Windmill Growth Partnership
We build the product. You pay from revenue.
You bring the market. We bring the build, and we carry its cost until the product earns. No fee, no equity, and a revenue share that is capped and finishes.
The shape of it
You pay for a defined window, and only in the middle
- 01
Build
You pay nothing
You bring domain expertise and buyer access. We design, engineer and ship the product. Windmill funds the entire build.
- 02
Repay
You pay 6%
At $25K MRR the share activates. You keep 94 cents of every dollar, and pay only when money actually arrives.
- 03
Done
You pay nothing
At 2.5× the build value, or 48 months after it activates, the share ends permanently. You own the company and every dollar it makes.
Terms
The numbers
- Upfront cost
- $0
- No fee, no retainer, no invoices while we build.
- Equity
- 0%
- You keep the company and the cap table stays clean.
- Revenue share
- 6% of gross revenue
- The share starts when you reach $25K MRR, or when you sign your first paying enterprise client, whichever comes first.
- Cap
- 2.5× the signed build value
- 48 months maximum, whichever comes first. Then you pay nothing.
We take equity only where we also put cash in or stay embedded after product-market fit. That is 10–15%, negotiated separately, and never bundled into a build.
Run it yourself
What this actually costs you
Move the sliders. Every figure below is calculated from the same terms we would sign.
The figure you sign before we start. Everything you pay is a multiple of this one number.
Annual recurring revenue at the end of the ramp below.
$309K
Total you pay
The 48-month limit ended it first
Month 55
The share ends
4 years of payments, starting month 8
$0
Out of pocket
You fund none of the build, at any point
0%
Equity given up
You own the same company at the end as at the start
The 48-month limit ends the share in month 55, before the cap is reached. You keep the difference.
An agency
$400K in cash, out of your runway, before you earn a thing.
A venture studio
Typically 25–40% of the company, and you never get it back.
Windmill
$309K out of revenue, finished by month 55.
The one number that matters
How the build value is set
Everything you owe is a multiple of one number. So that number is fixed before we write any code, and we cannot move it afterwards.
- 01
We scope it together
Two weeks, paid by us, to agree exactly what gets built: surfaces, integrations, compliance obligations, and what is explicitly out of scope.
- 02
We price it against a published rate card
Day rates by discipline, the same ones we would quote for paid work. You see the line items, not a lump sum.
- 03
You sign the figure before we start
That signed number is the build value. It is the only input to the cap, and it does not change because a build ran long or cost us more than we thought.
- 04
Changes are re-quoted, never accrued
Want something outside the scope? We price it and you sign it, or it does not get built. Nothing is added to the build value quietly.
If the build overruns, that is our problem. You owe 2.5× the number you signed, not 2.5× what it ended up costing us.
Alternatives
How this compares
Every route to a built product costs you something. These are the trades.
| Route | You pay upfront | You give up | Ongoing | It ends | Right when |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Windmill Growth Partnership | $0 | 0% by default | 6% of gross revenue | At 2.5× build value or 48 paying months | Operators with buyers and no product |
| Development agency | Full fees, paid as you go | None | None | When the invoice is paid | A defined build you can fund yourself |
| Venture studio | $0 to low | Typically 25–40%, permanent | Sometimes, on top | Never. The equity is forever | Founders who want a co-founder |
| Venture capital | Capital in | 15–30% per round, permanent | None | Never. The equity is forever | Proven traction and a growth plan |
| Revenue-based finance | Capital in, fees out | None | 6–12% of revenue | At an agreed multiple | Funding spend when you already have a product |
Everything else you'd want to ask
Who owns the code, what counts as revenue, what happens if it fails, what happens if you're acquired. Answered plainly, before you talk to us.