There is some physical trade between systems in the book (it's cheaper once you know you won't have to build a civilization on the other end), but there's no re

There is some physical trade between systems in the book (it's cheaper once you know you won't have to build a civilization on the other end), but there's no real enumeration of the possibilities in the book. Given the characters seen in the book, I think founders mainly try to set themselves up as president for life of some planet or moon in the new system. Another example shown in the book is emigration; once you're sufficiently wealthy you emigrate back to some place nice where you can enjoy it. Of course that requires building a starship, which pretty much requires setting up a successful civilization that can support a starship industry.