Build with us
Zero Drift can design, build, host and run qualifying products for a share of revenue while the domain founder keeps the business and product IP.
Need to take this to a board? Read or download the buyer decision pack →
Domain authority meets a product engine
This route is for founders who know a regulated or compliance-shaped market, have credible distribution and want to run the resulting business.
It is not outsourced entrepreneurship. The domain founder owns the company, the customer relationship and the commercial decisions. Zero Drift defines, builds and operates the software with them. The product business remains theirs; Zero Drift earns from the revenue created by the product instead of sending a conventional build invoice.
Who does what
The domain founder brings:
- first-hand knowledge of the problem and buyer;
- credible access to customers or a working distribution route;
- responsibility for sales, market decisions and running the business.
Zero Drift brings:
- product definition and a complete build boundary;
- engineering, cloud operation, verification and recovery;
- continued technical ownership while the commercial agreement remains active.
The usual commercial shape
The usual starting point is 25–35% of revenue actually received, not accounting profit. A product-specific annual cap and the smaller percentage payable above it are agreed in writing before the build starts. The exact cap depends on the product, market and operating responsibility; it is not hidden behind a later sales process.
The founder keeps the business and product IP. Zero Drift retains its reusable engineering foundations and background IP. The agreement defines hosting cost, third-party services, termination, data export and what happens to the running product if either party leaves.
Why utility economics matter here
Zero Drift is accepting build risk and spreading it across a portfolio. The product therefore needs a bounded complete job, low operating cost and a price that can reach a broad enough market without enterprise sales machinery.
For illustration, a market of two million possible buyers could produce very different businesses:
- £1,000 a year at 0.01% adoption is 200 customers and £200,000 annual revenue.
- £100 a year at 1% adoption is 20,000 customers and £2,000,000 annual revenue.
That arithmetic is not a forecast and does not claim that cutting price causes adoption. It shows the commercial question we have to test together: whether a complete low-cost utility can reach far more of the market while avoiding dependence on a few large customers.
What qualifies
A good candidate has a recognisable job, a buyer who already feels the problem, a credible route to those buyers and a founder prepared to run the resulting company. A generic app idea, an untested audience or a product that requires permanent bespoke implementation does not fit this model.
The first conversation tests the market, distribution, operating shape and product boundary. If those hold, we compile the specification and agree the complete commercial contract before building.