# Revenue Discipline — standing rule

> **Many funnels in. Many revenue streams out. Never extractive in either direction.**

Last reviewed: 2026-05-18

This document is the load-bearing operational rule on how money flows in and out of Narrow Highway. Every new revenue idea must pass through these tests before it ships.

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## The two questions every revenue idea must answer

### 1. Is this extractive?

A revenue stream is **extractive** if any of the following is true:

- The user receives less value than they give
- The user cannot stop the relationship in one action under their own control
- The mechanism depends on tracking the user against their interests
- The mechanism depends on selling user data or attention to a third party
- The user would be embarrassed to find out how it works

If any of these is true, **the idea is rejected.** No exceptions.

### 2. Is this reasonable?

A revenue stream is **reasonable** if:

- The operator earns enough to live (not enough to maximize)
- A substantial share (target: ~40%) flows back to creators
- Operating costs stay extremely low (per the cost-discipline standing rule)
- Surplus reinvests in: more substrate, better tools, partner payouts, hosting redundancy
- The end state is a sustainable family business — not an IPO, not a private-equity exit, not hyper-scale growth

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## Allowed revenue streams

| Stream | Description | Status |
|---|---|---|
| **Patron Circle** | Voluntary recurring crypto contribution; user controls cadence in their own wallet | Phase 1 wallet flow scaffolded at `/support.html` |
| **"Presented by" sponsorship** | Aligned businesses underwrite a specific surface (show, block, curriculum track, tool, season). Tasteful credit at start + end. NOT mid-roll, NOT banner ads, NOT behavioral targeting. Crypto-wallet payment. Detailed at [`/sponsors.html`](site/sponsors.html) and `project_presented_by_sponsor_model_2026-05-18.md`. | Founding-sponsor inquiries open |
| **Sponsor-as-studio (legacy term)** | Same as above; the term used in earlier memories | Same as above |
| **Tier-3 partnerships** | Partner archive licensing for FAST channel distribution. Revenue-share with the partner. | Documented in PARTNERSHIPS.md |
| **Tier-4 studio** | Co-production deals; revenue share or flat fee | Documented in PARTNERSHIPS.md |
| **Creator tips passthrough** | User tips creator wallet → wallet directly; tiny operator cut (1–3%) for infrastructure | Phase 2 wallet flow |
| **Physical artifacts** | Print Codex, signed editions, physical hymnals. Crypto-wallet checkout. Print-on-demand. | Future |
| **Crowdfunded specials** | New curriculum track / show funded via crypto campaign; released free | Future |
| **Institutional licensing** | Christian schools, seminary libraries license bulk access. B2B annual fee or per-seat | Long game |

The **PERSONAL site stays free forever.** Individuals never pay to access any tool, deck, channel, or piece of content. Period.

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## Forbidden revenue streams

| Forbidden | Why |
|---|---|
| Advertising | Extractive — user is the product. Compromises alignment. |
| Behavioral targeting | Same as above + privacy violation. |
| Selling user data | Same as above + breach of trust. |
| Credit-card processing | Operationally we refuse this category. No card data on the site. |
| Bank ACH / direct-debit | Same reasoning. |
| Paywalls for individuals | The free tier is the only tier. |
| Auto-renew subscriptions on cards | Cannot exist by definition (no cards). |
| Engagement-maximization design | No infinite scroll, no notification spam, no dark patterns. |
| Loot-box / chance-driven monetization | Predatory category; never. |

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## The payment infrastructure

All money flows through **self-custodial crypto wallets**:

- Users hold their funds; we never custody
- Patron Circle: wallet-controlled recurring sender (user owns the schedule, not us)
- Creator tips: wallet → wallet, we provide UI rails, we don't touch funds
- Sponsor underwriting: invoice paid in crypto to operator wallet
- Creator payouts: operator pushes from operator wallet to creator's wallet, on a manual cadence (Phase 1) or automated (Phase 4+)

**Wallets supported in Phase 1:**
- EIP-1193 browser providers (MetaMask, Rainbow, Coinbase Wallet, Frame, Rabby, etc.)
- Direct address send (any wallet on any supported chain)

**Wallets supported later:**
- Bitcoin (Sparrow invoice flow)
- Lightning Network for tips
- Stablecoin payment chains (Base, Optimism, etc.) for low-fee creator payouts

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## Funnel-to-revenue mapping

Each funnel has its own likely revenue streams. We don't try to make every funnel monetize the same way.

| Funnel | Most-likely revenue streams |
|---|---|
| Channel | Patron Circle · Sponsor-as-studio · Tier-3 partnerships |
| Curriculum | Sponsor-as-studio (homeschool publishers) · Crowdfunded specials · Institutional licensing (schools) |
| Codex | Institutional licensing (seminaries) · Physical artifacts (printed editions) · Patron Circle |
| Walk / Shepherd | Patron Circle |
| Tools | Patron Circle (low individual amount, high count) |
| Hymns | Patron Circle · Tier-3 partnerships (worship music labels) |
| Church streams | Tier-3 partnerships (church directories) · Patron Circle |
| Submit (user content) | Creator tips passthrough · Patron Circle |
| Almanac / Apothecary | Patron Circle · Sponsor-as-studio (aligned product companies) |

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## Value-to-cost discipline (every tool must clear this)

Per Matt's directive 2026-05-18: *"We want all of our tools easily accessible, functional, and high value to cost."*

Every tool must meet:

1. **Accessible** — works on mobile, no login required, no app install for first use, fast to load, intelligible to a parent on their first visit.
2. **Functional** — does what its label says, all the way through, no half-built edges visible to users.
3. **High value-to-cost** — operational cost is justified by user value AND by retention. Track the ratio per tool; rebuild or sunset losers.

This applies before any new tool ships AND continuously thereafter. If a tool drops below the bar, it gets rebuilt or sunset.

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## What this is NOT

- Not a vow of poverty. The operator earns a living.
- Not an anti-business position. We seek reasonable profit.
- Not a rejection of all monetization. We monetize voluntarily, transparently, and in ways the user can stop.
- Not a permanent ban on accepting fiat (operator may receive fiat from sponsors or institutional partners via wire transfer; what's banned is *consumer credit-card processing on the site*).

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## The standing principle, one sentence

**Every dollar that flows through Narrow Highway flows because someone chose to send it, and they can stop the flow anytime, in their own wallet, without asking us.**