Welcome to our business model library. Business models can be combined and recombined to create different ways of connecting with your customers and stakeholders over time. Our focus here is to explain why recurring revenue business models like SaaS and other as-a-service models that let companies create longer term continuous value and iterative learning with your customers. We compare these recurring models to other one-off or higher friction models that may result in misalignment with your customer over time.
Each description below links to a detailed tear-down for how each model works for your company and for your customers.
Software-as-a-Service:
Cloud-hosted software purchased as recurring revenue
Salesforce | Dropbox
Hardware-as-a-Service:
Giving access to hardware with maintenance and upgrades
Hilti | Vivint | Philips
Data-as-a-Service:
Data, data management, or analytics as a core or underlying asset
Bloomberg | Climate Corp
Use of a product is metered, customers are charged for total usage in a specific period
AWS | Magazino
Key features are made available for free with premium features made available after an upgrade
Linkedin | Slack
A platform for economic exchange between two user groups with or without a transaction fee
Didi | Airbnb | Etsy
A product, service, membership or experience is offered to a customer for periodic use
Netflix | Birchbox | Mollybox
Direct-to-Consumer:
A direct relationship with a customer through digital marketing
Warby Parker | 3 Squirrels
The core product (the razor) is priced for uptake, while more money is made on the consumable (the blade)
Nespresso | Gilette
A group of consultants or skilled experts that deliver advice, counsel, or solutions for clients
McKinsey | Cooley | Accenture
Companies attract an audience to predict or cultivate intent, then sell access to advertisers
Facebook | Google | Hearst
Firms charge a published predictable fixed price rather than by the hour or other variable pricing
FedEx | USPS
Infrastructure-as-a-Service:
Providers give users the ability to configure processing, storage, and networks through the cloud
AWS | Azure | Alibaba
Managed Services Providers:
Strategic partners take on, operationalize, transform, and optimize business operations
McKinsey | Cooley | Accenture
Platform-as-a-Service:
Providers give developers services to accelerate software deployment with reduced cost and complexity
AWS Elastic Beanstalk, Heroku
We have a long list of alternative capital types to explore, what do you think we should describe next?
Business and capital model ideas, cases, teardowns, and deep dives on how to build organizations that have different philosophies for growth, impact, and purpose.
