The difference is that the people you ask will be the people who are doing the work and as a result they become the owners
I haven't started a railroad so I can't tell you how to fund that
I have started a residential trash cooperative which is 100% bootstrapped by the employees and needed ~100k to start
I have also started multiple software startups and those are cheap as hell to start and run if you're not trying to waste money on marketing
The difference is that the people you ask will be the people who are doing the work and as a result they become the owners
I haven't started a railroad so I can't tell you how to fund that
I have started a residential trash cooperative which is 100% bootstrapped by the employees and needed ~100k to start
I have also started multiple software startups and those are cheap as hell to start and run if you're not trying to waste money on marketing