Earning models
The five ways an Offer earns, subscription, usage, commerce, marketplace, and directory, and the records each one keeps.
An earning model is how an Offer turns use into revenue: subscription, usage, commerce, marketplace, or directory. It is independent of what the Product is, so one Product can earn several ways.
Two axes
Every Product is one of four kinds: data, software, an Agent, or a service. The kind says what the Customer gets; the earning model says when money moves and what is counted.
The axes cross freely. A dataset sells by subscription or per lookup, and an Agent per run or per month. A Startup can mix models across its Offers, and each Offer is judged on its own revenue.
| Model | The Customer pays for | Records | Starts from |
|---|---|---|---|
| subscription | access for a period | Subscription, Invoice | SaaS |
| usage | each metered unit | Meter, Entry, Invoice | Dataset API |
| commerce | one item, once | Order | Dropship store |
| marketplace | a match, as a share of each transaction | Order, Transaction, payout | Marketplace |
| directory | a listing, paid by the listed party | Subscription or Order | Directory |
Subscription
A Subscription is a Customer's standing acceptance of a recurring Offer. It renews each period at the Offer Version the Customer accepted, and each renewal bills one Invoice.
A Customer can switch to another Offer, with the current period prorated, or unsubscribe and keep access until the period closes. A failed payment starts recovery: retries on a schedule, reminders, then a pause. Nothing is deleted.
Usage
A usage Offer charges for each unit a Meter counts. The Meter turns usage Events into Entries exactly once, so a retried call never bills twice. The period's Invoice sums the Entries against the Price tiers.
Usage needs a ceiling the Customer can see. Each Entitlement carries a Limit, and a call over it gets a refusal or an Approval, never a surprise bill. As usage nears the Limit, the Startup offers the next tier, accepted in one step.
Usage is not revenue by itself. A failed call can consume compute and earn nothing, and a Service earns only when its result is accepted, not when it is done. Each Offer states which Events bill.
Commerce
A commerce Offer sells an item once. The Customer places an Order, which records the Offer Version and Price at that moment. The Order then moves from placed to paid, fulfilled, and closed.
Every Startup is digital, so a Startup that sells physical goods sells them dropship. It owns the catalog, the Order, and the Customer; an upstream supplier holds the stock and ships it. desknook.shop sells standing desks this way; its supplier ships each Order, and the tracking number passes through to the Customer.
Tax is either included in the Price or added at checkout, and the Offer says which. A refund returns all or part of a payment and posts the reversing Entries; the original Order stays on record.
Take rates and listings
A marketplace matches buyers with Suppliers who contract with each other directly. The Startup earns a take rate, a share of each Transaction, and pays Suppliers out on a schedule with a holdback for disputes.
The warranty test separates a marketplace from a Service. When the Startup warrants the result, it holds a Service promise under an Outcome Contract. When the buyer contracts with the Supplier, it is a marketplace.
tutorpair.co matches parents with tutors who set their own rates, so it is a marketplace. It takes 15% of each lesson.
A directory sells listings: listed parties pay to appear, or to be featured, in a searchable dataset that buyers browse for free. A directory of wedding photographers charges photographers $20 a month for a featured listing. Its listings double as its search pages, so the product and its demand floor are one asset.
Where the money moves
Money in every model moves only through Stripe, between connected accounts. The platform never holds funds, never lends, and never pools risk.
Every model posts Entries to the ledger. The Finance Team recognizes revenue as each unit is earned: a delivered Order, an elapsed Subscription day, a metered call, an accepted outcome. The number every model reports to is outside revenue, money from Customers with no tie to the Startup's owners.