Upstock allows teams of all sizes to easily issue & manage worker equity. With Upstock, business owners can set up a worker equity system in minutes instead of months, at a price point up to 40x more affordable than lawyers.Upstock’s product includes:• Legally binding equity agreements, bulletproofed by the world’s top equity lawyers• Fortune 1000-grade equity units (RSUs), reducing legal & tax burdens for workers• Performance algorithm, allowing employers to easily adjust equity granted for different tasks & time periods• Motivational dashboard, allowing employers & workers to watch equity grow in real timeTo explore using Upstock with your workers, please contact info@upstock.io to schedule a conversation with our team.To learn more about investing in Upstock during our next round, please send me a direct message on LinkedIn or contact me at casey@upstock.io.

Each year, I keynote at a select group of conferences about my expertise in tech entrepreneurship, trust building, cooperative systems, and hacking human ego.I’ve spent the last 20 years building cooperative technology. As the original founder of Couchsurfing, the largest trust experiment of all time, I helped to spearhead the sharing economy & grow the platform to over 20 million users worldwide.Let me know if you would like me to speak at your next event.

I was the original founder of Couchsurfing & continue as Founding Chairman of the Board. Couchsurfing has allowed over 20 million people across the globe to gain new experiences by connecting with locals during their travels.Couchsurfing started off as a revolutionary experiment in trust, conducted in an era where very few people used the internet to connect in real life. Launched nearly a decade before the term “sharing economy” existed, Couchsurfing was likely the first platform to build upon the community-based reference system now widely used at Airbnb, Uber, and more.Over the last two decades, Couchsurfing has grown to more than 20 million users and raised over $20 million in funding from top VCs, including Benchmark Capital and General Catalyst.Fun facts about my time at Couchsurfing:• I programmed the original website myself, writing nearly a million lines of code over several years to birth Couchsurfing into existence• Together with a team, I launched one of the world’s most expansive ambassador programs, mobilizing thousands of people across the world to spread the Couchsurfing ethos in their communities• As a result of the site’s traction and cultural relevance, “couchsurfing” was added to the Oxford English Dictionary in 2008• Couchsurfing allowed me to deeply study cooperation & collaboration on a macro level, providing insight for my keynote speeches & giving rise to my current company, Upstock

Wonder was an experiment in social technology, built on the idea that anonymous 360-degree feedback is a valuable technique to activate people’s positive potential. Over the three years of Wonder’s existence, I raised over $2.1 million and led a team of dozens of dedicated workers to test these hypotheses in real-world conditions.

Founded this company (like Upwork or Elance at the time). Was acquired by largest tech staffing company in New England within a year of founding. Spend a few million on payroll and then the dot com bubble burst. I was able to sell my shares and move on. Amazing learning experience (going through an acquisition) for a 20 year old.