One of the key features of cooperatives is members’ democratic control over cooperative capital and policy. While this feature protects the equality of members and prevents external control over cooperatives, it also creates costs for members who may not wish to participate in management and administration, especially in case of consumer cooperatives. This problem was highlighted as early as in 1894 by prominent Russian economist and cooperative scholar Ivan Ozerov. The present paper demonstrates that the rise of crowdfunding helps to find a better balance between internalization and externalization of consumers. Crowdfunding leads to emergence of a community centered around the crowdfunded venture. This community provides the venture with resources, buys its products, and has a voice in product development and delivery. Crowdfunded ventures with their community can be seen as a compromise (a hybrid) between ideal cooperatives and ideal business ventures. These results further support the emerging methodology of hybridity in the analysis of economic phenomena. These results may also have implications for entrepreneurship theory as crowdfunded ventures can be categorized as “businesses-on-demand” setup to serve the needs of the community of backers. The community’s readiness to support the venture and to buy its products reduces entrepreneurial risks and modifies the model of relations between the venture and its customers.