The Path
Start by watching.
End by building the thing
that helped you start.
Collusion Labs isn't a product you sign up for. It's a path you walk at your own pace. Each step deepens your relationship with the cooperative — and the cooperative's relationship with you.
Nobody is stuck at any level. There's no gate. You move forward when you're ready, and every level is valuable on its own.
Hover a node to explore. Click to jump to details.
Discover
Visitor
See what people are making.
Browse the commons. Find people doing work that interests you. See how they think, what they build, how they got here. No account needed. No tracking. Just look around.
What you do
- Scroll the feed of published work
- Read project histories and process notes
- Find people whose practice resonates with yours
What you gain
- Exposure to real work by real people
- Role models who show their process, not just their results
- A sense of whether this community fits you
Commitment: None. Show up when you want.
Practice
Maker
Start developing your voice.
Create an account and set up your workshop — a private vault where you record, write, and think. Everything here is yours. Nobody sees it unless you choose to share. This is where you figure out what you know.
What you do
- Install your vault (private workspace)
- Record voice notes, write reflections, document your work
- Build a practice of articulating what you know
What you gain
- A private space that organizes your thinking
- Transcription that turns voice into searchable text
- A growing archive of your own knowledge
Commitment: Regular practice. Even 5 minutes a day.
Witness
Steward
Hold space for others.
You've been practicing. Your vault is full of your own work. Now you start contributing back — not content, but infrastructure. You hold encrypted backups for a peer. You run transcription so someone else's recordings get processed. You host a meeting room. Your machine becomes part of the cooperative's foundation.
What you do
- Host encrypted backups for members you trust
- Run transcription for your circle
- Host meeting rooms for group sessions
- Confirm the work of others ("I was there, this happened")
What you gain
- Deeper relationships with the people you steward for
- Standing in the community (earned, not given)
- Reciprocal infrastructure — others hold your backups too
- The cooperative gets stronger because you showed up
Commitment: Ongoing. Your machine runs services for others.
Publish
Contributor
Share what you know.
Some of your workshop work is ready. You choose what to publish to the commons — project histories, decision records, insights from your practice. Your published work becomes what new visitors discover in the feed. The circle closes: what you found inspiring at Level 1, you now create for others.
What you do
- Choose which workshop work is ready for the commons
- Publish with full attribution and process history
- Respond to questions and challenges from the community
- Build your track record through demonstrated work
What you gain
- A public portfolio built from real practice, not performance
- Recognition from people who understand your field
- The satisfaction of contributing to shared knowledge
- Your work helps someone else get started
Commitment: Intentional. Each publication is a deliberate act.
Teach
Guide
Help others find their path.
You've walked the whole journey. Now you help others do the same — not by lecturing, but by being present. You mentor new makers through their first vault setup. You participate in governance decisions. You help the cooperative adapt and grow. Your standing comes from ongoing contribution, not past achievement.
What you do
- Mentor new members through Levels 1–4
- Participate in cooperative governance
- Propose improvements to how things work
- Help resolve disputes through the fairness process
What you gain
- Deep investment in a community you helped build
- Governance voice earned through sustained practice
- The cooperative reflects your values because you shaped it
- Standing that stays fresh through continued contribution
Commitment: Sustained. Teaching is an ongoing practice, not a title.
The circle
A visitor discovers published work that inspires them. They start practicing. They gain confidence. They begin holding space for others. They publish their own work. They mentor newcomers who discover their work.
The platform doesn't grow through marketing. It grows because every person who walks this path creates the conditions for the next person to start.
This isn't a funnel. It's a circle.
Ready to start?
Level 1 costs nothing and asks nothing. Just look around.