👉 Licensing Not Whitelabelling

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📝 Patey’s Update

Hey there 👋

The brand character I featured in last week’s issue, generated by ChatGPT based on everything it knows about the future of LetterOperators, is now being worked into our new logo. This is where I’ve got to so far using AI and Canva:

We’re also working with a real human designer as an A/B test to see which version comes out best. I’ll likely share both options in a future issue.

This week we’ve continued to say no to anything outside our core offer: newsletter content creation and management.

We’ve partnered with Thunderclap, who rebuilt our site in beehiiv and are now upgrading our three core content templates. If a customer wants custom design, we simply refer them to Thunderclap. Here’s how that looks in the funnel onboarding flow Ryan, our CTO, built:

I’m now setting up a similar partnership with someone offering paid ads management starting at $1K. I’m also looking for someone to refer sponsorship outreach to.

We used to offer all of this ourselves, and it drained our time and energy. Now we just say no and send them to partners. We earn recurring referral commissions and keep our focus clear.

Why we’re licensing, not white-labelling

We’ve been asked if we’ll offer a white-label version of our service. The short answer is no.

While white-labelling can sound appealing, it quickly becomes chaotic. You end up supporting multiple front-end brands with different processes, client expectations, and communication styles, all while still managing everything behind the scenes. It’s low-margin, high-maintenance, and adds complexity we’re actively avoiding.

Instead, we’re moving forward with a licensing model. This gives agencies direct access to our system and workflows so they can serve their clients under their own brand, without our involvement. There’s no support overhead for us, and they get full control. It’s cleaner, more scalable, and benefits everyone.

Right now we’re duplicating our AI workflow for a long-time customer as a one-off build, but this is the last time we’ll do that. Going forward, access will only be available through licensing.

As our workflows continue to improve, they’re becoming more valuable. Licensing access, rather than exposing the systems themselves, makes far more sense.

We’re planning a $2,000 setup and $1,000 per month license. Agencies can use our three AI-powered templates to generate newsletters for their clients, charge whatever they like, and use any platform they want. Meanwhile, we stay fully focused on beehiiv.

It’s wild how close we are to a 7-figure model across customers, agency clients, partners, and affiliates. Just a few weeks ago, the pieces hadn’t fully clicked into place

That Steve Jobs quote keeps coming back to me. You only see how it fits together when you look back.

Cheers

Richard

Thanks to AI with Allie for sponsoring this issue.

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That’s it for this week, until next time, buy my product and catch me in the community!

Cheers!

Richard (@richardpatey)

Disclaimer: This email is for informational and entertainment purposes only. It is not financial advice, and I am not a licensed investment adviser. I share what I’m doing personally in the digital asset space—always do your own research. Some links may be affiliate links, so assume I may earn a commission if you use them.