Business Model
Explain who pays, how much they pay, and how the business makes money.
What & why
A model the listener can repeat after one sentence is one they can evaluate, remember, and pass to a partner who was not in the room. Listing several revenue streams raises cognitive load and reads as uncertainty about which one actually works, which quietly erodes confidence. A single clear answer to who pays and how much signals that you have made the hard choice and understand your own economics, a competence cue. Simplicity here also makes the math checkable in real time, so the listener trusts what they can verify.
Before & after
“We plan to monetize through a combination of SaaS subscriptions, marketplace fees, enterprise licensing, and potentially advertising once we reach scale.”
“Teams pay $49/seat/month. Average contract is 12 seats, or $7,000 ARR per customer. Our gross margin is 82% and LTV:CAC is 4.2x. We sell bottom-up: developers adopt the free tier, then their team lead upgrades.”
When you’ll use it
Presenting the business model slide in a pitch deck
Answering 'How do you make money?' from an investor
Explaining your pricing strategy to a potential partner
Justifying unit economics in a Series A diligence process
Comparing your model to analogous successful companies
Pro tip
One model, one sentence. If the listener cannot repeat it back, simplify again.
Questions & answers
What if I haven't figured out my business model yet?
Should I show multiple revenue streams?
Learn more
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