#governance
101 posts
- 9/21/26Crypto
Skeptical Observer
In January someone made a cryptocurrency based on my life without asking me. I woke up to a DM from BigCrazyApe, “Yo Mike, there’s a KmikeyM coin on Bags. You might want to claim your earnings.” I…
- 9/16/26Business
Why 2008 Was the Perfect Year to Launch KmikeyM
I don’t remember where I was on September 15, 2008. My notebook skips the whole month. But I can tell you exactly what my shareholders voted on that September, because we did it in public and it is…
- 6/10/26Votes
On-Camera Training with AC Dickson
Background AC Dickson (Andrew Dickson) is an artist and filmmaker and I have been a fan and a collaborator of his for about twenty. The piece that first hooked me was AC Dickson: eBay PowerSeller, a…
- 5/7/26CTRL ALTZ
Vote: $5K in Dead Internet Theory
Should the KmikeyM shareholder fund be deployed into someone else’s project? The proposal: $5K as first money in on Paizley Lee’s Dead Internet Theory, a series of in-person retro cyber-café-like…
- 4/27/26Snacker.News
Snacker.News Relaunch
After a confidential resolution process with Mondelēz Global LLC, Snacker.News is pleased to resume publication. We thank Mondelēz Global LLC for their patience throughout this process and acknowledge…
- 2/27/26Shareholders
The Sacred Appliance
Jona Bechtolt’s new installation is four microwaves spinning on a platter, each displaying video of something inside a microwave. It’s about the screen we all stopped watching, and why that might be…
- 2/24/26Games
The Bot That Finished Second
Every month, KmikeyM shareholders play a poker tournament. $50 buy-in. Real money. Real stakes. The second Tuesday of every month since 2020. (Join us!) On February 10, 2026, for the first time, an AI…
- 1/25/26Crypto
Welcoming The Degens
Something Weird Happened A few weeks ago, someone created a token called $KMIKEYM on bags.fm. I didn’t ask for this. I didn’t authorize it. I had nothing to do with it. It felt like a scam. People…
- 11/10/25Business
90 Days in “Heads Down Mode”
I’ve been focused on the startup work at Vibes DIY, learning more about AI-assisted coding and doing a lot of video production. It’s been 90 days and I’m starting to come out of “heads down mode.”
- 8/30/25Shareholders
Membership
KmikeyM Memberships are here: a new system of shares and tiers that unlock trading tools, voting power, and insider access. From basic shareholder to boardroom seat, your level of involvement now…
- 7/12/25Finance
Trapped in UnSAFE Conditions
When I learned that Sahil Lavingia, founder of Gumroad, volunteered with DOGE to help gut services at the VA, I faced an ethical crisis. Trapped in a SAFE with no exit, I offered to surrender my…
- 6/24/25Appearance
M.I.K.E. Community Bond Program
The MIKE trust protocol extends the KmikeyM community spirit through a new endorsement system. Benefits include reputation boosts from Mike, while violations result in endorsements being revoked.
- 6/17/25Appearance
Aesthetic Drift
My evolving style journey started with Brooks Brothers to enhance the KmikeyM image. Over time and through personal experiences, it shifted to more casual wear and a new relationship with my wardrobe.…
- 6/4/25Votes
Private Investment Pickle
Trapped in a Crowd SAFE investment, and angered by the founders involvement with DOGE efforts against the VA, a vote to consider offering to take a full financial loss as a way to distance myself.
- 5/7/25Votes
One Pair of Sunglasses
I only get one pair of sunglasses. It’s either that, or I get contacts, or I suppose I could get rich and be able to afford many pairs. When you only get one pair, the question of which pair is more…
- 2/20/25Votes
McJob: Part 2
Back in September I asked the shareholders if I should just apply to McDonald’s. After a lot of discussion, the vote passed with 72% approval. I applied and I got hired. I was surprised by two things:…
- 2/2/25KmikeyM
KmikeyM Quick Start Guide
Players earn shares, vote on proposals, and engage in strategic discussions within the community. Users can shape Mike Merrill’s life and projects, maximizing their influence through voting and active…
- 12/19/24Votes
To Smell or Not to Smell?
The overwhelming McRib aroma turns the restaurant into a strange BBQ laboratory, making any pleasant scent a rare oasis. Two co-workers stand out with their subtle, refreshing fragrances, offering…
- 11/10/24KmikeyM
Hamburger Mornings
In the dark hours of the morning in the shadow of Elysian Park, on the banks of the concrete Los Angeles river, it’s time to wake up and get ready for a shift at the hamburger restaurant.
- 10/14/24KmikeyM
Choose Your Own Case Study
Hamburger Business Review’s second season invites listeners to vote on the inaugural case study exploring McDonald’s sustainability efforts, addressing environmental impacts and corporate…
- 9/15/24Votes
McJob
Facing job market challenges, Mike proposes applying for an entry-level position at a hamburger restaurant to regain confidence and financial stability.
- 8/5/24KmikeyM
1000 Episodes
To celebrate reaching 1000 episodes of the 3 Minute Review podcast we turned the microphone on a few of our listeners. Getting to 1000 3 Minute Review started back in 2019 as a movie review podcast.…
- 6/8/24Votes
Election for Board Seats
This is a record of the first election for the shareholder elected seats on the Board of Directors. The Process The election will happen in three parts. Part 3: The Final Vote The final vote ended…
- 4/14/24KmikeyM
The Board of Directors
This post will be updated as the board of directors is built out and defined. Last updated August 6, 2024. We will soon incorporate Membership Shares as approved by shareholder vote, and as part of…
- 2/23/24KmikeyM
How I’m Using ChatGPT
It took me a while to figure out how to use AI tools as something more than just a fun distraction. I mean, initially the fun distraction part was REALLY fun and REALLY distracting. I was building out…
- 2/20/24Mailing List
Build Week 2024
Last year we made a bunch of changes to the main page, to how you can buy shares, created new alerts, and started experimenting with Policy Votes. This year the focus is on building out features to…
- 2/17/24KmikeyM
Playing With Corporate Control
After the success of the Membership Shares proposal let’s look at how corporations use share classes to maintain total control of their companies. After looking at Meta and Alphabet I was curious how…
- 2/7/24KmikeyM
Membership Shares
Well, hello shareholders but mostly non-shareholders. I have 1,194 shareholders but there are 3,582 people subscribed to this list. I expect many of those people have created an account on KmikeyM,…
- 2/3/24Reports
AAR: South Sea Bubble Video
I like to do an AAR on projects. Most people I’ve worked with on projects are afraid of an AAR because it highlights the flaws and limits of their success (more here). What Happened What was supposed…
- 1/29/24Mailing List
New Policies For Shareholder Control
As part of an ever-refining attempt to perfect experiment with my own process as a publicly traded person I’m updating the Policy Votes! The idea behind Policy Votes is “always-on” votes that change…
- 1/26/24Votes
2024 Q1 Policy Votes
At the beginning of 2023 I started to experiment with “always on” policy votes. These votes represent some aspect of my life that is controlled by shareholders, but rather than a single vote the votes…
- 1/9/24Votes
Project Vote: if/come Podcast
We want to make a podcast that shows you how a Hollywood television writer constructs a pitch, and all the work that goes into it, and all the ups and downs that follow. if/come [ if / kuhm ]a type of…
- 1/1/24Reports
2024 Preview
📜 Introduction The main theme of 2024 is profitability. After a year of dipping into savings I need to make and save money. I’d ideally like to do this via projects that relate to KmikeyM, or at…
- 1/1/24KmikeyM
2023 Review
I started 2023 with a lot of excitement, and while I accomplished a lot I ended the year feeling a bit disappointed and reserved. It’s easy for me to make big plans and it’s a lot harder to look back…
- 12/29/23KmikeyM
2023 Fourth Quarter Review
So much reviewing in December! Monthly, quarterly, and annual. This is the Q4 review, and you can check out the other quarterly reviews here: These last three months of the year things really slowed…
- 12/21/23Mailing List
The End of Year Spectacular!
This past summer we wrapped up the first season of the Hamburger Business Review podcast, but so much has happened we decided to do a Holiday Special Episode which just came out today. Click here or…
- 12/10/23Finance
Mike Bucks
A friend wanted to encourage betting on the dice game threes during their birthday party. Knowing that betting on dice is more exciting and attractive when playing with physical currency I thought I’d…
- 10/3/23KmikeyM
2023 Third Quarter Review
Spent a big chunk of Q3 in Portland and wrapped season 1 of Hamburger Business Review. Overall it was a slow and steady quarter with a few weeks spent getting over COVID and feeling the impact of the…
- 9/14/23KmikeyM
What KmikeyM Is For
What is KmikeyM? Over the last 15 years it has evolved into a global community of people who are interested in the intersection of finance and personhood. That is, we recognize the awkward, almost…
- 8/1/23Reports
AAR: HBR Season 1
We’ve finished season 1 of Hamburger Business Review, a shareholder endorsed project (74%). Ten episodes of discussion about a Harvard Business School case study on McDonald’s. Closing the season I…
- 6/28/23KmikeyM
2023 Second Quarter Review
The year is half over, and while I knew this was going to be a quieter year for KmikeyM it still bothers me. KmikeyM has always pushed me to be public about my life and it’s weird to be working on…
- 6/1/23Votes
Super Hero Movies
In 2017 I realized that watching Agents of SHIELD was a form of procrastination. There is something about watching teamwork that I found both relaxing and rewarding, but I knew there was better…
- 4/15/23KmikeyM
2023 First Quarter Review
After three months of Agile Resolutions I’m pretty pleased with the progress being made in 2023. I’m still working on the balance between the fun of planning and the grind of doing the work and my…
- 3/22/23Votes
Hamburger Business Review Series Order
On March 15th, 2023 I ordered a pilot episode of Hamburger Business Review cohosted by me and Zach Rose. The initial pitch that sold me on the idea was that Zach and I would read and the discuss a…
- 3/16/23Votes
Policy Votes
In 2019 I read ‘How to Change Your Mind‘ by Michael Pollan after having a few low dosage mushroom experiences. It was fun! But a part of me wondered if this was a good idea, and more specifically if…
- 3/1/23KmikeyM
Payments & Deposits
During Build Week 2023 we created some new ways to buy shares. Shareholders and new users can now buy immediately, skipping the deposit step, and we’ve also added automatic monthly purchases with…
- 2/17/23KmikeyM
2023 Build Week
Build Week kicked off on Feb 17th with a live stream. We went through all the feature requests we’ve built up on Change Map and organized a list of what we expect we can accomplish. Video One:…
- 2/16/23KmikeyM
Thick Quest: Glendale
For the month of January Kathryn and I challenged ourselves to a Thick Quest. Thick Quest is a term used to describe the challenge of eating at all the restaurants on a street. It traces its origin to…
- 1/12/23KmikeyM
2023 Preview
Having finished the 2022 Review the next and much harder task is creating a 2023 Preview. It’s easy to go back and cherry pick the highlights of the last twelve months. It’s a lot harder to look ahead…
- 12/31/22Reports
2022 Review
At the end of every year I am thinking more about the coming year and all that I want to accomplish and what I didn’t quote finish. But actually taking the time to look back at 2022 I’m a surprised at…
- 11/19/22KmikeyM
DBA
Last month the shareholders decided I should not (yet) create a corporation. I was surprised, but I appreciate the expertise of my shareholders who voted to reduce complexity. I was also a little sad,…
- 8/31/22KmikeyM
Book Title Bounty
Kevin and I are working on the book proposal for KmikeyM, and while I’m biased, I will say that it’s going pretty well! We have an outline, a sample chapter that we are cleaning up, and our agent…
- 6/7/22Events
2022 Shareholder Summit
The 2022 Shareholder Summit was on June 11th, 2022. The event was a live series of fireside chats with various stakeholders. Fireside Chats Josh and Jed Josh is my oldest friend and has been a…
- 4/29/22Shareholders
2022 Auction of New Shares
Welcome to the 2022 Auction of New KmikeyM Shares! This is an explanation of how the auction will work. If you’re looking to submit a bid you can do that here. Background There are 100,000 shares of…
- 4/10/22Votes
Social Media Dark Mode
We know social media is bad for society but we use it anyway. As much as I love connecting with people, doing so in an environment that is actively harmful feels like too high a price. How should a…
- 3/13/22KmikeyM
KmikeyM @ TEDxVienna
In October of 2021 I was able to go on stage at TEDxVienna and talk about how I became publicly traded. Thankfully they cut out the parts where I cried. I’ll write more on this later but I am excited…
- 11/2/21Votes
November Challenge: Strangers
With 36% support, a clear example of why need to update the weejee voting system, the shareholders have endorsed the idea of reaching out to strangers this month. 📧 Reach Out to a Stranger – I was…
- 10/12/21Roadshow
Do I Believe in Ghosts?
I think I saw a ghost. The problem is that I don’t believe in ghosts. At least, I don’t think I do… So I’m going to tell the story and then let you decide in a vote: 👻 Do I Believe in Ghosts? As I…
- 8/8/21Finance
July Challenge: Track Spending
The July Challenge was Record and Share Every Purchase which won at 33% support over “read five books” (21%) and “Go to a different LA Neighborhood every day” (15%)… so I made a spreadsheet. Then…
- 7/5/21Votes
June Challenge: Wake Up At 5am
The June challenge was almost over, with the majority of votes going to “Keep fresh flowers in the house.” I was excited, Kathryn was excited, and I was already looking up the public hours for the…
- 6/22/21Roadshow
Shareholder Roadshow
When a company is going to IPO they will often do a “roadshow” and make presentations on why they are a great investment to institutional investors. As a publicly traded person I am adopting a more…
- 6/15/21Appearance
Livestream with Oh My Dollar!
✨ Special Edition Livestream with Lillian of Oh My Dollar! (and more) We’ll talk about what the market has been doing this year, how the stock market isn’t the economy, and how efficient markets…
- 5/31/21Votes
May Challenge: New Place Each Week
For the month of May the shareholders set a challenge of going to a new place each week*. This was a great challenge for coming out of the pandemic restrictions and pushing me to new routes and…
- 5/7/21KmikeyM
2021 Shareholder Conference
REGISTER NOW On Saturday, May 15th we held the 2021 Shareholder Conference. The theme of the talks this year was Speculation, a term that has been interpreted in a few different ways. This year we had…
- 4/13/21Votes
Kill Tuesday
Back in 2010 Josh Berezin wrote, “Workplace trends in the Western world include: higher hourly productivity, along with an increasing number of work hours. And to what end? Historically high levels of…
- 3/4/21Votes
March Challenge: Sleep
I put up a vote on February 28th, 2021 with the option of undertaking a challenge for the month of March. The options and the results were as follows: (As shareholder Hubbard pointed out in the…
- 1/16/21Votes
Become a member of the LA Chapter of the Democratic Socialists
I am very serious about selling shares in myself. You could even say I’m deadly serious. But the impulse of KmikeyM has always been to experiment and play with capitalism. The slogan I’ve used for…
- 11/16/20Shareholders
RFC: Improve Tournaments Airtable
Here is a quick overview of the Shareholder Poker Tournament Airtable and my problem of having to enter the participants twice in order to get it to work. I think there is a better way, and it’s…
- 11/1/20Votes
WATCHMIKE: Phase II Trials
The initial experiment is over! I posted 19 total votes. 3 are still pending, 10 were approved, and 6 were rejected. I’ve finished three of them, and am in the midst of five of them. My initial…
- 9/17/20Votes
WATCHMIKE: A TV Control Experiment
Update The WATCHMIKE remote control experiment is now live at weejee.io/watchmike Background On September 13th 2020 I posted a question to weejee about updating my rule on not watching superhero fare.…
- 4/16/20Votes
Drink Tracking
I was definitely drinking too much the first few weeks of the stay-at-home order, but it wasn’t really a problem. I rarely felt the effects the next day and I didn’t start until at least 5pm. On the…
- 4/14/20Votes
Nail Biting: Day 4
The vote to paint my nails this coral/orange color passed on the 10th of April and Kathryn painted my nails the approved color on the 11th. It’s been four days and I have not had a single instance of…
- 4/8/20KmikeyM
How To KmikeyM
In 2008 I launched a market and sold shares in myself. I also asked my shareholders for advice, and they voted with the power of the shares they had bought, giving me a clear course of action whenever…
- 4/8/20KmikeyM
2020 Shareholder Conference
On Saturday, May 16th from 12:00PM – 2:00PM PT, KmikeyM we held the first annual K5M Shareholder Conference. A free and completely virtually video conference! This conference, known as K5M Con 2020,…
- 4/6/20KmikeyM
The Eleven Point Strategy Results
During the first week of the stay-at-home order I was refreshing the news and generally feeling down. Thankfully, by talking with Kathryn and writing my thoughts out I was able to detect my own…
- 3/24/20KmikeyM
The Publicly Traded Person is Down
I had a Zoom conversation with a few friends last week and we talked about feeling like we have all this time but no energy to do anything. This past weekend I was pretty depressed and it took me a…
- 3/1/20Votes
Mike for Bernie
The vote to endorse a candidate in the 2020 presidential election passed with 61% approval. The vote for which candidate to endorse was for Bernie Sanders with 52%. Mar 1, 2020: This morning I donated…
- 1/30/20KmikeyM
How weejee Works
When we built KmikeyM I modeled the voting system on shareholder resolutions, which usually present an argument and allow shareholders to vote “For” or “Against”. One of the differences we’ve…
- 1/15/20KmikeyM
Uhh Yeah Dude Discuss KmikeyM
On episode 762 of Uhh Yeah Dude (one of my favorite podcasts) hosts Seth Romatelli and Jonathan Larroquette have discovered KmikeyM and discuss it after talking about Spencer Dinwiddie’s token sale. I…
- 12/21/19KmikeyM
3 Minute Review
A short three minute podcast that offers three perspectives. The idea was to design the process to be as easy as possible to make. There is minimal editing and production, but incremental changes are…
- 10/20/19Reports
Using Fiverr To Learn About Economics Teaches an Important Lesson: You Get What You Pay For
I hired an “expert in Economics and Finance” to write up an explanation of the work of the recent Nobel Prize for Economics but I only paid $17. The Recent Winners of the Nobel Prize in Economics…
- 7/29/19Press & Awards
Mike Merrill to Executive Produce IPO Series with Amazon and Sony Pictures Television
Amazon is developing a series inspired by the true story of a man who sold shares of himself to investors, Variety has learned. In a competitive situation, Amazon has landed the project, titled…
- 6/30/19KmikeyM
Future Congress Keynote
The Future Congress Keynote I did in Wolfsburg Germany.
- 6/29/19Shareholders
K5M Dialup Clips
Recorded using Dialup Edited by Danielle Baskin Creative Commons music: Knife by CJ Aleezon Super Friendly by Kevin MacLeod Criticality by Pixelgipsy Garden Music by Kevin MacLeod Brittle Rille by…
- 6/12/19Shareholders
Teaser of Dialup Call
The first Dialup call was fantastic and I wanted to share a few snippets with you. I know that talking to a stranger on the phone is weird, but the first test of using this far exceeded any…
- 5/14/19KmikeyM
2019 Annual Report
The 2019 Annual Report is released in tandem with the annual shareholder approval rating vote. A few years ago I put up a vote for shareholder approval on my birthday. While the stock price reflects…
- 3/16/19Health + Fitness
Capitalism Weight Loss Program
Based on a shareholder proposal to incentivize my weight loss using a share buyback program as a financial penalty here is the plan to manage my weight and health. There is old adage that “abs are…
- 2/3/19Votes
My First Superhero Movie in Two Years
It’s been two years since I’ve seen a superhero movie. The shareholders passed the “No Tights” policy because the Hollywood machine started churning out Marvel and DC properties at a much higher rate,…
- 1/2/19Votes
Coffee Break
I took a break from coffee. I did it because I wanted to see if I could de-acclimate myself enough so that when I started again I could get high, the way I used to feel when I first started drinking…
- 11/21/17Press & Awards
The Man Who Sold Shares of Himself
What drove a man to give 805 investors complete control over his major life decisions? BY ZACHARY CROCKETT Ten years ago, Mike Merrill was at a career crossroads. So, the 30-year-old did what any…
- 8/21/17KmikeyM
KmikeyM Launches Kickstarter for Ghostwritten Crowdsourced Fanfic
This will be a work of self-published ghostwritten crowdsourced crowd-funded faux-autobiographical erotic fan fiction. The ghostwriters have written a prologue and we’ve come up with the first set of…
- 7/1/17KmikeyM
The Publicly-Traded Person Moves To Los Angeles
Decisions with shareholder input, but without shareholder vote. I’m moving to Los Angeles. I accepted an offer to become the majordomo of Sandwich Video. While this would normally be a time for…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
💀 How It Ends
One of the big differences in being a publicly traded person vs. a publicly traded company is that while a company can live forever I will die. My younger brother, and shareholder, is the beneficiary…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
🗳️What is a “Shareholder Vote”
There are two ways that shareholders control me. First is by my stock price. Every morning when I wake up I say, ‘Alexa, play my flash briefing’ which includes the HBS Management tip of the day, the…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
📉 How to Sell Shares
Selling shares is easy, but withdrawing funds is a manual process. Sell shares on the market Request funds (send email to ir@kmikeym.com) Funds will be sent via Venmo, Square Cash, or whatever…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
📈 How To Buy Shares
Buying shares is easy, but it takes a number of small steps. You have to have an account, then deposit funds into your account, and then purchase from the market. Create an account Deposit funds Buy a…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
🎮 How To Play
Itching to have some shares and start voting? There’s no better way to learn than to simply buy some shares and get started! And if you still have unanswered questions this section will help you catch…
- 4/8/15KmikeyM
📜 A Brief History Of Mike
Alaska Born Kenneth Michael Merrill in Fairbanks, Alaska on May 17th, 1977 Raised in Coldfoot, AK, population 10 Started public school: 5th grade in Soldotna, AK Graduated High School in Sitka, AK The…
- 10/6/14Reports
Notes On Camping
“The object of your mission is to explore communication with the water of the Pacific,” Thomas Jefferson’s instructions to Meriwether Lewis This was a paid assignment written by Gregory Campanile.…
- 10/8/13Press & Awards
Publicly Traded Person: The Man Who Sold Shares Of Himself
Mike Merrill is a the world’s first publicly traded person; he’s sold shares of himself and makes decisions based on the votes of his shareholders. Produced by Kristofor Lawson.
- 3/29/13KmikeyM
The Critical FAQ
If you’ve ever received media attention you know how the internet will enable you to receive unsolicited critiques from strangers. While many people advise ignoring the comment section I like to…
Own a piece of Mike.
Shares trade at kmikeym.com. Shareholders vote on his decisions, and the votes are binding.