Economies Shared
Below is the Founding Vision of Atlas. As Founders, we hope that this speaks to the same passion for human progress in you, as it does to all of us at Atlas — for we all share a collective duty to empower others so that they may be truly free to co-create a world with limitless potential.
Share economy. It is a phrase used by many to coin the phenomenon trail-blazed by startups like Airbnb and Uber. And to be sure, it is the future system for commerce; in an increasingly connected world, value lies in empowering individuals by enabling them to share their assets with one another.
At Atlas, we think that the future is even bigger than that. What is bigger than just a car or a home — what is needed to even have a car or a home — — is money itself, and in turn, economies themselves.
“Our North Star at Atlas is to take share economy and transform it into Economies Shared.”
Our North Star at Atlas is to take share economy and transform it into Economies Shared. We want to connect the world so that money itself becomes a shared asset, and banking becomes decentralized, with individuals coming together to grow communities, and communities bonding to grow economies. This isn’t impossible — it is inevitable.
This starts by providing value to individuals at the local level, and always focusing on them first and foremost. It is about carefully listening to their needs. Because it is not in building for them, but rather in the process of building with them, that you find the way to solve their problems.
“People are innately cooperative, and have survived on their own for centuries without any outside help.”
The way in which to get there is Community. And community is not something that is created — it is fostered, because, it already exists. Informal trusted communities are ubiquitous throughout the world. People are innately cooperative, and have survived on their own for centuries without any outside help. Atlas’ value is to simply plug into these networks, connect them, and thereby allow them to thrive through collective leverage. The value to the individual becomes expounded as the network grows. It is by leveraging existing networks of trust, that we can deliver this value.
Imagine a world where people can grow their money and grow their businesses. Where communities can leverage their pool of assets for even better value. And finally, where communities become connected.
“In short, it is not about simply banking the unbanked, but letting the unbanked bank each other.”
Imagine a world built together by individuals. Where one day, all of the things that money can buy for a nation — roads, trash pickup, real estate development, from hospitals to apartments, from football fields to schools — can be supported, shared, and owned, by the people. In short, it is not about simply banking the unbanked, but letting the unbanked bank each other.
“History is full of people who wanted to rule the world, but the future will be forged by freeing the world from rules.”
What is underneath all of this is the philosophy of conscious capitalism. It is often misconceived that individual liberty and utilitarianism are at odds with one another. At Atlas we think these two schools of thought are not mutually exclusive, but rather both central to a free and better world. History is full of people who wanted to rule the world, but the future will be forged by freeing the world from rules. Free market principles and incentives, together with communal care and responsibility is the way forward.
This is why we chose to build Atlas using the blockchain. The blockchain is the very representation of free market meeting community — a decentralized technology that uses natural incentives to solve the problem of trust. Atlas is built on a system of modular APIs that talks to the blockchain and securely memorializes the data of every transaction. And within Atlas, sits Atlas Labs, our blockchain innovation hub. Atlas labs is the engine that drives innovation above and beyond the mission at Atlas, creating new blockchain technologies that are open and accessible to all.
“What unites us is our common belief in the greater good.”
These values, this embedded sense of trust and community, of freedom and love, is anchored within the Atlas Team itself. We are a family. And that feeling of family must be maintained as we grow and help others to grow. As we connect the world, what unites us is our common belief in the greater good. This is the essence of global citizenship, and in order to realize this, we must maintain diversity.
Within our small team of just under 20, we already represent 8 countries. Yet, diversity is not simply about varying backgrounds, genders and nationalities. Healthy diversity is about different perspectives wed together by a singular purpose, exemplified by certain traits. At Atlas, the traits we hold dear are simple but essential. Great Minds and Big Hearts, which coupled together, result in an unyielding hunger and drive for making the world a finer place in which to coexist.
If we are to evolve, if we are to obtain a brighter tomorrow, we must first become free to build it for ourselves.
At the end of the day there is one thing we want to do, and that is deliver the tools necessary for maintaining a free life and building a free society. A global society, composed of local communities, connected by economies shared. Because if we are to evolve, if we are to obtain a brighter tomorrow, we must first become free to build it for ourselves.
This vision is not ours, but shared by all. We are a platform, you have the tools, and together, we will recreate the world.
Together,
Mickey & James
