This is an excellent article that I came across form a post on the Copyblogger’s blog

Freelancers Will Form Networks and Build “Fast”
Companies

This is somewhat obvious with things like the original thought behind Citizen Agency (before it became the Chris and Tara consulting shop), Co-Working and the renewed enthusiasm
for small startup teams, but there is something more subtle and deeper at the
heart of this. Simply put, teams of people can do more together, better, than
any individual can do alone. As I have
banged on my drum for the last two years – in a knowledge economy, the
number one driver of value is the ability of smart people from diverse
backgrounds to work together.

Some of the lessons of old media will hold true for Social Media. This is
most notably the content networks (ala PodShow, Gawker, Weblogsinc), the power of talent (ala
Amanda Congdon and RocketBoom), the
need to build an audience and the ability to produce in a really slick way. As
we have seen with reality television, the hybrid of overly produced “barely
based on reality” does not hold sway with people for long. The deep human desire
for genuine connections with the heroes journey via Joseph Campbell will not
tolerate gimmicks or fools for long. Genuine human drama, ’How To’ content,
insightful commentary, truly funny comedy, emotionally charged entertainment,
engaging conversations, factual news of the world and stories well told will
rule the day.

While an individual alone may be able to make a few extra bucks via
advertising and affiliate product sales, or by syndicating their content – they
will get the most impact in terms of influence and dollars by joining networks.
These can be small networks of a few friends working together, or can be the
basis for new startups. Some may have the right formula and grow big
organically, but most will not truly obtain their full value unless they are
able to benefit from the scale of an even larger network.

This is similar to the difference between living in a rural countryside
versus living in the city. Neither is necessarily good or bad on its own merits
and- you can choose whichever one you like, but both are generally better if you
belong to a network for support. Working freelance is somewhat like tilling the
land on your own farm. You can make a living if you put your shoulder into it
and can find a market for what you have to offer, but there are a lot more
things required of you to be successful. In this analogy, working on a team is
like living in a city where you have more of the basic resources required for
success provided for you. This is one of the reasons I have come to believe that
co-working is quite possibly a transition for many people back into
companies.

The key difference being that the companies created out of it will not be
companies based on command and control hierarchies, but instead will be chaordic
in nature. The purpose of the organization will be clear to those within it and
everyone will be a leader from time to time. However, it will still require a
visionary thinker, a finance wiz and an operational expert at the helm for
maximum success as Tom Peters proposes
in his concept of the “Golden
Leadership Triangle”. It will also be a values driven organization that may
make a reasonable profit or a huge one (in line with the value created) but will
most assuredly be socially responsible and focused on people.

This is exactly the sort of world envisioned by Alan Webber and Bill Taylor
when they formed Fast Company. Only
now, we have all the lessons of irrational exuberance, the further
democratization of the means of production, the knowledge economy rather than
the information economy and a more wide spread desire for change in the face of
looming world wide conflict.