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Partnership Proposal

partnership-proposal.md

Partnership Proposal

Status: evolving working proposal
Last updated: 2026-08-06

Purpose

This document is the shared partnership proposal model for Ed's industry-specific AI + iOS + SaaS partnerships. It is the common starting point that each partner-specific proposal builds on.

Partnership idea

We pair Ed's product-building, AI, iOS, SaaS, and automation execution with a partner's domain expertise, customer understanding, workflow knowledge, and market access.

The goal is to co-create a focused product for one industry or partner niche, validate it with real users, and grow it into a recurring-revenue vertical that can stand alone or become part of a broader portfolio. The partner represents their industry: they help shape the product, validate it with peers, and become the initial trusted channel for introducing the platform within that market.

Default partnership structure

50/50 partnership economics as the starting point between Ed and the primary industry partner.
The partner represents their industry and acts as the initial domain voice, credibility bridge, and peer-access channel for the vertical.
The near-term commercial objective is to onboard users from the partner's peer network into a recurring monthly subscription platform.
Some customers may later be elevated into sub-partner roles when they materially help expand adoption, provide market access, or support customer success. Any sub-partner share comes from the primary partner's 50% allocation unless otherwise agreed.
The long-term objective is to grow the industry vertical to at least $1,000,000 in annual recurring revenue, then evaluate a sale of that vertical. Sale proceeds would be split between Ed, the primary partner, and any approved sub-partners according to the agreed partner/sub-partner allocation.
Final terms should be confirmed per partner before launch, especially if the scope, capital, time, sales contribution, or sub-partner structure differs materially.

What Ed brings

Product strategy and execution.
AI workflow design.
iOS app direction.
SaaS/web portal direction.
Automation, integrations, and deployment.
Ongoing iteration based on partner/user feedback.

What the partner brings

Industry representation and credibility with peers.
Real workflow knowledge and judgment about what the industry will trust.
Access to early users, customers, or peers for validation and onboarding.
Honest feedback on pain points, pricing, trust, and adoption barriers.
Help validating whether the product solves a commercially meaningful problem.
Participation in building the first customer base for recurring monthly subscription revenue.

Industry-author opportunity

The default long-term authority target is for each approved partner to become the named author of a practical book for their industry, provided the topic, partner interest, and market evidence support the project. The book can serve as an authority and trust asset—not merely a royalty experiment—by packaging the partner's real expertise into useful guidance for peers and prospective customers.

Ed and Sage can provide research, interviews, drafting, editing, production, and cover support. The partner must materially contribute and approve the complete manuscript, claims, author biography, cover, and publication. We will not publish generic AI output under a partner's name, invent experience, or promise Amazon sales.

The operating workflow is defined in the Industry Partner Author and Amazon Book Strategy, including the seven source prompts, stronger production prompts, market validation, rights and quality gates, KDP AI disclosure, and per-project commercial decisions.

Early validation approach

Identify painful recurring workflows.
Research market problems, industry dynamics, and existing tools.
Pick a low-risk MVP wedge.
Build a narrow prototype or concierge-style workflow.
Test with real users and partner feedback.
Onboard the first customers into a recurring monthly subscription workflow.
Identify whether any customer should become a sub-partner because they can help expand the vertical.
Convert learning into a SaaS/iOS roadmap aimed at building an industry vertical with meaningful annual recurring revenue.
Where approved and strategically useful, develop a partner-authored industry book that strengthens authority, education, peer access, and consent-based demand generation.

Product principles

Start with a painful, frequent workflow.
Avoid unnecessary regulatory/privacy complexity in the first wedge.
Prefer clear subscription or recurring value.
Use AI where it saves time or increases conversion, not as a gimmick.
Build trust first, automation second.
Keep the first version small enough to ship and validate quickly.

Commercial growth path

Co-design the product with the primary partner as the industry representative.
Validate the MVP with peers in that industry.
Convert early users into recurring monthly subscribers.
Promote select high-value customers into sub-partner roles only when they materially help distribution, credibility, or customer success.
Grow the vertical toward at least $1,000,000 in annual recurring revenue.
Once the vertical is mature enough, evaluate strategic sale options and split sale proceeds according to the agreed partner/sub-partner economics.

Open questions to resolve per partner

Who is the first real buyer or user?
What pain is urgent enough to pay for?
What does the partner uniquely know that competitors miss?
What workflow can be improved without heavy integrations?
What data is safe and realistic to use in an MVP?
What would make the partner proud to show this to peers?

Partner-specific proposals

Each partner profile should include its own top-level partnership-proposal.md that references this shared model and adds the partner's industry-specific perspective, opportunity framing, risks, and next steps.

Change log

2026-08-06 20:52 EDT — Added the optional partner-authored industry-book strategy and shared operating guide.

Source: Manually maintained by Sage with direction from Ed; updated 2026-08-06.