Each essay starts from a published fact, such as a company's quarterly results, and asks what it means for you: what is shifting, what it costs you and what to do about it. Every source is named.
Agents put paid visibility, the customer relationship and platform terms in question. Tenants, Merchants, Carriers and Sovereigns each face a different answer.
DoorDash is buying delivery scale and an advertising line. When agents choose for customers, the advertising line is the part that may lose its pricing power.
An outside agent can make a dark store easier to buy from and easier to replace. The store needs buying terms, availability and fulfilment economics that give the agent a reason to choose it.
One restaurant's statements show where the money in a dinner order goes. Visibility is the first line an agent puts at risk, and each position on the matrix holds a different piece.
Agents will book delivery ahead of time. Whether the notice reaches the fleet, and who keeps the saving, is a question of position on the Control Matrix.
Card fees stay put when an agent pays. The new cost is a charge for access to the customer, and you need to know whether it buys new orders or taxes existing ones.
If the customer's agent holds the order history, the platform no longer owns the start of the next purchase, and verifiable fulfilment counts for more than visibility.
Sponsored placement is paid for a person's glance. When an agent places the order, the advertising line shrinks, and who bears the loss depends on position on the Control Matrix.
A discount pays back only when the customer returns at full price. You should see orders to payback by customer group, and who funds the part that never pays back.
The settlement cycle is set in each provider's terms, so the contract, not the collections team, decides when cash arrives.
Collections
ResearchThe papers behind our view of who controls the customer, the fulfilment and the capital in Gulf commerce.
GuidesWorking guidance for finance and logistics decisions.
ComparisonsOptions set side by side on one basis: 3PL contracts, leasing or owning a fleet, and platform charges.
Case studiesThe record our founder brings to your work: a fleet of about 1,000 vehicles, seed to Series B and more than 20 companies on one set of numbers.
How to read one
A headline, then your number
A sample reading. A platform raises its ad take, and this is what it does to one of your orders.
Sample · A restaurant business, one order
One essay
The headline moved. So did your order.
We take the published figure, run it through one order of yours and show you what is left. Every claim is marked as verified, inference, scenario or unknown by the Moneyball Finance method.
21%
Less kept from every order
A small move in a headline. A large one in what you keep.
