{
 "id": "1.9",
 "title": "Business model",
 "department": "Company and strategy",
 "department_slug": "company-and-strategy",
 "direction": null,
 "branded": false,
 "status": "draft",
 "owner": "Param",
 "last_verified": "Mon Oct 26",
 "holds": "Who pays, for what, how it scales, margin per brand",
 "urls": {
  "html": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/company-and-strategy/business-model",
  "markdown": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/company-and-strategy/business-model.md",
  "json": "https://handbook.joinsquareup.com/company-and-strategy/business-model.json"
 },
 "other_directions": [],
 "tldr": {
  "headline": "The brand pays a plan for the brain, a wallet for hands",
  "points": [
   {
    "icon": "money",
    "text": "Plan $79 a month in v1, wallet from $12 a month, autopilot later in v4."
   },
   {
    "icon": "warn",
    "text": "Nothing is billed; the Pro plan sheet is a Dummy and pricing is parked."
   },
   {
    "icon": "chart",
    "text": "A Play costs a median $0.18 on Gemini Pro, $0.83 on Opus."
   },
   {
    "icon": "lock",
    "text": "Nothing is quoted outside the team while pricing is parked."
   },
   {
    "icon": "spark",
    "text": "Google credits pay for Vertex: $20,763 of $25,000 left on 16 Oct."
   }
  ],
  "stat": {
   "value": "$79",
   "label": "v1 plan a month"
  },
  "decide": "Which sets the plan price: the $15 estimate or a measured month on three partners?",
  "mood": "waiting"
 },
 "sources": [
  "brew working tree docs/pricing.md:1-51, untracked, not on origin/main",
  "brew origin/main a559de6: legal-pages.js:40, DUMMY.md:17, public/demo-picker.html:201, docs/handover/product/08-demo-guide.md:8, tools/prod-env.sh:9",
  "brand-directions/book/content/b.js b-9 parked, how-it-pays, costs",
  "handbook content/sales-and-partnerships/pricing-and-packaging.md, content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md",
  "memory: brew-pricing-parked, brew-gemini-provider, brew-model-compare-2026-10-20"
 ],
 "open_questions": [
  "**Is Plan plus Wallet plus Autopilot the model?** Proposal: yes, as written on 26 Oct, with Sai's agreement recorded in the decisions log.",
  "**Which number sets the plan price: the $15 estimate or a measured month?** Proposal: a measured month on three partners, and the plan stays at $79 only if cost sits under a third of it."
 ],
 "parts": {
  "Answer": "Who pays Brew, for what, how revenue grows and what one brand costs to serve: the brand pays one plan for the thinking, a money wallet for what Brew makes, and in v4 a share of the ad spend Brew runs; this is a proposal, nothing is billed, and margin per brand is not measured yet.",
  "Today": "### Who pays and for what, as proposed on 26 Oct\n\n| Line | Who pays | For what | Source |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Plan, the brain | The brand, one plan per brand, unlimited teammates | The read, Brand Book, weekly ideas, drafts, Ask, jams, watchers; later posting, results and ad rules | [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:6] |\n| Wallet, the hands | The brand, from money it loads | Pieces it keeps, priced on results, 3 free redos, never expires | [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:7-12] |\n| Autopilot, v4 | The brand, from the wallet | 3% of the ad spend Brew runs, minimum $149 or ₹9,999 a month | [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:14] |\n| Briefs to our team | The brand, per brief | Work our team makes; priced by our team, never in a plan | [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:35] [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:44] |\n\n### How it grows\n\n| | v1 | v2 | v3 | v4 |\n|---|---|---|---|---|\n| Plan a month | $79, ₹4,999 | $119, ₹7,999 | $149, ₹9,999 | $149, ₹9,999 plus autopilot [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:20-22] |\n| Into the wallet a month | $12 | $18 | $25 | $25 [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:21] |\n| Brain cost, estimate | about $15 | about $20 | about $30 | about $45 [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:23] |\n\nAgencies get $59 or ₹3,999 a brand at five or more brands; referrals put $12 or ₹1,000 in both wallets [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:42-43].\n\n### What is real today\n\n| Fact | Source |\n|---|---|\n| No billing exists; the Pro plan sheet is a Dummy that switches Pro on in the browser | [src: brew/DUMMY.md:17] |\n| Brew is free during the preview | [src: brew/legal-pages.js:40] |\n| Pricing is parked until Param and Sai agree | [src: memory brew-pricing-parked] |\n| A full demo build costs about $80; a live read about $6 | [src: brew/public/demo-picker.html:201] [src: brew/docs/handover/product/08-demo-guide.md:8] |\n| A Play costs a median $0.18 on Gemini Pro, $0.83 on Opus | [src: memory brew-model-compare-2026-10-20] |\n| Production runs Plays on Gemini 3.1 Pro and the rest on Flash | [src: brew/tools/prod-env.sh:9] |\n| Vertex is paid by Google credits: $20,763 of $25,000 left on 16 Oct | [src: memory brew-gemini-provider] |\n\n### Margin per brand\n\n- Wallet items carry large gross margins on paper: an ad ready video at $4 costs about $0.55 to $1.30 [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:30]\n- The plan's margin depends on a monthly cost nobody has measured; the cost per brand page proposes up to about $180 a month allowed by the caps, against a $15 estimate in the spec [src: content/ai-and-models/cost-per-brand.md Numbers] [src: brew working tree docs/pricing.md:23]",
  "Tomorrow": "| Item | Version | Tag |\n|---|---|---|\n| Plan plus wallet, free read and a 14 day trial with $5 in the wallet | v1 | New, once unparked |\n| The Dummy plan sheet | v1 | Goes |\n| Plan price rises with the version | v2 to v4 | New, proposed |\n| Autopilot share of ad spend | v4 | New, proposed |\n| The plan to own outcomes, with outcome based pricing | v4 and later | New, internal only [src: brand-directions/BRIEF.md section 2] |",
  "How we do it": "1. Nothing is quoted outside the team while pricing is parked.\n2. Measure a real month of cost per brand before the plan price is set.\n3. Pricing detail lives in [finance pricing](/finance/pricing) and [pricing and packaging](/sales-and-partnerships/pricing-and-packaging); this page keeps the model.",
  "Numbers": "| Metric | Definition | Where measured | Status |\n|---|---|---|---|\n| Plan gross margin per brand | Plan price less measured brain cost, a month | Spend files plus AI tags | Proposed, not measured |\n| Wallet gross margin | Kept pieces' price less their cost | Wallet ledger, not built | Proposed |\n| Revenue per brand a month | Plan plus wallet spend plus autopilot | Billing, not built | Proposed |",
  "Open": "1. **Is Plan plus Wallet plus Autopilot the model?** Proposal: yes, as written on 26 Oct, with Sai's agreement recorded in the decisions log.\n2. **Which number sets the plan price: the $15 estimate or a measured month?** Proposal: a measured month on three partners, and the plan stays at $79 only if cost sits under a third of it."
 }
}