The FlexUp Economic Model
Building a new world, together
Aligning financial interests for shared prosperity
FlexUp's innovative economic model promotes wealth creation and fair distribution. It achieves this by aligning the financial interests of all project stakeholders through a unified remuneration system, fostering stronger, more sustainable collaboration and enhancing overall project success.
Aligning financial interests of all stakeholders ...
Many projects and companies struggle not from a lack of talent, but from internal conflict and misaligned incentives. FlexUp addresses this by fostering collaboration, rather than conflict, through a unique economic model.
Building on the core principle of non-discrimination, FlexUp introduces a unified, flexible remuneration system.
This system allows each participant – including founders, employees, clients, suppliers, and investors – to choose how much risk they want to take on the project's success.
Through this model, if the project succeeds, they share the profits in proportion to their contribution and the level of risk they chose to undertake. Conversely, if the project faces challenges, they are all impacted proportionally.
... through a common remuneration system
Each participant can choose how to split their remuneration across three priority levels*:
- Firm: paid first, on a monthly basis (low risk).
- Flex: paid next, on a monthly basis, if sufficient cash remains after paying the Firm (medium risk)**.
- Credit: paid last, on an annual basis, if there is surplus cash left after paying the Firm and Flex (high risk).
The more risk you take, the more Tokens you earn. "Tokens" define your share in the project's profits and voting rights.
FlexUp "Equity" comprises both "Credits" and "Tokens" , dynamically reflecting your investment and contributions on a real-time basis.
Notes:
* This is a simplified overview. For full details, download the FlexUp Economic Model presentation from our downloads page.
** If there is not enough cash to pay the Flex in full to all participants, they are all paid the same percentage, and the unpaid residue is either rescheduled or converted into Credits.
"We're all in the same boat now, so let's work together."
Team & Suppliers
You offer to pay a team member with this flexible remuneration package:
- 2,500 $/month Firm,
- 1,000 $/month Flex,
- 1,500 $/month Credits.
The risk on their remuneration is:
1,000 $ × 20% (Flex risk factor) + 1,500 $ × 80% (Credit risk factor) = 1,400 $ Based on a 10 $/token index, they earn:
1,400 $ ÷ 10 $/token = 140 tokens
Investors
An angel investor wants to invest 10,000 $ in your project. You offer them to invest using FlexUp Credits.
The risk on their investment, based on the Credit risk factor (80%), is:
10,000 $ × 80% = 8,000 $For their 10,000 $ investment, they receive:
- 10,000 $ of credits, plus
- 8,000 $ ÷ 10 $/token = 800 tokens
Client
A client wants to purchase your new device. Given initial production costs are higher than market prices, you offer the following deal:
- 1,000 $ Firm (paid upfront by client)
- minus 800 $ Credits (as a rebate)
The risk the client takes on this future 800 $ Credit rebate is:
800 $ × 80% = 640 $Based on a 10 $/token index, they earn:
640 $ ÷ 10 $/token = 64 tokensExamples
Here are simple illustrations of how the FlexUp flexible remuneration system works in practice, based on the following assumptions:
- Risk factors: Firm 0%, Flex 20%, Credit 80%
- Token index: 10 $/token
To illustrate how the FlexUp Economic Model allows diverse contributions to build shared equity, let's consider the following scenario using the 3 examples given above.
A founder starts working on a new startup project, awarding herself a 10,000 $/month remuneration, 100% as Credits. After 6 months, she hires the team member (the Flex is converted to Credits as there isn't enough cash yet). She raises the funds from the angel investor. At the end of the year, she sells 20 devices to the client. Using the values and payment structure mentionned above, the projet's equity structure at the end of the year would be as follows:
Download the detailed calculation here: xls or pdf
As you can see, in the FlexUp system, there is no difference between founder, team members, investors, clients or suppliers. All get the same credits and tokens, using the same simple rules to calculate their risk, based on the value of their contribution and the payment structure the agreed to.
Objectives
The FlexUp Economic Model is designed to achieve several key objectives for your project, all of its stakeholders and general society as a whole:
Profitability
Support your business' growth and wealth creation by enhancing collaboration between all your project's stakeholders.
Resilience
Make your business more robust by providing flexibility in your cost structure and by enhancing loyalty of your employees, clients, and suppliers.
Collaboration
Reduce conflicts and encourage collaboration between all your project's stakeholders by following the principles of non-discrimination and by aligning financial interests.
Simplicity
Make it easier to create, structure, finance, and manage your business using coherent frameworks, accessible tools, and a support network.
Common prosperity
Encourage a fair and transparent sharing of the wealth created among all your stakeholders.
Principles
The specific mechanisms that have been designed in the FlexUp Economic Model to achieve the stated objectives are based on the following principles:
Non-discrimination
All participants (employees, investors, suppliers, clients...) are remunerated through the same mechanisms, no matter the type or form of their contribution or of their remuneration.
Flexibility
Each participant is free to choose how much risk they want to take by splitting their remuneration in different tranches, each with a different priority and risk level: firm, flex and credit.
Rigour
Payments are made in a systematic way by priority level, using the cash waterfall principle: firm remuneration is paid first, flex next, and credit last, each within the limits of available cash.
Fairness
Profits and voting rights are shared based on each participant’s actual contribution and accepted level of risk, using a unified and transparent token system.
Transparency
All participants can see in real time how the cash is used and how much equity they have in the project. The cash distribution is made on a clear and systematic basis.
Ready to get started ?
Our app is currently in beta testing. Here are 3 ways to access our app before our official launch early 2026:
Beta program
Apply to our beta program to start using the app for real — in your project or business. Fill out our survey to apply. The more details you share, the sooner you may be invited to join.
✅ Beta testers receive a 1-year free subscription to our Starter plan.
Case studies
Explore detailed case studies that show how FlexUp works in practice — and the value it delivers. Each study includes login access so you can view the data directly in our demo app.
📖 You can also read full stories on our blog.
Sandbox
Just exploring? The sandbox is a safe environment to test the app, try out features, and experiment with ideas — easy, no strings attached.
🧪 Sandbox data is temporary and regularly cleared. Use it for testing and exploration only.
Want to dive deeper?
Here are a few ressources to learn more about the FlexUp Economic Model.
The FlexUp Charter is a 70-page contract that defines in great detail the way a projet is run using the FlexUp Economic Model.
You can get it in our the Contract Templates page (💡signup required to access this page).