Technology people can truly own—private, durable, and local-first.
Tech of Our Own is building non-extractive consumer technology that gives people control of their devices and data. We start with OurBox, a local-first personal server you can own outright.
Vision
A world where people own their technology—their devices and their data— without surveillance, lock-in, or dependency on extractive companies.
We want consumer technology to feel like tools you can trust: local-first, repairable, understandable, and built to serve human life for decades.
Mission
Tech of Our Own exists to build non-extractive consumer technology that makes people more capable, more private, and more free.
- Ship local-first products that keep personal data and computation under the user’s control.
- Build in public with open-source, always-on practices, auditable security, and shared knowledge.
- Design for long life through repairability, upgrade paths, and long-term support.
- Refuse dependency business models: no subscriptions, no hostage mechanics, no data sales.
- Structure governance so users and workers are represented and benefit.
Who we are
Stakeholder-led company
We’re mission-locked and built for two constitutional memberships: users and workers. They’re represented in governance and share in the upside—so the company can’t quietly drift into extraction.
Governed for longevity
Our constitution and board operations documents define non-negotiables, transparent governance, and long-term stewardship so the company cannot drift into extraction or lock-in.
What we do
OurBox, the first flagship
OurBox is our starting point: a local-first personal server that runs at home, keeps data private, and stays useful without a subscription.
Future product categories
The mission extends to any future product category where people need technology that respects them—phones, appliances, robotics, and beyond—while keeping ownership and autonomy intact.
Non-negotiables
No subscriptions. Ever.
We will not charge recurring fees for consumer features, access, updates, or any functionality.
Local-first forever
Product functionality must work locally without reliance on TOOO-operated services.
No hostage mechanics
Users are never forced to pay ongoing fees to access their devices, data, or safety features.
User data is not a product
No sale of user data, no behavioral advertising, and no hidden telemetry.
Open source, always
All software is open source with auditable security and reproducible processes.
Right to repair
We design for durability, publish repair guidance, and support long-life product paths.
Exit to self-sufficiency
Interoperability and exportability ensure people can operate without us over time.
Governed by users and workers, not shareholders
Most tech companies are built to answer upward—to investors, owners, founders, and shareholders. Tech of Our Own is built to answer outward: to the people who use the product and the people who build it.
Co-op governance, in practice
- Users elect 3 stewards. The people living with the product get real representation.
- Workers elect 3 stewards. The people doing the work protect quality and integrity.
- Together, that’s 6 of 7 seats. The community holds the majority.
Incentives drive everything
Mission and good intention and ethos are almost always overcome by incentives. In modern tech, that incentive is almost always profit, for the owners and the workers.
Close the profit feedback loop
By closing the profit feedback loop with users—returning value through dividends— a cooperative can escape the vicious cycle that reliably degrades even the most beloved products and companies over time.
Remove “exit events”
By removing liquidity “exit events” from worker incentives, or "equity sales" to shareholders, the only ones left to serve are the users.
We build in public
Open organization, always
We keep our organization, documentation, and product work in the open so anyone can inspect decisions, follow progress, or contribute directly.
This includes our governance docs, product families, and public roadmaps—because trust means showing the work.
Contribute on GitHub
Explore the full organization to see what we’re working on and where you can help.
Shared surplus & transparency
Surplus returns to the people who make it possible
Each year we publish a Dividend Pool: free cash flow minus required reserves and minimum reinvestment. If it is positive, it is split 50/50 between users and workers—no founder toll.
Plain-language reporting
We publish annual governance reports, reserve status, dividend distributions, and plain-language financial summaries so members can see—clearly—whether we’re upholding the mission.
Pay is capped by a published ratio
Total compensation is capped: the highest-paid person cannot make more than 10× the median total compensation (measured annually).