wiki_ghostguild/content/curriculum/PS Guides/6-equitable-economics.md

6: Equitable Economics

What happens in session

This is a dense session covering revenue sources, financial transparency, compensation models (equal pay, needs-based, role-based, hybrid), profit-sharing basics, and IP ownership. Studios discuss what financial sustainability means personally, explore open-book practices, and start thinking about what "fair" compensation looks like. The session connects financial decisions to the governance structures from Session 5.

:::tip Homework assigned: discuss financial transparency (what feels vulnerable to share?) and compensation models (what feels fair?). These conversations are prep for the PS meeting this week.

:::

👀 Your role during session

• Observe how your studio reacts to the compensation models discussion – where do they light up? Where do they tense up?
• Listen for financial information gaps – who has financial literacy? Who doesn't?
• Note whether anyone avoids the personal financial sustainability question
• Watch the IP ownership discussion – this can surface unexpected disagreements, especially if someone brought existing work into the project

👆 Your role after session

• Check that everyone understands the homework and is willing to have the financial conversations
• Note any immediate tensions about money that surfaced during the session
• Make sure they know the tools mentioned: CoBudget, OpenCollective, coop.love

This week's Studio Support Meeting: Financial Transparency and Compensation

📚 Materials

• Compensation models reference (equal pay, needs-based, role-based, hybrid)
• Studio's Community Rule draft from Session 5 (financial decision-making sections)
• Revenue sources overview from the session

🗺️ Context

Money is where values meet reality. This studio support meeting helps the studio have the financial conversations that most groups avoid. Your role is to create enough safety for vulnerability while pushing past surface-level comfort. These conversations don't need to reach decisions today – they need to happen.

👆 Before the session

• Check in about whether they've started reflecting on the homework questions
• Review the studio's governance draft – what did they decide about financial decision-making?
• Be prepared for this session to be emotionally charged

🌊 Session flow

Check-in (5 min)

"The session covered a lot of ground about money. What's sitting with you? Anything surprising – or anything you're dreading talking about?"

Financial transparency (15-20 min)

Start with the personal reflection prompt from Session 5 homework:

"What financial information have you never been allowed to see at work. What might have been different if you had?"

Let each person share. This grounds the conversation in lived experience before it becomes abstract.

Then move to the studio:

Prompts:

• "What financial information would feel vulnerable to share with your studio?"
• "What would you need in order to feel safe sharing it?"
• "What's the minimum level of financial transparency you'd want in your coop?"

Practical questions:

• "Who currently knows the most about the studio's finances? Is that a choice or a default?"
• "If you were to do open books – what would that actually look like? A shared spreadsheet? Monthly summaries? Full access to accounts?"
• "What's one step you could take this week toward more transparency?"

Don't push anyone to share financial details they're not ready to. The goal is naming the discomfort.

Compensation models (15-20 min)

Review the four models briefly:

• Equal pay: same rate regardless of role
• Needs-based: adjusted for members' actual financial situations
• Role-based: different rates for different roles
• Hybrid: base rate plus adjustments

Discussion prompts:

• "What feels fair to you? Where do you notice tension between 'fair' and 'comfortable'?"
• "What would you need to know about each other's situations to decide together?"
• "Which model aligns best with your values?"

Dig deeper:

• "If you chose equal pay, what happens when one person is working 40 hours and another is working 15?"
• "If you chose needs-based, who decides what counts as a 'need'?"
• "If you chose role-based, who decides which roles are worth more – and doesn't that recreate hierarchy?"

You don't need to reach a decision.

IP ownership – first pass (5-10 min)

If there's time, and only if the studio is ready:

• "Who owns the game you're making together?"
• "Has anyone brought existing work into the project? What happens to that?"
• "What happens to IP if someone leaves?"

If these questions create tension, name it: "This is the kind of conversation that gets harder the longer you wait. Notice where you're not aligned."

Close (5 min)

• "What's one financial conversation your team has been avoiding?"
• "What's one concrete step you can take before next session?"
• Remind them: Session 7 is about conflict – and money is often where conflict shows up first

⭐ Tips

If someone shuts down:

• "Money stuff can be really personal. You don't have to share anything you're not ready to. But notice what you're protecting and why."

If the group avoids specifics:

• "Saying 'we'll figure it out later' is a to avoid financial conversations. Try to think of a specific decision to discuss today."

If one person has significantly more financial literacy:

• "Part of transparency is making sure everyone can participate in financial decisions. Can you explain that in plain terms?"

If there's a clear financial power imbalance:

• Don't force anyone to disclose. But you can note: "Financial differences affect power whether you name them or not. The question is whether you address it openly."

If they want to decide compensation now:

• "You can start with a provisional model. Try it for a period, then revisit. Consent-based: is this good enough for now, safe enough to try?"

🏁 After the session

• Note how the financial conversations went – where was there openness vs. avoidance?
• Note any power dynamics around financial literacy or financial resources
• Note any IP ownership disagreements – these need to be resolved before incorporation
• Bring observations to your PS check-in

🚩 Red flags to watch for

• One person controlling all financial information or decisions
• Someone minimizing their own financial needs to match the group
• "We don't need to talk about money yet" – avoidance that will become a crisis later
• Financial plans that assume best-case scenarios with no contingency
• Major gaps in financial literacy that no one is addressing
• IP ownership assumptions that haven't been discussed – especially if someone brought pre-existing work
• Compensation discussions where one person's opinion is treated as the default