A Manifesto for Independent Founders

There have never been more of us. And yet most of us are still alone.

To build something of your own is to carry a vision by yourself: every decision yours, every risk yours, every setback yours to absorb. We chose this, and most of us would choose it again. But many alone is still alone.

Around our efforts, an industry has grown. Clouds, platforms, payment processors, model providers, marketplaces: multitudes of businesses that exist partly because we exist. Every one of them is organised. Every one of them deals with each of us one at a time. They sell to us, write about us, and claim to speak for us, and not one of them represents us. The asymmetry is nobody's malice. It is simply what happens when everyone else has a body, and we do not.

The Independent Founders Alliance is meant to be that body. One that is dedicated to representing our interests, and no one else's. To address, and where we can resolve, the systemic disadvantages each of us faces alone.

The path is still ours to walk. No alliance can build your vision for you, and we do not want one that tries. What it can change is how much of the load you need to carry alone. Knowledge someone else already paid for. Honest numbers nobody else will publish. A name to vouch for you when the gate demands someone's signature. A clear voice that says together what none of us can afford to say alone. And the company of sisters and brothers who carry the same weight, on a road that is defined by our own choices.

For the alliance to fulfil its purpose, the following must hold true:

What we build together stays free, and available to all.

The Compact is what this alliance gives us.

The Charter is what safeguards the alliance from any attempt to disrupt or betray it.

Come and walk with us.

Dave London
Independent founder. First member. Signed 2026-08-09.

Version 0.5 draft · 2026-08-09 · amendable by simple majority of voting members once governance forms; until then, by the founder, with every change dated and published