EF Pricing v0.8 — The Self-Driving Car, Bounded

Filed: 2026-05-25 by Mycelia Status: ✅ Aligned w/ Billy's bounded-engagement directive 2026-05-25 Supersedes: EF_PRICING_v0.7_VEHICLE.md (kept for history) For: Ryan Fry — the proposal he sees. Self-driving car narrative spine; lift share is LIFT only + tapers + ends by Y2; total Tapt cost to EF declines to zero by Year 3.

The frame

We're setting up a self-driving car. By Year 2 it drives itself. By Year 3 we're gone — unless you want us to build it new capabilities.

That's the whole story. The first year we build the car, calibrate it to your brand, teach it your roads, and ride alongside as it learns. The second year we step further back; the car drives itself with your team curating. By end of Year 2 our standing relationship sunsets — including our share of revenue lift. Year 3+ we're available only if you want to add new capabilities to the car.

The engagement is bounded, not perpetual. Our economic interest in the relationship is designed to wind down as your independence grows.

This is structurally different from:

• Agencies (who renew retainers indefinitely)
• SaaS vendors (who lock in subscriptions indefinitely)
• Performance marketing partners (who take a share of all attributable revenue indefinitely)

We're none of those. We're the vehicle that takes you from "no marketing function" to "an autonomous system you own + run." Then we leave.

Where Emerson Fry is today

The cost story — visualized

Every dollar of Tapt cost to you over 24+ months. Direct fees decline; lift share peaks late Year 1; both end by Year 3.

Plus a one-time $10K setup fee at signing (covers Month 1 operations — not shown in the monthly chart). Everything else above is post-setup.

The story:

• Months 1-3: Heavy stewardship from us; lift hasn't materialized yet (the system is calibrating).
• Months 4-12: Direct fees decline; lift share rises as growth lands. Total Tapt $/month stays moderate.
• Year 2: Direct fees minimal; lift share continues but at halved rates; total continues to decline.
• End of Year 2: Both end. Standing relationship sunsets.
• Year 3+: $0 standing. Optional new capability builds only (see Capability Roadmap).

Critical clarification on the lift share: This is share of incremental revenue we helped grow, not share of all revenue. If your $2M baseline stays flat, we earn zero on this line. The share triggers only on revenue above the agreed baseline.

The structure — 4 buckets

flowchart TB
    Y["YOUR EF SPEND"]
    Y --> T["📦 TAPT FEES<br/>setup + declining monthly<br/>+ time-bounded lift share<br/>(all ends by EOY2)"]
    Y --> I["☁️ INFRASTRUCTURE<br/>your Google Cloud +<br/>your API accounts<br/>~$1,200–6,000/yr"]
    Y --> M["📈 MEDIA SPEND<br/>your ad accounts<br/>$50,000/yr Moderate<br/>(Pinterest-first 40%)"]
    Y --> X["🛠️ EXISTING TOOLS<br/>Klaviyo, Shopify, etc.<br/>you already pay"]
    T -.->|"the work we do<br/>bounded engagement"| Z["TAPT EARNS<br/>Y1 + Y2 only, then $0"]
    I -.->|"directly to providers"| ZZ["GOOGLE / ANTHROPIC EARN"]
    M -.->|"through your accounts<br/>no Tapt markup"| ZZZ["META / PINTEREST / GOOGLE EARN"]
    X -.->|"your existing"| ZZZZ["KLAVIYO / SHOPIFY EARN"]

Only the Tapt-fees bucket flows to us. Everything else flows directly through your accounts to the actual providers.

Tapt fees — full detail

The $10,000 setup fee — one-time, on signing, includes Month 1

What it covers:

Declining monthly — starts Month 2, ends at near-zero by Year 2 end

Time-bounded lift share — Y1 + Y2 only

This is the only ongoing tie, and it ends at end of Year 2.

Year 1 rates — full rates as the system proves out:

Year 2 rates — tapered (~60% of Y1 rates) as Tapt steps back:

Year 3+ rate: 0% (lift share ends). Every dollar of growth from Year 3 forward is fully yours — no Tapt share on continuing revenue.

Two principles enforced by this structure:

1. Lift share is LIFT share, not all-revenue share. Calculated against incremental revenue over baseline only.
2. Lift share is bounded by the engagement. Tapt's economic interest in EF's continued growth ends with Year 2. Your independence is the design goal, not the side effect.

Your financial story across the scenarios

Year 1 (Conservative scenario: +15% / $300K new revenue)

Year 2 (Continuing growth: +10% above already-elevated Y1 = $230K continued lift)

Year 3+ (Continuing growth without Tapt standing fees)

Year 3+ all growth is yours, no Tapt cut. If you decide to add new platform capabilities (see Capability Roadmap), each one is a fixed-fee project that ends when delivered.

The 24-month Tapt total

Even at the aggressive scenario — where Tapt earns $244K across two years — your gross profit on the combined Y1+Y2 lift ($1.6M new revenue × 55% = $880K) is ~3.6× what Tapt earned. And from Year 3 forward, that ongoing revenue base is entirely yours.

Capability Roadmap — Y2+ optional upgrades

Y2 is when the platform is mature enough to absorb more of your tech stack. Each upgrade is a one-time fixed-fee project you opt into. Each one declines in cost over time as patterns mature. No upgrades happen without your explicit decision.

The compound effect: by Year 3+, you can have migrated $500-$2,000/month of SaaS subscriptions into your owned platform. Each replacement was a one-time fixed cost (declining over time). Your tech-stack independence compounds.

Critical: none of these upgrades happen unless you commission them. The Y3+ baseline cost is $0 unless you actively choose to add capabilities.

What we produce (Year 1 capacity)

For comparison: a full-time content production hire at $80K/year produces 400-600 assets/year. This delivers 3-5× that volume + the full program layer (influencers, events, collaborations).

Social strategy — what we actually do beyond posts + ads

Influencer program (Y1)

• 30-50 micro-influencer prospects identified (slow-fashion + sustainable + coastal aesthetic, 10-50K followers)
• 8-15 personalized pitches sent from your email
• Target: 4-6 partnerships landed
• Highest-performing influencer content cleared for paid Meta usage (currently fashion DTC's top-converting paid creative)

Seasonal campaign pushes (Y1)

• Spring drop · summer Love Tòmas · fall return-to-wardrobe · Holiday — each a 2-4 week concentrated push
• System generates all creative variants, sequences across channels, tracks vs other periods

Virtual events (Y1)

• Holiday "evening at the table" founder-voice IG live (early November)
• Spring drop preview event (March)
• Future: maker-country live tours, customer-celebration anniversaries

Cross-brand collaborations (Y1)

• 5-10 complementary brand prospects identified
• 2-3 collaboration attempts (gift-with-purchase, co-content, joint Pinterest boards, cross-promotion)

Customer celebration ongoing (Y1)

• UGC pipeline w/ permission flows
• "Wearer of the month" rotation in founder voice
• UGC sequencing into email + paid creative as social proof

The media plan (recap from companion doc)

Full plan: clients/emerson_fry/EF_MEDIA_PLAN_v0.1.md. Recommended Y1: $50K Moderate scenario, Pinterest-first.

TikTok deferred Y1.

Expected media-attributable Y1 lift: $150K-$220K (3.0-4.4× ROAS, sourced).

Why this is structurally different

The headline: Tapt is built to be a 24-month engagement that delivers you a marketing function you fully own, with our economic interest in the relationship designed to wind down on schedule. Year 3+ we're available for new capabilities only.

Five decisions for you (Billy + Ryan)

1. Pinterest-first vs Meta-first. Research recommends Pinterest-first (40% vs 30%). Most defaults go opposite. Commit or hedge?
2. TikTok: in or out for Y1. Recommendation: out (voice mismatch + opportunity cost).
3. Quick infrastructure wins inside the engagement. Activate dormant Klaviyo SMS + Back-in-Stock intelligence + fill reviews-gap. Recommendation: yes (these amplify everything else).
4. Capability roadmap priority. Which Y2 upgrade modules matter most to you? Recommended order: Shopify-Liquid > SMS > Reviews > Design tools > Influencer intelligence > PR tracking.
5. Social program scope at launch. Influencer + events + cross-brand collabs all in Y1 scope. Pace? Recommendation: influencer + first virtual event in Y1; cross-brand attempts Y2.

How to walk Ryan through this

1. Open w/ the bounded-engagement frame: "This is a 24-month engagement that gives you a marketing function you fully own. We're not joining your overhead permanently."
2. Show the visual chart: monthly Tapt cost over 24 months, declining to zero. The story is in the bars.
3. Walk the 4-bucket separation: Tapt fees / your infrastructure / your media / your existing tools.
4. Explain the declining monthly: ends near zero by Y2; our incentive is to make ourselves unnecessary.
5. Explain lift share carefully: it's LIFT share (incremental revenue we helped grow), not all rev. Tapered Y2, ends EOY2.
6. Show the capability roadmap: Y2+ optional upgrades — you decide what + when. Each one declines in cost.
7. Show his financial story: every scenario nets positive; gross profit consistently 2-4× Tapt total cost.
8. Land on Y3+: you keep all growth, no Tapt cut. The system runs on your infrastructure forever.

— Mycelia, 2026-05-25 — self-driving car narrative + bounded engagement + lift-not-rev share + tapered share + chart visual all integrated