(Before you post in the comments about how unique your startup is, this list is not meant to capture every consumer business permutation. There are always going

(Before you post in the comments about how unique your startup is, this list is not meant to capture every consumer business permutation. There are always going to be exceptions. And the breakaway companies like Zynga, Groupon, Facebook, Twitter, and Foursquare, to name just a few, inevitably introduce nuances to pre-existing models.) The point of the article is to illustrate how different kinds of businesses make their money. The main exceptions I can think of are: * Ad arbitrage. (Lots of people nobody has ever heard of.) * Free analytics monetized through data sales. (bit.ly, lots of ambitious but ultimately failed startups.) * White-labelable features. (bit.ly, Geezeo.) * Email newsletter management. * Ad networks. But most of these stretch the definition of "consumer" startups.