The Problem with Traditional Models
Before FORGE, knowledge creators faced three bad options: SaaS lock-in, consulting bottlenecks, or unsustainable open source.
SaaS: The Subscription Trap
The Promise:
- Continuous updates and improvements
- No upfront costs, "pay as you go"
- Managed infrastructure, zero maintenance
The Reality:
Year 1: $50/month = $600
Year 2: $75/month = $900 (price increase)
Year 3: $100/month = $1,200 (enterprise tier required)
Year 4: Feature you need → deprecated
Year 5: Vendor acquired → sunset announced
Total cost: $3,700 + migration costs + lost productivityProblems with SaaS for Intelligence Products
❌ Vendor lock-in: Your workflows depend on their infrastructure ❌ Recurring costs: Pay forever for static knowledge ❌ Feature deprecation: What you bought today disappears tomorrow ❌ Forced upgrades: Breaking changes, mandatory migrations ❌ Sunset risk: Vendor exits, pivots, or gets acquired ❌ Data hostage: Your data lives on their servers
Example: Roam Research, Notion, Obsidian Sync
- Great products, but you're renting access to your own notes
- If they shut down, your workflows break
- Monthly fees for what should be perpetual knowledge
Consulting: The Human Bottleneck
The Promise:
- Custom solutions tailored to your needs
- Expert guidance and implementation support
- High-touch relationship
The Reality:
Discovery call: 2 hours @ $300/hr = $600
Proposal: $25,000 for 8-week engagement
Week 1-2: Onboarding, interviews
Week 3-6: Implementation
Week 7-8: Handoff, documentation
Post-project: $5,000/month retainer for "support"
Total Year 1: $85,000Problems with Consulting for Intelligence Products
❌ You become the bottleneck: Can't scale beyond your hours ❌ High touch required: Every client needs hand-holding ❌ Expensive: Consulting rates price out solo creators ❌ Knowledge loss: Client becomes dependent on you ❌ No leverage: Revenue scales linearly with time
Example: Strategic consulting, methodology implementation
- Consultant delivers brilliant framework
- Client can't implement without you
- Every new client = months of work
- You're trading time for money forever
Open Source: The Sustainability Problem
The Promise:
- Free for everyone, community-driven
- Transparent, forkable, improvable
- Build on others' work
The Reality:
Year 1: 200 hours creating framework
Year 2: 150 hours on support, issues, documentation
Year 3: 100 hours on feature requests
Year 4: Burnout, project abandoned
Total investment: 450 hours, $0 revenueProblems with Open Source for Intelligence Products
❌ No revenue model: Can't fund continued R&D ❌ Support burden: Issues, PRs, questions never end ❌ Fragmentation: Forks diverge, community splits ❌ Burnout: Maintainers quit, projects die ❌ Misaligned incentives: Users want features, maintainers want time
Example: Thousands of abandoned GitHub projects
- Creator invests months building something brilliant
- Community expects free support forever
- Creator burns out, project dies
- Knowledge is lost
The Missing Model
What knowledge creators actually need:
✅ One-time creation → Intensive upfront R&D ✅ Immediate value capture → Get paid for the work ✅ Zero ongoing costs → No subscriptions for buyers ✅ Perpetual ownership → Buyers own it forever ✅ Minimal support → Documentation-first ✅ Infinite leverage → Revenue scales without you
None of the traditional models offer this.
Why Traditional Models Fail for Intelligence
Intelligence is Static, Not Dynamic
Intelligence products (methodologies, frameworks, patterns):
- Don't need continuous updates (v1.0 can last forever)
- Don't require live infrastructure (run locally)
- Don't benefit from network effects (knowledge is transferable)
- Don't need ongoing support (documentation is sufficient)
Yet we force them into models designed for dynamic software:
- SaaS → Assumes continuous updates
- Consulting → Assumes custom implementation
- OSS → Assumes community-driven evolution
Result: Misaligned incentives, unsustainable economics, poor outcomes.
The FORGE Insight
What if we treated intelligence like npm packages?
# Install once
npm install lodash
# Use forever
import _ from 'lodash' # Works in 2015
import _ from 'lodash' # Still works in 2025
import _ from 'lodash' # Will work in 2035
# No subscriptions, no vendor lock-in, no forced upgradesFORGE applies the same model to intelligence:
# Buy once
mpd install chirpiqx # $99
# Use forever
chirpiqx detect signals # Works in 2024
chirpiqx detect signals # Still works in 2034
chirpiqx detect signals # Will work in 2044
# No subscriptions, no vendor lock-in, no forced upgradesComparison Table
| Dimension | SaaS | Consulting | Open Source | FORGE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Revenue | Recurring | Project-based | None | One-time |
| Buyer cost | Ongoing | High upfront | Free | One-time |
| Ownership | Vendor | Co-owned | Public | Buyer |
| Support | Continuous | High-touch | Community | Minimal |
| Scaling | Linear | Human-limited | Zero | Infinite |
| Sustainability | High | Medium | Low | High |
| Buyer dependency | High | Medium | Low | Zero |
FORGE takes the best of all three, eliminates the worst.
Real-World Pain Points
For Creators
"I built a methodology that took 6 months. Now what?"
- SaaS: Build infrastructure, manage servers, handle support
- Consulting: Sell it 1 client at a time, become the bottleneck
- OSS: Give it away, hope for donations, burn out
- FORGE: Package once, sell infinitely, minimal support
For Buyers
"I need this framework, but I don't want vendor lock-in"
- SaaS: Pay monthly forever, hope they don't shut down
- Consulting: Pay $50K, still can't implement without them
- OSS: Free but fragmented, no guarantees
- FORGE: Pay once, own forever, full autonomy
The Solution
FORGE Pattern: What is FORGE? →
Fire once, deliver once, buyers own forever.
The problem isn't the models themselves—it's forcing intelligence into models designed for services. 🪶