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Home/Business Models
Business Models

How companies actually make money.

A working guide to the business models investors fund most often — how each one generates revenue, the metrics that decide whether it is working, where it tends to break, and the questions investors ask before writing a cheque.

Business Model

SaaS

Software delivered over the internet and sold on a recurring licence rather than a one-time purchase.

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Business Model

Marketplace

A platform connecting buyers and sellers, monetising the transactions that flow between them.

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Business Model

Subscription

Recurring payment for ongoing access to a product or service, billed on a fixed cycle.

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Business Model

DTC (Direct-to-Consumer)

Selling directly to end customers, bypassing wholesalers, distributors, and retail intermediaries.

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Business Model

Franchise

Licensing a proven business format to independent operators who fund and run their own locations.

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Business Model

Licensing

Granting others the right to use intellectual property in exchange for fees or royalties.

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Business Model

Manufacturing

Producing physical goods at scale, sold through wholesale, retail, or direct channels.

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Business Model

Marketplace + SaaS

A hybrid selling software to one side of a marketplace while taking a cut of the transactions.

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Business Model

Freemium

A free tier that acquires users at scale, with paid tiers unlocking capacity or advanced features.

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Business Model

Transaction Fee

Revenue taken as a percentage or flat fee on each transaction processed through the platform.

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Business Model

Hardware

Designing and selling physical devices, often paired with software or recurring services.

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Business Model

API-First

Selling programmatic access to a capability that other companies embed in their own products.

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Business Model

White Label

Building a product that another company rebrands and sells as its own.

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Business Model

Usage-Based Pricing

Charging customers in proportion to what they actually consume rather than a flat fee.

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Business Model

Platform & Ecosystem

Providing infrastructure that third parties build on, and taking a share of what they create.

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Business Model

Advertising

Giving the product away to users and selling their attention to advertisers.

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Business Model

Data Licensing

Selling access to proprietary datasets or the insights derived from them.

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Business Model

Razor and Blades

Selling a durable device cheaply to create demand for the profitable consumables it requires.

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Business Model

Aggregator

Owning the demand relationship and commoditising the suppliers behind it.

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Business Model

Open Core

Giving away open-source software and charging for the enterprise features around it.

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Business Model

Managed Marketplace

A marketplace that controls quality, pricing, and fulfilment rather than just introducing the two sides.

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Business Model

Vertical SaaS

Software built for the specific workflows of a single industry rather than for everyone.

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Business Model

Embedded Finance

Building financial products into a non-financial platform where the customer already works.

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Business Model

Lending

Making money on the spread between the cost of capital and what borrowers pay.

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Business Model

Insurance MGA

Underwriting and distributing insurance on behalf of a carrier that holds the risk.

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Business Model

Leasing & Equipment Finance

Owning assets and renting their use, converting a capital purchase into an operating expense.

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Business Model

Membership & Community

Charging for access to a group, its network, and the things only members can reach.

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Business Model

Outcome-Based Pricing

Getting paid for the result delivered rather than for the product or hours supplied.

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Business Model

Productised Services

Selling a service as a fixed-scope, fixed-price package instead of billing by the hour.

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Business Model

Agency & Consulting

Selling expertise and hours, where people are both the product and the cost base.

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Business Model

Wholesale & Distribution

Buying goods in volume and reselling them through a network of retailers or businesses.

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Business Model

Vertical Integration

Owning multiple stages of the value chain instead of buying them from others.

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Business Model

Protocol & Token

Building open network infrastructure where a token coordinates and rewards participants.

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Raising capital or deploying it?

Global Capital Network connects founders with the investors, funds, and family offices actively backing these models.

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