There is an excellent book called 'Maverick' about a Brazilian manufacturing company that, while not owned by the workers, gets much closer than almost any other business. I highly recommend that all founders read it
Semco. You may want to read Ricardo Semler's book http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workpl... it's 20 years old but for some reason it's not a classic in startups or US business environments (edit: oh I see someone mentioned it). He wrote a more recent book I haven't read: http://www.amazon.com/Seven-Day-Weekend-Changing-Work-Works-... anyone with comments on this one?
You're not alone. Here's an early variant of such a policy. SEMCO, a Brazilian company run by Ricardo Semler, has since 1980s had the policy where people could set their own salaries.
Some excerpts off his book on 37signals: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/945-excerpts-from-ricardo-sem...
His book: http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workpl...
I'll echo the recommendation for Maverick, I believe that it was (maybe still is) the top selling book in Brazil. http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workpl...
https://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workp...
Some excerpts off his book on 37signals: http://37signals.com/svn/posts/945-excerpts-from-ricardo-sem...
His book: http://www.amazon.com/Maverick-Success-Behind-Unusual-Workpl...