About nested
Our story
Nested was officially incorporated as a California LLC with co-op soul in April of 2021, but the idea behind it was conceived 9 months earlier, during a last-minute conversation on a hot summer morning in Berkeley. The months that followed were filled with countless discussions about the future of our planet, the power of collaboration, the unique opportunities that arise when we are surrounded by brilliant and like-minded people, and the possibility of shaping our own future, procuring our own employment, working under our own terms, and always doing so amongst the best of friends.
None of this would have ever been possible without those long and unforgettable pizza nights, brainstorming on the floor in our old house off of San Pablo Avenue, and without the infinite support of our friends, partners, families, and the amazing community that is the MDP.
Why we exist
How could we not?! There are so many reasons why we were driven to create nested, both for us and for the rest of the world.
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For us. We wanted to create and work in an organization that prioritizes mental health, community values, collaboration, and creativity over making a profit. Building from these foundational elements is especially important when tackling some of the most complex challenges on Earth. Nested is first and foremost a space for us to feel safe, valued, and motivated to grow and develop personally and professionally. We work hard every day to make that happen, in togetherness.
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For others. We will all experience the effects of climate change, poverty, inequality, pollution, biodiversity loss, resource depletion, and so many more global issues in the coming years, but there is so much we can do to address these challenges. Our first step was to unite. Now we are harnessing our collective brain power and multicultural, multidisciplinary perspectives to navigate towards a future of abundance, equity, resilience, happiness, and respect for all life on Earth.
"I don't want to take part in the world in the same way that I see it causing a lot of suffering to people. I want to take part in the world in such a way that it creates more happiness, kindness, more thoughtfulness, more care."
What we are
Humans tend to search for ways to define and categorize everything in order to create a functional society. Perhaps "efficient" is a more accurate term here. When we set out to design nested, we were forced to fit into a preexisting box (e.g. a consulting firm), but there is no type of existing entity that comes close to what we are. Legally, at least.
Nested is officially a Limited Liability Company (or LLC) because it was the most flexible structure we could find. However, we work as a worker cooperative in terms of how we make decisions and distribute profits. You could also think of us as a networked organization or a teal organization. We consider ourselves an "organic" organization (vs. a mechanistic one). The bottom line is that our form follows function, and not vice-versa. Nested is a living organism that grows, develops, and evolves to meet the needs of its people and to align with its environmental context.
How we work
One of the (many) unique aspects of nested is that we are redefining how we work together as a networked organization. Our community has core team members (also named co-CEOs), an extended network of practitioners (nested-X), a growing group of specialists, and our advisors. This is how each group operates:
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Co-CEOs. These individuals form nested's nervous system. They make sure the organization remains functional and healthy (i.e., does the organizational management work?), as well as procure projects and perform rapid teaming to bring together the right talent for each project.
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Nested-X. Our extended network brings together extraordinary individuals with unique skills and knowledge across countless fields of discipline. They act as internal consultants, offering expertise to those carrying out projects, and may also team up to join pre-existing projects or even team up to work on their own projects independently.
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Specialists. Our specialists are people with an average of 15+ years of expertise in a very specific field of knowledge. They work with us exclusively as internal consultants, ensuring that our work is always of the best quality.
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Advisors. Our advisors are extremely valuable to nested, as they provide guidance on operational best practices, business insights, and networks that we need to thrive and fulfill our mission.