Business Model Mastery

Launch a Micro-SaaS

Elective — SaaS model. 10 paying subscribers (not trialists, not freemium users) on a self-serve product with documented MRR as proof. Micro-SaaS is defined by solo or tiny-team operation.

Build a Subscription Business

Elective — subscription model (non-SaaS). 100 active subscribers with documented monthly churn under 5%. Proof: subscriber count, MRR, and churn rate from your billing platform.

Build an E-Commerce Store

Elective — e-commerce model. $5,000 in first-month revenue from a public storefront. Shopify / Stripe / WooCommerce dashboard screenshot with order count and revenue is the proof.

Launch a Marketplace

Elective — marketplace model. 10 active suppliers and 50 active buyers with documented GMV in the first 30 days. Two-sided liquidity is the proof bar — not just supplier supply.

Launch a Freelance Agency

Elective — services model. 3 paying clients with a documented delivery process — proposal template, scope of work, and invoices. Proof is client contracts, not just revenue.

Close a Consulting Contract

Elective — consulting model. A single $5,000+ consulting contract with a signed scope of work and documented deliverables. The scoping and close process is what makes this a proof.

Build a Content-Led Business

Elective — content-led model. A business where organic content drives revenue: newsletter with paid tier, course, community, or sponsorship. Documented revenue from content (not ads) is the proof.

Free canvas for mapping any business model before building it. The Canvas forces you to define customer segments, value propositions, and revenue streams before writing a line of code.

Free trial for e-commerce. The Shopify blog has the best free content on product sourcing, pricing, and first-month launch strategy for physical product businesses.

Free. Gumroad is the fastest path to launching a digital product business — 0% fees for first $10K revenue. The creator guides cover subscriptions, courses, and content licensing.

The canonical academic resource on marketplace design. The HBS summary is free — read it before building any two-sided marketplace to understand the chicken-and-egg problem and how to solve it.

Free contract templates and payment protection guides for freelancers and consultants. Using a proper contract is what separates a professional consulting engagement from a favour with an invoice.