8 ms·
Ask HN: What are the different abstract models of making money?
E.g., "rent a restricted resource," "sell expertise," "sell item," "sell labor," etc.
- atsaloli 9y agoPrint it. :)
- sebg 9y agoThe most high-level answer is to exchange what someone wants for money. Going down one level - you can break it down into three main things: 1) teach someone to do it themselves 2) help someone do it themselves 3) do it for them... From there you can go further levels down depending on what it is that they want...
- AnimalMuppet 9y agoMore generally, control a restricted resource. You don't have to rent it. You can sell it. (Apple is an example. Sure, they're selling an item, but a big chunk of their profits are because they sell a restricted item - you can't buy an equivalent one from anyone else.) There are probably other ways to profit from controlling a restricted resource as well. You can control a marketplace. (Examples: A stock exchange. An app store.)
- itamarst 9y agoMore options: Primitive accumulation: give me that money or I will chop your head off. Taxation, whereby I create a new form of money: everyone must pay me taxes in purple snail shells or I will chop your head off. Debt, whereby I create money out of thin air, assuming people trust me: I will give you this "gift card" in return for $50. Now my balance sheet is $50 cash as asset, $50 liability. You have $50 gift card as asset. So purchasing power has gone from $50 to $100... temporarily.