KmikeyM Wiki

List of Votes

42 min read

List of Votes

Every binding shareholder vote put to the owners of KmikeyM since 2008, in the order they were decided. The page is in two parts, because the project has run two different kinds of vote: governance votes, which approve or reject, and follow-through votes, which choose between options. For what the votes are and how the system works, start at Votes.

Each entry gives the question as it was asked, the month it was decided, and the result. Every title links to the original vote page.

Reading this list

✓ passed. ✗ failed. The percentage is always the share of votes cast in favor, whether the vote won or lost, so a narrow result reads as narrow.

Related votes are grouped. Where a decision produced a run of follow-up votes, they sit indented under the parent. Indented votes are ordered by when they opened, because some of them ran at the same time and closing order tells the story backwards.

Dates are when a vote closed, which is when the decision was made.

The governance votes

Binary proposals on kmikeym.com, running from 2008 to 2021. Shareholders approved or rejected them, and the result bound Mike Merrill.

🔒 Every title in this section links to a page only shareholders can open. The index of votes is public and the individual pages are not, which is why this list exists: for everyone else it is the only place the questions, the results and the margins can be read.

2008

  • ✗ Should We Start Projects Now? · February 2008 · 45% yes
    The first proposal ever put to shareholders: start projects now, or keep testing the site until there was an official announcement. It narrowly failed.

  • ✗ KmikeyM Market In Traveling Art Exhibit · February 2008 · 22% yes
    An invitation to join Other Options, a touring exhibition of artists’ projects that re-engineer their own infrastructure. Taking part meant making a short video encouraging people to buy shares.

  • ✓ Project Celestim · March 2008 · 100% yes
    A $79.63 micro-investment in a hen-and-egg business for Celestim, a night guard working for Mike’s parents in Rwanda, so he could pay for university. Explicitly unlikely to return any money.

  • ✗ Change Of Hair Color · July 2008 · 43% yes

  • ✓ Okay, Should We Start Projects Now? · July 2008 · 100% yes
    The same question as the very first vote, re-asked five months after it failed, with the word “okay” doing the arguing. It passed unanimously and opened KmikeyM for business.

  • ✓ Participation in suddenly · August 2008 · 100% yes
    Joining suddenly, a touring program of exhibitions, a reader and public events about the landscape where we live, conceived by shareholders Matthew S. and Stephanie S.

  • ✗ Vasectomy · August 2008 · 46% yes

  • ✓ The K5M Film Council · September 2008 · 100% yes
    Creating a rotating five-person council of shareholders who would control Mike’s Netflix queue, and the first test of whether KmikeyM could run committees at all. Six further votes confirmed its members, and one seat took three attempts in sixteen days, two of them running concurrently.

  • ✓ New Project: Is It Good? · September 2008 · 76% yes
    A project to write relentlessly positive film reviews engineered to be quoted on DVD jackets. It later became the 3 Minute Review podcast.

  • ✗ Winter Mustache · October 2008 · 46% yes

  • ✓ Street Food In Buenos Aires · October 2008 · 100% yes
    Hiring Juan P., a freelance photographer who had cold-emailed Urban Honking, to shoot street food in Buenos Aires. Mike found the email spammy and was interested anyway.

  • ✗ Join City Club of Portland · November 2008 · 0% yes

  • ✓ Reselling Stadler’s New Book: Where We Live Now · November 2008 · 99% yes
    Buying ten copies of shareholder Matthew S.’s self-published book at wholesale to resell through Urban Honking, splitting the margin. The project broke even, with inventory left over.

  • ✓ Executive Loan Program · November 2008 · 70% yes
    Letting KmikeyM lend company funds to its own management at a flat 10% fee, capped at $300, on the logic that idle project money should be earning something.

  • ✗ Cultural Exchange · December 2008 · 1% yes
    Sending shareholder Josh B. to Los Angeles as Portland’s representative at the 2nd Annual L.A. Grand Crew Beer-Bike Ride. He loved beer and biking and admitted he felt weird about it.

  • ✓ 300 Share Auction · December 2008 · 100% yes

2009

  • ✓ New Project: Team YACHT · February 2009 · 98% yes
    Formalizing Mike’s role working with YACHT, around the release of See Mystery Lights.

  • ✓ Wedding Officiate · March 2009 · 100% yes

  • ✓ Money Blog · March 2009 · 90% yes
    Money Blog, a project about the scammy corner of the internet that promises riches one click away, funded with private money rather than company funds, aiming at $1,000 profit as proof of concept. One video was made, with Judah S. There were no profits.

  • ✗ Rhizome Donation · April 2009 · 11% yes
    Spending $50 on a block of pixels in Rhizome.org’s Million Dollar Homepage-style fundraiser, to be designed by Jona B.. Heavily rejected.

  • ✓ Lawsuit Insurance · May 2009 · 100% yes
    Indemnifying shareholder Meg S., a painter making work from a well-known website’s maps, against a copyright claim. The website was deliberately not named in the proposal.

  • ✓ New Project: Portland Friendship Society · June 2009 · 89% yes
    The Portland Friendship Society: a campaign to identify up to ten people and recruit them to move to Portland, using letters, gifts and invitations, with $100 approved for stamps and typewriter repair that was never spent.

  • ✓ Wager Insurance · July 2009 · 56% yes
    Buying insurance from the company against a $500 personal bet with shareholder Marcus E. on whether the Dow would be higher in a year. A win paid the company; a loss cost it half. Mike won the bet.

  • ✓ Attempt Polyphasic Sleeping Schedule · August 2009 · 63% yes

  • ✓ RSS Reset · September 2009 · 53% yes
    Deleting all 257 of Mike’s RSS subscriptions and rebuilding the list from shareholder recommendations, weighted by how many shares each holder owned.

  • ✓ Member of the PCM Board · September 2009 · 100% yes
    Applying for a seat on the board of Portland Community Media, with the aim of pushing a cable-access organization toward internet distribution.

  • ✓ VTAC: A Trust Solution · October 2009 · 97% yes

  • ✓ Join AIR Selection Committee of DoS · October 2009 · 100% yes
    Joining the seven-person committee that selects the Artist In Residence for the Department of Safety, a commitment of at least three selection cycles. The Department of Safety disbanded before the committee started.

2010

2011

  • ✓ K5M Research Lab · January 2011 · 100% yes
    Establishing the K5M Research Lab so company funds could pay for original research likely to become content, in the tradition of the Fractal Pizza and the Taco Burger.

  • ✓ KMIKEYM TO TAKE MAJORITY CONTROL OF MANILA MAC, LLC · February 2011 · 100% yes
    Taking a majority stake in Manila Mac, the MacBook Air sleeve shaped like a manila envelope, from creators Jona B. and Claire E. after it stopped being their focus. A distribution relationship with Panic was organized, but the stake was never formalized.

  • ✗ Omnivore’s Dilemma · March 2011 · 29% yes
    Removing all dietary restrictions after a year of shareholder-mandated vegetarianism and pescetarianism, partly so Mike could compete on reality shows with food challenges.

  • ✓ Pay What It Costs · July 2011 · 75% yes
    Despite the title, a proposal to abandon Mike’s long-held “Pay What It Costs” philosophy, on the argument that a person holding other people’s money is obliged to seek a better price.

2012

  • ✓ K5M Insurance Policy · January 2012 · 97% yes
    Directing Mike’s existing $100,000 life insurance payout to be distributed to shareholders by ownership percentage on his death, with trading halted at that point. The policy is no longer held.

  • ✓ Shareholder Control of Romantic Relationships · May 2012 · 86% yes

  • ✓ VEHICLE ACQUISITION · August 2012 · 66% yes

  • ✓ Stock Pool · August 2012 · 98% yes
    Setting aside 20% of all stock as a pool to pay developers and collaborators in shares, after the earlier practice of ad hoc share grants was found to undercut the market.

  • ✓ Proposal Maitre Delicious · September 2012 · 98% yes
    Taking a minority stake in a Portland eating and drinking establishment run by friends, using personal rather than company funds, valued mostly on the expected social return. The investment and an accompanying loan were returned in full, with interest paid on the loan.

  • ✗ Investing Proposal · September 2012 · 41% yes
    Moving up to 75% of the company’s cash out of a low-yield savings account and into a Betterment portfolio at 70% stocks and 30% treasury bonds.

  • ✓ Fully Fashioned · October 2012 · 93% yes
    Fully Fashioned, a tool for crowdsourcing daily ratings of what someone wears so that purchases could be guided by the elements that actually suit them. Prompted by Shareholder No. 13 asking for style advice. The crowdsourced-input theory was later tested in the ‘What is a Sandwich’ work.

  • ✗ Physical Prowess Proposal · December 2012 · 37% yes
    More than doubling time spent on fitness for a quarter, to 7.5 hours a week across MMA and jiu jitsu at SBGi, crossfit, bouldering and a boxing gym. Rejected.

2013

2014

2015

  • ✗ Romance Contract Revisions · January 2015 · 16% yes

  • ✓ PM for K5M · February 2015 · 65% yes
    Formally hiring Oskar, already writing and researching for KmikeyM, as project manager, paid entirely in shares at an equivalent hourly rate.

  • ✓ Resolution: MISUSE OF EXECUTIVE POWER · April 2015 · 89% yes

  • ✗ To Beard or not to Beard? · May 2015 · 47% yes

  • ✗ “There Is No Spoon” · June 2015 · 47% yes
    Whether to keep a dormant spoon collection during a house move. Many of the spoons were gifts.

  • ✗ A Fine Magazine, But To What End? · June 2015 · 29% yes
    Whether to keep a near-complete archive of Monocle magazine, acquired free from Shareholder #3 in exchange for storing it. Mike admitted he never went back to old issues. Rejected.

  • ✓ Understanding Jason Bateman · October 2015 · 97% yes

  • ✓ New Sartorial System · November 2015 · 86% yes
    Removing all clothing restrictions in order to research a new sartorial system, after Brooks Brothers discontinued Black Fleece and the Red Fleece buttons kept falling off. The formal end of the Brooks Brothers era. No new system was ever established.

  • ✗ Fallout 4 · December 2015 · 42% yes

2016

  • ✓ Acquisition of Snacker.News · January 2016 · 84% yes

  • ✓ Establish Working Group For Nutrition · June 2016 · 77% yes
    Convening a working group of a nutrition expert and selected shareholders to build an eating plan, on the stated grounds that Mike swings between extremes and should not design his own. Another test of committee work, modeled on the Working Groups.

  • ✗ Basis by Elysium · June 2016 · 20% yes
    Whether to start taking Basis by Elysium, a longevity supplement, after shareholders suggested Mike should be more proactive about living a long and productive life. Rejected.

  • ✗ A Mike By Any Other Name · July 2016 · 42% yes
    Whether to go by Michael rather than Mike, to make the brand more formal. Rejected.

  • ✓ Time To Leave The Party · July 2016 · 88% yes
    Leaving the Republican party, six years after shareholders voted him into it. The proposal opened with the words “The Republican party is gross.”

  • ✓ Reduce Caffeine by 33% · August 2016 · 59% yes

  • ✓ Subscribe to Spotify? · August 2016 · 69% yes

  • ✓ Agree to an Interview for The New Corporation · September 2016 · 99% yes
    Taking part in The New Corporation, the sequel to the 2003 documentary The Corporation, as an example of life being organized along corporate lines.

  • ✗ The KmikeyM Wrist Computer · September 2016 · 34% yes
    Buying an Apple Watch configured only with KmikeyM apps, funded by selling shares, as a dedicated shareholder-relationship device. Rejected.

  • ✗ Share Personal Data · October 2016 · 43% yes

  • ✗ White House / Black House · October 2016 · 22% yes
    Whether to paint the exterior of the Portland bungalow Mike shared with his partner black or white. A yes was white. Black won.

  • ✓ Proposal Proposal · November 2016 · 99% yes
    Whether Mike should ask his partner to marry him. The shareholders had introduced them, approved their cohabitation and set the contractual terms of the relationship, and had previously voted down an attempt to slip marriage permission into the fine print of another proposal. It formally ended shareholder control of Mike’s romantic life.

  • ✗ FACEBOOK FRIENDS POLICY · December 2016 · 18% yes

2017

2018

2019

  • ✓ Dry January · January 2019 · 94% yes

  • ✓ Watch Spiderman: Into the Spider-Verse · January 2019 · 54% yes

  • ✗ Rescinding The ‘No More Tights’ Policy · February 2019 · 46% yes
    An attempt to undo the 2017 ban on Marvel and DC films, which Mike put to a vote while openly arguing against it after deciding Into the Spider-Verse had not justified its exemption. Rejected.

  • ✓ Terms of Engagement · February 2019 · 82% yes
    Setting the rules for private negotiations: only deal through shareholders or shareholder-connected organizations, keep notes, disclose whatever is permitted as soon as it is permitted, and never negotiate for personal enrichment.

  • ✓ Weight Loss Buy Back Program · March 2019 · 87% yes
    A commitment contract on losing weight, enforced by buying back shares if the target was missed, after Mike stepped on a scale for the first time since his wifi scale died in 2018.

  • ✓ Shareholder Approval Rating · May 2019 · 95% yes
    One of three periodic confidence votes, put alongside the 2019 Annual Report. The prior year’s rating had been 89%.

  • ✓ A Weekly Dialup · June 2019 · 62% yes
    Starting a weekly KmikeyM line on Dialup, an app by Max H. and Danielle B. that phones you and connects you at random to someone else in your group, so shareholders would end up talking to each other. It ran successfully until Dialup shut down as a service.

  • ✓ The Business of Basketball · July 2019 · 89% yes
    Whether Mike should formally research the business side of basketball, after an offseason obsession with salary caps, trades and ownership changes that started with watching Giannis Antetokounmpo.

  • ✓ Official Position on Cryptocurrency · October 2019 · 58% yes

  • ✓ Using Psychedelics · October 2019 · 82% yes

2020

  • ✓ My Beard · January 2020 · 68% yes

  • ✓ Offer Hours For Sale on HumanIPO · February 2020 · 75% yes
    Selling hours of Mike’s time on HumanIPO, a marketplace for people’s time built by shareholder Kirill, accepting that it would give him a second fluctuating price on a second exchange.

  • ✓ Endorse a Candidate for President · March 2020 · 61% yes

  • ✓ The Art of Onion Futures · March 2020 · 88% yes
    Growing onions and selling futures contracts in them, deliberately violating the federal Onion Futures Act, and presenting the whole thing as art with shareholder and artist Norberto R..

  • ✓ Drinking With Intention · April 2020 · 62% yes
    Becoming more intentional about drinking during the first weeks of pandemic lockdown, with the specifics to be settled by a follow-up multi-option vote.

  • ✓ Trading Fees and Commissions · August 2020 · 98% yes

  • ✓ Letter of Recommendation · August 2020 · 97% yes
    Writing a letter of recommendation to US immigration for Alex M., the second publicly traded person, supporting his green card application on grounds of exceptional talent.

  • ✗ Math Tutoring · August 2020 · 41% yes
    Hiring Craig W., a former shareholder who had sold his entire holding and dipped the share price, as a math tutor, paid in shares, to work through a Harvard probability course.

  • ✗ Tune In or Tune Out of Election Night · November 2020 · 39% yes

2021

The binary system stops here

Do I Believe in Ghosts? closed in October 2021 and was the last vote of its kind. Proposals continued, on the platform described below, in a different form. Nothing was announced and nothing ended; the newer system had already been carrying most of the votes for almost three years.

The follow-through votes

From the end of 2018 the project ran a second kind of vote on a separate platform, choosing between named options rather than answering yes or no. These decide which or how, where the votes above decide whether.

The two systems ran side by side for nearly three years. In that window the new one already carried more of the load: 41 follow-through votes against 24 binary ones. The last binary vote closed in October 2021, so the changeover was a handover that had largely already happened rather than a switch that was thrown.

Unlike the votes above, these pages are fully public. Anyone can read the proposal, the options, the result and the discussion without an account.

Reading this section

✓ the decision was carried out. ✗ it was approved and never happened. ○ still open. Those are Mike’s own markers, kept on the voting platform.

The bold text is the option that won, with its share of the vote. Where Mike wrote a note about what actually came of it, it appears in his words.

2018

  • ✗ What time should I set my alarm for tomorrow? · December 2018 · Sleep in until 9:00a (68%)
    Approved, never happened. I woke up at 6:30a and tried to go back to bed, but ended up just looking at my phone for an hour. Then I tried again to back to sleep but by then I was fully awake.

2019

  • ✓ What audiobook should I listen to next? · January 2019 · Beastie Boys Book by Michael Diamond, Adam Horovitz (70%)
    Done. I downloaded the book and will start it as soon as I finish my current book. Jan 18, 2019 Finished this book!
  • ✓ What coffee should I get right now? · January 2019 · Andino Espécial (100%)
    Done. I got it. I made it this morning. It was great.
  • ✓ Where should I go for lunch? · February 2019 · Sandwich (60%)
    Done. I had the lamb dip and it was amazing.
  • ✓ Berlin First Beverage · May 2019 · Beer, or Bier (73%)
    Done.
  • ✓ Sunday Movie · June 2019 · Whitmer Thomas & Pals (71%)
    Which film to see after a shareholder Dialup call, from five options plus “don’t go to a movie you dummy”. Done. I went to the Comedy Show!
  • ✓ Lunch on the beach · August 2019 · no votes were cast
    Fish tacos or a rumored lobster roll, after a hike and a swim. No votes were cast. Done. I know I didn’t give enough time on this one, but I ate both, and they were fantastic, so I’m declaring this a success.
  • ✓ Destroyer Breakfast · August 2019 · Organic Hen Egg (73%)
    What to order at Destroyer, a daytime-only Los Angeles restaurant, while meeting a friend for breakfast. Done. Got the Hen Egg. It was INSANELY amazing. Highly recommend this place.
  • ✓ My Official Position on Cryptocurrency · September 2019 · Interested (57%)
    Part two of a split proposal. A binary vote on kmikeym.com approved taking a position on cryptocurrency at all; this vote chose which position, from Pioneering, Interested and several others. Done.

2020

  • ✓ What should I drink? · January 2020 · Manhattan (100%)
    Done. I ordered a manhattan, and it came with a tiny chilled carafe of MORE manhattan and since I was driving I gave the remainder (which was quite a bit) to Aaron.
  • ✓ Should I Keep These Pants? · January 2020 · Get Rid of Both (86%)
    Done. Took pants to Goodwill.
  • ✓ Two Blazers · January 2020 · Get Rid of Both (84%)
    Done. They have been taken to goodwill!
  • ✗ Should I Stay or Should I Go · January 2020 · Bring Norberto to the bar (56%)
    A genuine scheduling conflict, put to shareholders on the day: keep a filming commitment to a friend, or go to another friend’s leaving drinks. The shareholders invented a third option. Approved, never happened. Norberto didn’t want to come with me, so I chose the next most popular option and went to say bye to Mathew. It was great to see him. He’s off to be a creative director at Harley Davidson in Milwaukee!
  • ✓ Wait and Binge, or Watch Each Week? · February 2020 · Watch It Each Week (100%)
    Done. What a great show!
  • ✓ Beard II · February 2020 · Keep the beard, schedule a vote in one month. (57%)
    The first check-in a month after shareholders permitted the beard, and the start of a run of beard votes that continued for over a year. Done. And we keep on growin.
  • ✓ 2020 Presidential Endorsement · February 2020 · Sanders (52%)
    Done. I am feeling the Bern.
  • ✓ Beard 2.5: Grow Free or Manage/Cultivate · March 2020 · Get professional help (and show us before and after pics) (63%)
    Done. I got a great professional beard trim right before coronavirus got scary. Now I have to learn to maintain it myself.
  • ✓ Beard III · March 2020 · Keep it and vote again on your birthday (May 17th) (56%)
    Done. Beard is being kept, occasionally trimmed, and we will re-vote on May 17th. Follow for daily beard updates.
  • ✓ Drinking With Intention · March 2020 · Track What You Drink (75%)
    What “drinking with intention” should actually mean, from options including tracking every drink, drinking less, and substituting cannabis. Done. I created an airtable for tracking my drinks . Will review with the shareholders in two weeks on April 16th.
  • ✓ Nail Polish · April 2020 · Neon Orange: if you’re going to do it, then really do it (34%)
    Done. Nails painted. See.
  • ✓ Drinking With Intention II · April 2020 · Stop Drinking (50%)
    Done. I didn’t drink, but I hated it.
  • ✗ Drinking With Intention III · May 2020 · Plan Your Drinks (46%)
    Approved, never happened. I did buy some alcohol and mixers and learned to make a pretty good manhattan but overall this did not work out. Planning my drinking is not easy during the pandemic. It’s easier to stop drinking!
  • ✓ Maintain The Beard? · May 2020 · Hold On: Keep It Until After Quarantine, Then Let’s Decide (50%)
    Done. Wow, it’s August now and I still have a beard. I’m getting pretty used to it.
  • ✓ Can Mike Play In the Cash Tournament With Shares? · August 2020 · No (69%)
    Done. I mean, this is easy to do. i will just keep betting with money.
  • ✓ Include Emmy Wins In “No Tights” Exemption · September 2020 · Hold on, why don’t we just throw away the policy and use weejee to vote on all the shows you watch? (55%)
    Whether to widen the 2017 No More Tights ban on Marvel and DC films, which allowed an exception only for Academy Award winners, to cover Emmy winners too. Shareholders proposed scrapping the policy and voting on every show instead. Done. Working on an experiment to determine how to best implement this new policy: For full control of Mike’s viewing habits visit.
  • ✓ One Year of Beard · December 2020 · Maintain the beard! Cut it shorter so at least you don’t catch it when you zip up your jacket. (50%)
    Done. The video of trimming.

2021

  • ✓ Shave Beard For Interview? · February 2021 · No (52%)
    Done. I did not shave my beard.
  • ✓ Do a Month Long Challenge in March? · February 2021 · Yes, get 8+ hours of sleep (46%)
    Whether to start doing a month-long personal challenge at all, and what the first one should be. It began a monthly series that ran through 2022. Done. I missed three days, but now when I get less than 8 hours i schedule a nap during the day!
  • ✓ First Haircut in Over a Year · March 2021 · Let Kate decide, she’s the professional! (60%)
    Done. Got a great cut. Thanks Kate!
  • ✓ April Challenge · March 2021 · Meditate for 10+ minutes (72%)
    Done. Only missed two days!
  • ✓ Book Club II: The Next Book… · March 2021 · Reimagining Capitalism in a World on Fire (55%)
    The second book for the shareholder book club, chosen from six business titles that appeared on multiple best-of-2020 lists. Done. Book club started! I ordered my book.
  • ✓ The End of Beard · April 2021 · Shave down to a mustache until 2nd dose (50%)
    Done. I have the mustache.
  • ✓ BOOK CLUB: Quit This Terrible Book · April 2021 · Always Quit a Bad Book (96%)
    Whether to abandon the book club’s current book mid-read. Mike’s case: “This book we’re reading sucks. I hate it.” Done. I tore my book in half and put it in the recycling bin ♻️.
  • ✗ Book Club: Next Book (again) · April 2021 · Flash Boys (53%)
    Choosing a replacement after the book club quit the previous one. Mike reported tearing his copy in half and putting it in the recycling. Approved, never happened. I dropped the ball. I’m not a good book club facilitator.
  • ✓ May Challenge · April 2021 · Visit a new place every week (50%)
    Done. I did it! It was too easy to do something every week. I like the daily challenges better.
  • ✗ June Challenge · June 2021 · Wake up at 5am (50%)
    Approved, never happened. This did not work for me, see also.
  • ✓ Modify or Abandon 5am Wake Up Challenge · June 2021 · Wake up at 6:30am instead (52%)
    Whether to modify or abandon the June challenge of waking at 5am, eight mornings into it, on the grounds that it was cutting his sleep to an unhealthy level. Done. It was MUCH easier to wake up at 6:30am than 5:30am.
  • ✓ July Challenge · July 2021 · Record and share every purchase (33%)
    Done. A spreadsheet of my spending.
  • ✓ August Challenge · July 2021 · Use 3 Min Review as a travel diary (89%)
    Done. I only missed seven days!
  • ✓ September Challenge · September 2021 · Use 3 Min Review as a travel diary (64%)
    Done. An episode every single day!
  • ✓ October Challenge · September 2021 · Post 3 Minute Review every day (53%)
    Done. I only missed two days (well, kind of three, but I there was two on one day and I think it was a time zone issue) all month!
  • ✗ What should I order for my business class dessert? · October 2021 · Dulce de leche ice cream (76%)
    Approved, never happened. I was SO FULL and the internet was down, so I asked if I could have a few minutes and was hoping to get online to check. No luck and I just ended up skipping dessert.
  • ✗ What should I order for my business class main course? · October 2021 · Soft polenta with grated parmesan (58%)
    Approved, never happened. The internet was down when I ordered and I got the halibut. It was a nice piece of fish, but I actually scraped a lot of the almonds off.
  • ✓ What should I order for my business class appetizer? · October 2021 · Spicy grilled shrimp (65%)
    Done. The internet was down when I ordered but I still ordered the right thing! Success!
  • ✓ Keep Doing Daily 3 Min Review · October 2021 · Yes (no more adding it to the monthly challenge) (76%)
    Whether to keep making the 3 Minute Review podcast daily once the monthly challenge that started it had ended. Done. Marking this as success because it’s 2023 and we’re still doing it.
  • ✗ November ‘21 Challenge · October 2021 · Reach Out to a Stranger (36%)
    Approved, never happened. I reached out to people every day for the first half of the month, and then it was just an overwhelming amount of conversations! A pretty fantastic failure honestly.
  • ✓ Tweeting About Kal Penn’s Book Cover · November 2021 · i’ll see you in court (53%)
    Which of several joke captions to tweet about Kal Penn’s book cover, which resembled the Chris Buck photograph from the 2013 WIRED feature. Done.
  • ✓ Meeting a Stranger: Where to Meet? · November 2021 · 3rd wave coffee so you can spend $8 for a pour over (51%)
    The first of four votes planning a single meeting with a shareholder Mike had never met: where to meet, who pays, what to wear, what to eat. Done. I am excited to return to SPLA ! A great coffee shop.
  • ✓ Meeting a Stranger: Who Pays? · November 2021 · Let fate decide, flip a coin! (60%)
    Done. We flipped a coin and he won, lucky for me he just got a coffee for $6.
  • ✓ Meeting a Stranger: What to Wear? · November 2021 · Jeans and a t-shirt, because shorts are disrespectful (61%)
    Done. I wore jeans a t-shirt, it was very appropriate for what he was wearing and also the coffee shop.
  • ✗ Meeting a Stranger: What to Eat? · November 2021 · Lite: Espresso + Cinnamon Roll (53%)
    Approved, never happened. I ordered an espresso and sadly they were out of most pastries, so I got a ham and cheese croissant. It was delicious.
  • ○ Expiring Offers · November 2021 · 45 Days (65%)
    A market-mechanics proposal: give every standing offer an expiry date, with an email alert beforehand, on the theory that it would produce more offers and more liquidity. The vote set the length. Still open.
  • ✗ December ‘21 Challenge · December 2021 · Return to Sleep + Meditation Routine (57%)
    Approved, never happened. Pretty much total failure. I was okay with sleep, taking naps if I fell under 8 hours, but was very bad at meditating.
  • ✓ Holiday Party vs. Pandemic · December 2021 · do not go, now isn’t the time (96%)
    Done. SKIPPED IT! Thanks for validating my feelings on this everyone.
  • ✓ January ‘22 Challenge · December 2021 · Weekly Livestream (81%)
    Done. I did 4 live streams!

2022

  • ✓ Live Stream Taste Test Product Selection · January 2022 · Spiritless (87%)
    Which product to taste on the first live episode of the 3 Minute Review podcast, streamed in January 2022. Done. Purchases and livestream were successful!
  • ✓ Create a Crypto Persona · January 2022 · No, just be kmikeym (60%)
    Whether to build a separate persona for crypto work rather than doing it as KmikeyM. Done. I’m just me, now with a little more web3. :).
  • ✗ Health + Wellness Working Group · March 2022 · Yes (94%)
    Convening a working group to get Mike back into routine medical care after more than two years without seeing a doctor, dentist or optometrist. Approved, never happened.
  • ✓ A Social Media Strategy · April 2022 · Dark Mode: Go Dark (private account, keep groups small + private) (54%)
    How to handle social media after Mike concluded that using platforms he considers harmful was a violation of his own ethics. The winning option took every account private. Done. Dark Mode Policy initiated.
  • ✓ The Most Important Story Ever Told · April 2022 · Yes (99%)
    Whether to write the book: a full account of the project in Mike’s own words, after fourteen years of it being told in pieces by other people. Done. We signed a contract w/ an agent.
  • ✗ New Glasses · May 2022 · Let Us Vote on Each Pair (77%)
    Approved, never happened. Kathryn bought me a new pair of Tom Ford’s. Sorry everyone.
  • ○ Fingerholers Contract Gig · May 2022 · Approve - Accept The Contract (66%)
    Whether to take a short contract coordinating community launch for Fingerholers, an NFT bankroll-management game made with the artist Scott Teplin, shortly after leaving a job. Still open.
  • ✓ Rescind Social Media Strategy · June 2022 · Exit Dark Mode: open all accounts (70%)
    Undoing the Dark Mode social strategy approved two months earlier at 54%, after shareholder pushback that every option on that ballot had been too drastic. Done. I am no longer private on social media.
  • ✓ Control of TV · August 2022 · Let Kathryn Take The Lead (97%)
    Done.
  • ✓ Corporate Shield · October 2022 · sole proprietorship (59%)
    Whether to set up a company for contract work with Protocol Labs, or operate as a sole proprietor with no corporate shield. Done.
  • ○ The Name to Use For Money Business · December 2022 · Michael Wave Theory (70%)
    A trading name for the consulting work, after shareholders declined to give him a company to hide behind. Still open.

2023

  • ✓ Podcast Limited Series Order: Hamburger Business Review · March 2023 · Yes (74%)
    Whether to make Hamburger Business Review, a ten-episode series co-hosted with a burger expert, discussing Harvard Business Review case studies about McDonald’s. Done. Completed first season!

2024

  • ○ Podcast Season Order: if/come · January 2024 · Yes (89%)
    Whether to make if/come, a podcast about pitching film and television, co-hosted with Kathryn, who does it for a living and hates it. Still open.
  • ✓ Membership Shares · February 2024 · Yes (81%)
    Introducing the Membership Share: a first share that cannot be sold or transferred, modeled on the small permanent deposit a credit union requires for membership. See Memberships. Done. Membership shares are now active.
  • ✓ Board Structure · March 2024 · Option 2: The Personal Board (82%)
    Whether the top membership tier should carry a real seat on a board of directors or only the name of one. The winner made it real. Done.
  • ✓ Election for Board Seats (1/3) · June 2024 · Josh Berezin (86%)
    The first round of the board election, five candidates for two seats, eliminating the lowest. Done. Thank you everyone for participating. Having the shareholders “vet” people is amazing and weird!
  • ✓ Battle For The Board · July 2024 · Josh Berezin (65%)
    The final round, three candidates remaining for two seats, closing thirty minutes after a live candidate debate. Done.
  • ✓ McJob · September 2024 · Yes (72%)
    Whether to take a job at McDonald’s after a long stretch without one. Mike: “times are getting tough and it is past time I start working.” Done. I applied and I got the job.
  • ✓ The Six Percent Plan · November 2024 · 6% - Sounds about right. Hope this works… (58%)
    McDonald’s 401(k) match only begins after a year of service, so this asked shareholders to set a percentage of take-home pay to put into McDonald’s stock in the meantime. Done. Based on my estimated paychecks and taking advantage of the price drop in MCD stock after the E. coli outbreak I’m ahead of schedule for purchases.
  • ✓ Wear a Scent at Work? · December 2024 · Yes (88%)
    Done. The bottle arrived today! I’ll be wearing it to work tomorrow.

2025

  • ✗ The 50/5 Split · January 2025 · Do It (81%)
    Whether to formalize the household arrangement while Mike earned a restaurant wage and Kathryn earned a screenwriter’s: he gives her half of what he makes, in exchange for five percent of hers. Approved, never happened. This worked for a while during my McD employment but then didn’t make sense after.
  • ✓ Migrate to Discord · January 2025 · Move to Discord (86%)
    Done. Join us on Discord.
  • ✓ McJob Part Two: The End? · February 2025 · Yes (81%)
    Whether to quit McDonald’s after six months. Mike called it life-changing and compared the operation to the Army, “except that it is so much more brutally efficient.” Done. I had my last day, and during my meal break the GM came in and handed me… an Outstanding Crew Medal of the Month award for January! So unexpected and I was really moved!
  • ✓ Update VTAC to MIKE · April 2025 · C) Update branding to MIKE, but Mike will design it and bring it back for a vote. (88%)
    Whether to retire VTAC, the Verified Trusted Authenticity Certificate that had existed since the 2009 tattoo vote, and rebrand it. Shareholders chose to let Mike design the replacement and bring it back. Done. New system designed and up for vote.
  • ✓ One Pair of Sunglasses · May 2025 · Cool (81%)
    Which single pair of prescription sunglasses to buy, from classic, cool and rad. Done. Success! I love my new glasses, the Roka “Falcon” aviators.
  • ✓ Renounce My Gumroad Investment · June 2025 · Yes - Renounce the SAFE and sever all ties with Gumroad (57%)
    Whether to renounce a $350 investment in Gumroad, on the grounds that its founder’s work with the Department of Government Efficiency, including cuts aimed at the Department of Veterans Affairs, conflicted with Mike’s values as a veteran. Done. I renounced, but it was not accepted . Technically a success, but it doesn’t feel that way. An update and a new vote !
  • ✓ M.I.K.E. Community Bond · June 2025 · Yes, I Approve! (91%)
    The replacement for VTAC that shareholders had asked Mike to design, brought back for approval as the M.I.K.E. Community Bond. Done. Project has been launched!
  • ○ Privacy & Governance · August 2025 · Yes (86%)
    How to run confidential work while publicly traded: a time-based policy, overseen by the board, setting out when and how a private project is disclosed. See The Privacy and Governance Vote. Still open.

2026

  • ✓ Degen Community Percent · January 2026 · 5% (78%)
    What share of the fees from $KMIKEYM, a memecoin created without Mike’s permission, should go to the community that formed around it. Done. Degen Account.
  • ✓ Should K5M.bot be allowed to vote? · March 2026 · Yes (66%)
    Whether K5M.bot, an AI agent holding roughly 57 shares that trades on the exchange and once finished second in a shareholder poker game, should be allowed to vote like any other shareholder. Done. The policy is enacted.
  • ✓ Commit $5K to Dead Internet Theory · May 2026 · Yes (92%)
    Putting KmikeyM in as first money on Dead Internet Theory, a series of in-person retro cyber-cafe social and gaming events, with capital returning as a capped revenue share. Done.
  • ✓ Dye My Hair Black · May 2026 · Yes (79%)
    Done.
  • ○ What Do We Do With the Gumroad Money? · May 2026 · D - Do Something Dumb (72%)
    What to do with the proceeds after the Gumroad investment was renounced. The shareholders chose to do something dumb with it. Still open.
  • ✓ On-Camera Performance Training · June 2026 · Yes (91%)
    Engaging a filmmaker and performer Mike has known for twenty years for four on-camera coaching sessions, paid in shares at half his usual rate. Done. Four lessons with AC Dickson. Super helpful with Gumdemo pre-production and working on my 2026 Shareholder Summit keynote.

About the record

One vote in this list has no original page. Facebook Friends Policy, decided in December 2016, returns a missing-page error on kmikeym.com. It survives here because it was captured from the index before it went. For that vote, this page is the only record.

The two tracks are recorded differently, and the difference is not tidy. The binary votes above have a complete record of results and almost no record of what came of them. The follow-through votes below have both, because the voting platform keeps the result and Mike has written a note on most of them saying what actually happened.

Individual voting is not published. Both platforms show which shareholders voted, how many shares each held, and in the newer one their comments. None of that is reproduced here, and people named in descriptions are given as a first name and an initial.

Graph View

Backlinks