Start Here¶
From curious stranger to verified owner — in four steps.¶
This page is for people who are ready to stop reading and start doing. It tells you exactly what happens when you join, in the order it happens. No surprises.
Step 1 — Pick Your License on Open Collective¶
Everything starts at one place:
opencollective.com/smartup-zero
Open Collective is our financial home. It is an open, transparent platform where every transaction — every license purchase, every expense, every euro in the treasury — is publicly visible. No hidden accounts. No mystery funds.
When you buy a license there, you are not buying a product. You are making a contribution to a collective experiment and receiving ownership in return.
Open Collective is our financial department
The euros you contribute sit in the Open Collective treasury. They are the real-world backing behind Smartup Credits (SC). Every SC ever earned by a contributor represents a future €1 claim on that treasury. The mechanism for redemption is being built by the first team captains — transparently, in the open, as part of the experiment itself.
The 4 Licenses¶
| License | Contribution | What You Get |
|---|---|---|
| Campaign | €0 | Tell the story. Earn your watch or work license by gathering Social Karma (SK). |
| Watch | €100+ | Vote in governance. Full transparency access. |
| Work | €200+ | Join a team. Claim tasks. Earn Smartup Credits. |
| Organizational | €5,000+ | One institutional seat. One equal vote. |
Minimum contributions, not fixed prices
These are minimums. You are free to contribute more — and many people do, because they believe in what we're building. But contributing more gives you no extra votes, no extra power, no extra shares. One owner. One voice. That is the deal.
On the Founder License
There is no Founder License to buy. Founders are not investors — they are people who have proven their commitment through sustained contribution and peer-granted Social Karma. If you want to become a founder, start with a Work License and show up consistently. The community will recognise you when the time is right.
Step 2 — Watch Your Inbox (Within 48 Hours)¶
After your Open Collective contribution is confirmed, two things happen:
Immediately: Open Collective sends you an automated confirmation email. It will contain instructions for the next step — how to register your identity and what information to prepare.
Within 48 hours: A team captain processes your information and runs the onboarding script that creates your identity in the SmartupOS ledger. You will receive a follow-up message with your next instructions.
This is currently a human-in-the-loop process
We are in Pre-Validation phase — building the lab, not yet running the full automated experiment. The 48-hour window is our commitment to you. If you haven't heard anything after 48 hours, reach out via Open Collective.
Step 3 — Ratify Your Identity¶
Once your captain has created your ledger entry, you will be invited to join
the Matrix workspace at owners.smartup0.org.
Matrix is our team communication platform — a federated, open-source, EU-sovereign alternative to Slack or Discord. Think of it as the room where all the work happens.
When you join, you will find Engelbot waiting for you. Engelbot is the AI-assisted middleware that connects your Matrix identity to your ledger record. Your first command will be:
!ratify
Engelbot will walk you through a short confirmation sequence. At the end of it, your Smartup Passport is issued — a permanent, cryptographically-linked record that ties your Matrix alias to your owner identity in the ledger.
From this moment, you are a verified owner of Smartup Zero.
What the Passport means
Your Passport is not a PDF or a certificate. It is a markdown file in an append-only ledger, timestamped and signed, permanently auditable by anyone in the organisation. It records your license type, your alias, and the moment you joined the experiment.
It cannot be revoked, altered, or deleted.
Step 4 — Take Your First Action¶
This is the step that matters most. Not because the action is large — it probably won't be — but because it is real.
It will be logged. Permanently. In a transparent ledger. Alongside every other action taken by every other owner, going back to the first day of the experiment.
What your first action looks like depends on your license:
Your first action: Find an open communications task and claim it.
You are here to tell the story of the experiment. That might mean writing a post, creating content, reaching out to a community, or translating material into your language.
Type !my_tasks in the workspace to see what's available.
Type !open_roles to find a role that fits your skills.
Every completed task earns you Social Karma (SK) — the reputation score that, over time, can grow into real governance power.
Your first action: Cast your first vote.
You have full visibility into the entire experiment. Every objective, every task, every euro — you can see it all. And when a governance proposal comes up, your vote counts exactly as much as the founder's.
Type !whoami to see your profile.
Type !show 5_0 to see the global mission overview.
Explore the General Forum to understand the current proposals.
Your first action: Apply for a role and claim your first task.
Type !open_roles to see what teams are looking for.
Type !apply to start a role application.
Once assigned, type !my_tasks to see your task queue.
Then: !start_work → do the work → !stop_work.
That cycle — start, work, stop — logs a session, moves the task to review, and sets you up for your first Smartup Credits (SC) assessment.
Your first action: Register your organisation's delegates.
Your captain will guide you through the group onboarding process. Once your organisation is registered in the ledger, you can appoint individual members as workers — each of whom joins the same workflow as any Work License holder.
Your organisation has one vote in governance. Always. Individual workers you appoint contribute and earn on their own merit.
The Short Version¶
flowchart LR
A["💳 Buy license\nopencollective.com/\nsmartup-zero"]
--> B["📬 Check email\nInstructions arrive\nwithin 48 hours"]
--> C["🤝 Join Matrix\nRun !ratify\nPassport issued"]
--> D["⚡ First action\nVote, claim a task,\nor tell the story"]
--> E["🌱 Build reputation\nSC + SK accumulate\nLeadership follows"]Questions Before You Commit?¶
That is completely reasonable. This is not a newsletter signup. You are joining a scientific experiment in collective ownership. Take the time you need.
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Compare all 5 licenses in detail
Rights, responsibilities, and earning potential for each path.
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How does SC work exactly?
How credits are earned, validated, and what they'll be redeemable for.
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What is Social Karma?
The reputation system that separates money from power.
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Understand the thesis first
Why does this exist? What problem does it solve? Start with the observation.
When you are ready:
Ready to Contribute?¶
Join the Project
Become a Smartup Zero owner
Reach out
Contact the 3_1_leadership_team with questions or remarks
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