are transforming into genuine social enterprises.

  • We immerse ourselves in the context of the problem we’re attempting to remedy.

  • We define the change objectives and create a vision of scale & sustainability.

  • We brainstorm possible solutions and generate radical alternatives, backing them with evidence.

  • We co-create a prototype or pilot project. We start small, run experiments to accelerate the pace of learning, save time and money, and minimize risk.

  • We work towards the adopting of the product, project or program across large geographies and populations. We explore what partners, resources and financial modalities are needed to reach sustainable scale.

  • We support the wide-scale adoption of the product, project or program to be sustained by an ecosystem of actors, moving beyond the timespan of the project or programme.

Our Approach