FFForward Blueprint — Genesis

We’ve been running FFForward under the radar for quite some time now. To the point that many of you might not even know what I’m talking about.

FFForward is the company I started about four years ago with Dagmara, Laura, Ece, and Rio. At that time, we were all working independently and decided to create a business vehicle that would enable us to collaborate more seamlessly, particularly on complex projects, without making it an exclusive engagement.

In a nutshell, FFForward pairs up a lean resourcing model that feels more like a collective, with a legal structure and operational model that feels more like an agency. Less the non-sense overheads for fancy offices and poor marketing content. Or the always fashionable habit of charging for senior practitioners while hiring interns to do the job.

Whenever I introduce FFForward to someone in a position similar to where I was before we started this business (freelancing or working for a traditional company), I often notice wonder and enthusiasm. People are intrigued and want to know more. Does something like this really exist? How does it work exactly? How can I get involved?

I think the balance between freedom and structure is what really strikes people. Usually, you either have one or the other.

As a freelancer or independent professional, you tend to have lots of freedom but not enough structure to address more complex projects. Working in a traditional company, you tend to have more structure but less freedom to go after the things you really care about. Being these projects or anything else you want to do in life.

We came up with a formula that works for us, and we’ve tested and iterated it for over four years now. The two pillars are a dynamic equity model and a self-management approach. Our members can contribute as much or as little as they want to the business, and their level of involvement will directly impact their ownership or control of the business. At the same time, they’ll always be free to do things their own way. We’re all experienced enough to manage projects without a committee chiming in on every decision.

In future posts, I’ll delve deeper into the specifics of our model, but to get you started, you can check out Mike Moyer’s Slicing Pie model and Frederic Laloux’s Reinventing Organizations. While we haven’t replicated these models to the T, they have definitely inspired our approach.

Although our approach may sound new and unconventional, we’re not alone in this. It’s happening in various industries, and it’s just a matter of time before similar models become mainstream.

My hope is that being more public with the things we do at FFForward will speed up this transition. So here I am, making a resolution for sharing our ways of working, processes, learnings, and mistakes along the way. Our “Blueprint” so to speak.

If you’re keen to learn more about FFForward or to get involved, you can find me here: jon@ffforward.com. You can also subscribe to this Medium feed for future releases.