# Models desk

How B2B SaaS, vertical SaaS, marketplaces, platforms and developer products work, and what each asks of a first company.

Canonical URL: https://worldenterprise.org/insights/topic/models/
Last updated: 2026-10-10
Publisher: World Enterprise, run by World Enterprise Group Incorporated

Models is the desk for choosing how a software company makes money and reaches customers. The choice shapes what you build first, whom you hire and how you talk to buyers.

The eight articles on this desk describe the main models in plain terms: business-to-business SaaS, vertical SaaS, marketplaces, platforms and ecosystems, seat, usage and hybrid pricing, product-led and sales-led growth, API-first products and open-core businesses. Each one says what the model asks of a first company and what it cannot tell you. None gives benchmarks.

## Articles

- [API-first products and developer tools](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/api-first-products-and-developer-tools/): What it means to build a product around its interface, what developers expect from an API, and the early choices on errors, versions and documentation.
- [B2B SaaS: how the model works and what it asks of a first company](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/b2b-saas-how-the-model-works-and-what-it-asks-of-a-first-company/): What business-to-business software as a service is, how it earns money, and the reliability, security, contract and support work it asks of a first company.
- [Marketplaces: the two-sided start-up problem](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/marketplaces-the-two-sided-start-up-problem/): How a two-sided marketplace works, why the first buyers and sellers are hard to win together, and the payments, trust and legal questions the model adds.
- [Open-core and open-source businesses](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/open-core-and-open-source-businesses/): How companies build a business on open-source software, what open core means, what licenses allow, and the questions a technical founder should answer first.
- [Platforms and ecosystems: when a product becomes a platform](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/platforms-and-ecosystems-when-a-product-becomes-a-platform/): How a software product turns into a platform that others build on, what that asks of your interfaces, permissions and partner support, and why it comes late.
- [Product-led and sales-led growth: choosing between them](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/product-led-and-sales-led-growth-choosing-between-them/): What product-led and sales-led growth mean, what each asks of a small team and its product, and a set of questions for choosing a motion without benchmarks.
- [Usage-based, seat-based and hybrid pricing models](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/usage-based-seat-based-and-hybrid-pricing-models/): How seat-based, usage-based and hybrid pricing work, what each one asks of your product and billing, and the questions that help you choose a unit of value.
- [Vertical SaaS: depth over breadth](https://worldenterprise.org/insights/vertical-saas-depth-over-breadth/): What vertical SaaS is, how building for one industry changes the product, the sale and the rules you work under, and the trade-offs to weigh before you narrow.