At Demand.io, we're not just building products—we're reimagining how a company can create value in the digital age. Central to this vision is our concentric circles model, a philosophy that shapes everything we do, from product development to marketing strategies and even how we compensate our team.
Imagine dropping a pebble into a calm pond. The ripples that spread outward, each building upon the last, perfectly illustrate our concentric circles model. At the core is our mission, and each expanding circle represents different stakeholders and aspects of our business, all aligned and working together to create value.
This model visualizes how we create and distribute value across our ecosystem:
Each circle builds upon and supports the others, with value flowing both inward and outward.
In a world where businesses often prioritize short-term gains over long-term value, our concentric circles model stands out. It ensures that:
This approach has led to remarkable outcomes. Take SimplyCodes, for example— by aligning incentives with our community of coupon enthusiasts, we've built the industry's most comprehensive and accurate coupon database. This isn't just good for us—it's great for our users, our partners, and even the broader e-commerce ecosystem.
The concentric circles model is the engine that drives our success. Here's how:
Understanding and applying this model is crucial to your success at Demand.io. It will help you see how your role, regardless of your position, is an integral part of a larger system designed to create value for everyone involved.
As we dive deeper into the concentric circles model in the following chapters, you'll gain a comprehensive understanding of how this philosophy shapes our products, culture, and future. You'll also learn practical ways to apply this thinking in your daily work, helping you contribute more effectively to our shared mission.
The concentric circles model isn't just a business strategy—it's a different way of thinking about value creation in the digital age. It's ambitious, it's idealistic, but most importantly, it works. And as you'll see in the following sections, it's the key to our past success and our exciting future.
At its heart, the concentric circles model is about creating perfect alignment among all stakeholders in our ecosystem. Unlike traditional business models that often pit different groups against each other (e.g., shareholders vs. employees, or company vs. customers), we strive to create a system where everyone wins together.
This alignment manifests in several key ways:
Imagine Demand.io at the center of a series of expanding circles:
Each circle builds upon and supports the others. Value flows both inward and outward, creating a self-reinforcing system of growth and innovation.
Traditional business models often focus on extracting value from customers to deliver profits to shareholders. This can create inherent conflicts and short-term thinking. Our model is fundamentally different:
While our concentric circles model shares some similarities with other progressive business philosophies, it has unique aspects that set it apart:
By aligning incentives across all stakeholders and actively involving our community in our growth and innovation, we create a uniquely powerful and sustainable approach to business in the digital age.
This model isn't just theory—it's the practical foundation of how we operate every day at Demand.io. In the next chapter, we'll explore real-world examples of how this philosophy has driven our success across different products and initiatives.
The power of the concentric circles model isn't in theory—it's in practice. Let's explore how this philosophy has driven tangible success across different aspects of our business.
SimplyCodes stands as a testament to the effectiveness of our concentric circles approach. By aligning incentives with our community, we've built the industry's leading coupon database.
Key elements:
Result: SimplyCodes now boasts 10x more working codes than any competitor, benefiting users, our business, and e-commerce partners.
Our product development process embodies the concentric circles model by involving key stakeholders from the very beginning.
Key elements:
Result: Products that genuinely solve user problems, with built-in advocates from day one.
Vector.xyz exemplifies how we apply the concentric circles model to new ventures:
Key elements:
Result: A music platform that's truly by and for independent artists, with a built-in network of supporters and users.
Our choice of affiliate marketing as our primary revenue model is a direct application of the concentric circles philosophy:
Key elements:
Result: A sustainable business model that aligns our success with positive outcomes for both users and partners.
These examples illustrate how the concentric circles model isn't just an abstract concept—it's the driving force behind our most successful initiatives. By consistently aligning incentives and involving stakeholders at every level, we create products that resonate deeply with users and drive sustainable growth.
In each case, we've expanded our "circles" to include key stakeholders not just as consumers or partners, but as active participants in our success. This approach has allowed us to tap into collective intelligence, build strong communities around our products, and create genuine win-win outcomes.
As we continue to grow and launch new initiatives, the concentric circles model will remain our north star, guiding us towards innovations that create value for all involved.
Our concentric circles model can be visualized as a series of expanding rings, each representing a different group of stakeholders or aspect of our business. Understanding these layers is crucial to grasping how we create and distribute value across our ecosystem.
At the very center of our circles lies our mission and values. This core drives everything we do and serves as the foundation for all our decisions and actions.
Every decision we make, from product features to hiring choices, must align with this core. It's what gives our work meaning and ensures we're all pulling in the same direction.
The first circle around our core represents those most closely aligned with our mission: our Partners and key employees.
By ensuring those closest to our decision-making are deeply invested in our collective success, we create a powerful engine for growth and innovation.
The next circle represents our products and the experience we provide to our users.
This layer is where our mission translates into tangible value for our users. It's the primary way we deliver on our promises and build trust with our community.
Expanding outward, we have our broader community of users and the content we create to serve and engage them.
Our community is not just a passive audience, but active participants in our growth and success. The content we create serves to strengthen this community and attract new members to our ecosystem.
This layer represents how we reach new users and grow our impact.