nuance intelligence

Visa, one of the most interesting organizations in the world, is going public.

The Brits, both at the Financial Times and Economist (subscription, and well worth it) allude to the possible motivation as a hefty financial bail-out for stock-owning banks, who could collectively receive up to half of the estimated $18bn offering. All papers note that MasterCard’s shares are up 400% since their May 2006 IPO.

The Economist highlights key statistics report from “Nilson Report, a trade publication, [who] estimates that by 2011 55% of transactions in America will be cashless, up from 40% in 2005.” And all papers report that over $3bn will be set aside for anti-trust and unfair pricing claims now pending in various courts.

Never mind the fact that this will be the largest IPO is US history (read about that ad-nauseam), what’s most interesting is Visa’s structure and origins.

Originally designed by Dee Hock, Visa is (was?) a unique non-stock, membership-owned institution that pioneered a collaborative form — called ‘chaordic’ by Hock — which transcended the narrow interests of each bank, and resulted in the creation of one of the world’s most venerable brands and services. Visa is one of the world’s largest decentralized organizations, and yet it issues no cards nor makes any loans (member banks do this).

After Hock left Visa he became an author (Birth of the Chaordic Age), organizational guru and hero of progressive thinkers, and while his work inspired many organizations, including the Chaordic Commons, no chaordic organization ever achieved the success of Visa.