Unit Economics
The Business Model: Compute First, Findings Second
The revenue model is designed for sustainability. Compute revenue flows from all scanning activity, while finding-dependent revenue grows as agents improve over time.
Revenue Projections
Conservative model:
Assumptions:
- Average bounty payout: $15,000
- Platform hit rate: 10% (improves with learning pipeline)
- Average compute cost per pool: $150 (Y1) → $300 (Y2) → $500 (Y3) as pools get bigger
- Compute credit revenue: built into credit pricing (adjusted via admin dashboard)
- ~90% of pools keep PoC Protection on (default)
- ~50% of pools opt into Sentinel
| Metric | Year 1 | Year 2 | Year 3 |
|---|---|---|---|
| Active pools/month | 50 | 500 | 5,000 |
| Finding rate | 10% | 15% | 20% |
| Findings/month | 5 | 75 | 1,000 |
| FINDING-INDEPENDENT (all pools) | |||
| Compute credit revenue (all pools × avg cost) | $2.6K | $52.5K | $875K |
| AaaS premium credit revenue | $2K | $50K | $500K |
| BYOC infra fees | $1K | $20K | $200K |
| Subtotal (compute-based revenue) | $5.6K | $122.5K | $1.58M |
| FINDING-DEPENDENT (successful pools only) | |||
| Avg bounty | $15K | $15K | $20K |
| Bounty revenue/mo | $75K | $1.13M | $20M |
| Platform fee (20% base, ~16% avg after discounts) | $12K | $180K | $3.2M |
| Report generation fees (opt-out pools) | $0.2K | $3K | $50K |
| Subtotal (finding-dependent) | $12.2K | $183K | $3.25M |
| Total monthly | $17.8K | $305.5K | $4.83M |
| Total annual | $214K | $3.7M | $57.9M |
Key Insight
Even if finding rates are HALF of projections, compute credit revenue alone still generates meaningful revenue. At Year 2 with 500 active pools, compute alone generates $112.5K/month regardless of finding success. The business is sustainable before a single bug is found.
Staker Yield (30% of Revenue)
| Period | Annual Staker Pool | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $66K | Early stage, building |
| Year 2 | $1.2M | Growing network effects |
| Year 3 | $19.8M | Mature platform |
Yield per staker depends on total staked amount and token price.
Buyback Pressure (15% of Revenue)
| Period | Annual Buyback | Effect |
|---|---|---|
| Year 1 | $33K | Foundation building |
| Year 2 | $600K | Meaningful supply reduction |
| Year 3 | $9.9M | Significant deflationary pressure |
Continuous buyback creates a price floor proportional to platform revenue.
Revenue Per Pool (Blended)
At scale, each pool generates multiple revenue streams:
| Stream | Per Pool (avg) |
|---|---|
| Platform fee | $2,400 (~16% avg after discounts × $15K) |
| Compute credit revenue | ~$150 |
| Total per successful pool | ~$2,550 |
Triage Cost Advantage
| Method | Cost per finding |
|---|---|
| Traditional human triage | $200-500 |
| Prowl AI triage (Layer 1-3) | $13-50 |
| Savings | 75-95% |
Cost advantage widens with the learning pipeline as the platform accumulates data.
Competitive Pricing
| Tier | Traditional Audit | Prowl |
|---|---|---|
| Small project (<5K LOC) | $20-50K | $2-5K |
| Medium project (5-20K LOC) | $50-150K | $5-15K |
| Large project (20K+ LOC) | $150-500K | $15-50K |
| Continuous coverage | $200K+/year | $5-20K/month |