Camplight: Innovating with a Cooperative Model

The RenDanHeYi model, developed by Haier Group CEO Zhang Ruimin in 2005, is revolutionary management philosophy aimed at transforming traditional hierarchical corporate structures into highly adaptive, customer-centric ecosystems. Rooted in the belief that employees (Ren) and their entrepreneurial capabilities should align with customer needs (Dan) to create value, the model emphasizes individual accountability and dynamic organizational roles (HeYi). By dismantling conventional silos, the RenDanHeYi model fosters a network of autonomous micro-enterprises within the larger corporate entity, transforming the organization into a nimble startup factory.

To develop and share the idea of Zero Distance and its broader management philosophy of RenDanHeYi, Haier hosts an annual forum to celebrate the world's most progressive organizations. This September marks the 8th edition of the forum, taking place in Haier’s hometown, Qingdao, on September 20. Working with the Business Ecosystem Alliance and the Management Lab, the Haier Model Institute will release the inaugural listing of the progressive companies which are putting Zero Distance and related ideas into practice.

These organizations are characterized by:

• Zero Distance to customer | Decision what to build is based on insights from the marketplace

• Autonomy | Small teams with full decision-making autonomy enable speed in execution

• Shared Rewards | Everyone in the micro-enterprise participates in its financial success

For the 2024 inaugural ZeroDX awards, Haier approached us to list 50 self-managed organizations that showcase the principles of RenDanHeYi in how they organise their work. Camplight is one of the 50 organisations we listed this year.

Introducing Camplight

Founded in 2012, Camplight is worker-owned cooperative based in Bulgaria and comprises 18 co-owners and 50-70 project-based employees. The cooperative focuses on software services and venture-building initiatives. Camplight operates with a strong commitment to social impact, aiming to create a collaborative and transparent environment where every team member has a stake in the company's success. Their purpose is to innovate while maintaining a high standard of ethics and social responsibility.

Camplight is a prime example of RenDanHeYi principles in the software development industry. It has no bosses, teams are project-driven and autonomy extends to every project-related decision. Company-level decisions are voted between the owners who also distribute a part of the profit as dividends. Customer - centricity is evident in their agile approach to work, but also in their transparent interactions with clients who have detailed information on internal project set-up, pricing, etc. Moreover, Camplight has become a test bed for new ventures by launching its own products and acting as a technology co-founder of ventures. A prime example among these is Team-GPT.

Organizational Structure

Camplight operates with a cooperative structure that emphasizes transparency, shared responsibility, and participatory decision-making. The company eschews traditional hierarchical models in favor of a dynamic role system, where members can create, merge, or split roles based on context. Co-owners set their own salaries through a transparent process involving peer feedback, ensuring fairness and alignment with their contributions. Each decision is taken via voting where each co-owner has the right to one vote regardless of their time of joining the business. This structure fosters a culture of trust and continuous improvement, with regular retrospectives to refine practices.

Customer Centricity and Autonomy

Camplight’s customer-centric approach prioritizes projects with significant social impact, including collaborations with private hospitals, educational institutions, and fintech companies. Employees work on projects autonomously, ensuring that client needs are met effectively and innovatively. The company’s value-driven pricing model emphasizes the value delivered to clients rather than hourly billing, enhancing client satisfaction and loyalty. This approach along with the radical transparency in their relations with partners (the way clients are called in the company) allows Camplight to build strong, long-term relationships, some of which have been around almost since the inception of the cooperative​​.

Camplight has consistently demonstrated excellence through numerous notable achievements with the businesses it supports. Their products have been recognized as the #1 Product of the Day on Product Hunt and consistently ranked as market leaders in various categories throughout 2023. Additionally, their solutions have been adopted by Fortune 500 companies, showcasing the high regard and trust placed in their innovative capabilities. Camplight's influence extends further with significant milestones, including helping clients secure acquisitions worth $450M USD and obtain seed funding amounting to $11M. Furthermore, the companies they collaborate with operate over $3B+ in transaction volume, emphasizing the substantial economic impact and value delivered through their partnership.

The customer centricity is particularly evident in the venture-building initiatives of the cooperative. For example, Camplight became a technical co-founder of Team-GPT - an intuitive GPT chat that represents a shared workspace where everyone can share knowledge, collaborate, and master AI together. It comes with online courses, saved prompts, templates, adoption reports, etc. Harnessing a "built in public" strategy, Camplight developed the MVP within 7 days for ideation and 24k users were actively using the tool within less than 9 months.

Internal Culture and Employee Engagement

Camplight’s culture is built on inclusivity, transparency, and ongoing personal and professional development. The company operates without traditional project management, relying instead on an ownership mindset where each team member tracks their tasks and time. This promotes accountability and ensures that all team members are aware of each other's contributions. Additionally, Camplight provides structured professional development opportunities, including workshops, courses, mentorship programs, and conferences. Salaries are based on the value added to client projects, with bonuses or salary increases reflecting individual contributions. The cooperative also practices full transparency in its pricing model and through active involvement in decision-making, employees feel empowered and integral to the company's success.

Partnerships and Community Involvement

Camplight is a founding member of Patio, a global community of tech cooperatives. Patio connects 1,500 people from 25 countries, structured in circles following sociocracy principles. This network allows Camplight to collaborate with other like-minded organizations, share resources, and outsource projects, expanding their impact and reach. Members of the community benefit from shared deals, with a percentage of closed deals via referrals going back to the community. This model fosters a supportive ecosystem that amplifies the cooperative's mission globally​.

Conclusion

Camplight stands out as a forward-thinking cooperative that integrates state of the art technologies with a strong commitment to social impact and employee empowerment. Through its flat organizational structure, customer-centric approach, and active community involvement, Camplight continues to set new standards in the software industry. The patio.com which has been established to service clients better as well as its transparent approach to client engagements is another testament to the level of application of RenDanHeYi principles in its business design.