Partnership Structures for Different Business Situations
Three Tiers of Engagement
These aren’t rigid pricing categories—they’re starting points for collaborative assessment of what fits your situation.
Tier 1: Solidarity Partners
Direct support for those building alternatives
Who this is for: Workers’ cooperatives, grassroots organizations, autonomous projects, groups under pressure. Organizations that practice what they preach, often with volatile or minimal budgets.
Primary approach: Pro bono work when capacity permits. This is direct solidarity—investing technical capacity in projects building the alternatives we need.
Alternative arrangements: Mission discount (€90/hour) or virtual account for those who prefer structured engagement. You’re entitled to any arrangement that works – solidarity doesn’t require you to accept free work if that’s not what you want.
What this recognizes: Organizations creating social value beyond what markets measure deserve structural support, not charitable crumbs.
Tier 2: Strategic Alliance
Co-investment with ethical underdogs
Who this is for: Small businesses practicing fair treatment, organizations committed to worker wellbeing, enterprises constrained by cash flow but not by values. You’re fighting the same structural pressures I am.
Primary approach: The Parallel Path Revenue Engine or Virtual Account flexibility.
The Parallel Path model:
You’re not a “client.” You’re a worker running a business, probably fighting the same structural constraints I face – cash flow pressure, market extraction, the choice between compromising values and failing economically.
I’m a worker with technical capacity. You’re a worker with market access and mission.
The deal: We co-invest—my technical capacity, your market access—to build a separate, profit-generating service or product. The revenue becomes your friendly, non-extractive investor, funding your core mission without loan sharks or VC pressure.
This isn’t creative financing. It’s workers recognizing each other across the artificial vendor-client boundary. I take on risk because I believe in your potential. We build a safety net together.
Virtual Account flexibility: Professional rate maintained, payment timing adapted. Multiple settlement pathways when your situation stabilizes—standard payment, revenue sharing, equity participation, extended partnership.
Solidarity in practice: When genuine partnership potential exists and business failure would affect real people and families, we figure out solutions together. This can include working completely free when human impact matters.
Honest about limits: Can’t do this constantly without securing my own family’s future. Requires strong values alignment and realistic path to mutual benefit.
Tier 3: Advanced Partnership
Professional exchange with mission-aligned organizations
Who this is for: Funded NGOs, established small businesses, entrepreneurs, profitable cooperatives. Organizations with stable resources seeking ethical technical partnership rather than extraction-based consulting.
Primary approach: Standard professional rate (€100/hour) with comprehensive retainer or strategic partnership structures.
What you get: Advanced technical capacity and strategic expertise through stable, non-extractive arrangements. Direct collaboration, value-based prioritization, continuous deployment—professional results without process theater or billable hour maximization.
Economic arrangements available: Equity participation, revenue sharing, or joint ventures where long-term alignment is more strategic than hourly billing.
The Full Menu of Arrangements
All tiers can access any combination of these structures based on collaborative assessment.
Work Arrangements
Focused Support: Specific technical needs, defined scope, testing collaboration before deeper commitment. Professional consulting at standard rates for defined needs. Good for initial collaboration to build trust and assess fit.
Typical scenarios: Infrastructure migration, specific automation implementation, technical assessment, problem diagnosis, knowledge transfer.
Comprehensive Retainer: Ongoing integrated support (€1,500-5,000/month typical). Predictable capacity, priority access, strategic continuity. Preferred structure for stable partnership.
Benefits: Priority access and faster response. Continuous strategic thinking about business value. Proactive problem prevention. Technology that evolves with your business.
Honest about preference: Retainers provide income stability important for my family while enabling best work through long-term strategic thinking. Good for both parties.
Strategic Partnership: Deeply integrated long-term commitment. High-level decision-making, technology as core to your business model, shared value creation. Beyond consulting into true partnership.
Right situations only: Requires exceptional values alignment, significant growth potential, technology fundamental to business model.
Economic Arrangements
Standard Payment: Professional rate, straightforward exchange.
Virtual Account: Deferred payment with multiple settlement options. Pay what works for current capacity—balance settled when organization stabilizes through terms we agree together.
Settlement pathways: Standard payment when cash flow improves, service exchange, revenue sharing, equity participation, or hybrid combinations.
Revenue Share: Percentage of specific revenue streams generated by our work together.
Equity Participation: Direct stake for high-alignment, long-term partnerships.
Parallel Path Revenue Engine: Co-investment to build separate income stream funding your core mission. The highest expression of worker-to-worker solidarity.
Payment Tools
Cash: Standard transaction for stable, predictable arrangements.
Mission Discount: 10% off (€90/hour) for worker cooperatives and community organizations.
Why offer this: Not charity—acknowledgment of non-monetary value you create. If you’re building the solidarity economy, I lower the barrier to access professional-grade technology. Material contribution to our shared ecosystem.
How it works: €90/hour instead of €100/hour on every invoice.. Combinable with other structures. Applied automatically after values alignment confirmed.
Pro Bono: Free work for Tier 1 organizations when capacity permits. Direct political solidarity.
Choosing What Fits
This isn’t negotiation—it’s collaborative assessment.
Negotiation implies opposing interests: you want lower price, I want higher price. Partnership means finding structure that works for both parties based on actual situation.
We discuss:
- Your business model and financial reality
- Current constraints and growth trajectory
- What structure acknowledges your situation appropriately
- What creates mutual value over time
Then we figure out together what makes sense.
What this requires from you: Values alignment around fair worker treatment. Interest in partnership over transactional projects. Openness to collaborative decision-making. Recognition that high-value work is worth doing even when complex.
Why Fair Compensation Creates Better Partnerships
When developers are fairly compensated without pressure to maximize billable hours, incentives align with your success.
No structural pressure to create artificial complexity or scope creep. No gaming estimation to protect margins. Partnership structures mean genuine investment in outcomes—I succeed when your business succeeds, not through extraction of maximum hours.
This is the opposite of typical consulting dynamics.
Starting a Partnership
Initial conversation (no commitment): Discuss your business challenges and what creates value for your situation. Talk about technology needs and constraints. Assess basic values alignment.
Collaborative assessment: I learn about your organization’s work and impact. You assess whether this approach fits. Honest conversation about concerns, questions, partnership readiness.
Structure discussion: Which arrangement makes sense? What payment structure works? What timeline fits your reality? What does success look like for both parties?
Decision point: I tell you honestly if I think I can help. You decide if this fits. If yes, we figure out details together. If not, I might know someone better suited.
No sales pitch. No pressure. Just honest conversation about alignment.
