Core Revenue: Recurring Mobile Service
Onyx generates its primary revenue through recurring mobile plans designed for reliability and continuity. Users subscribe to premium connectivity that works consistently across networks, producing predictable, high-frequency revenue tied to daily usage rather than one-time transactions or promotional bundles.
Pricing reflects service quality and dependability. Revenue grows through retention and sustained engagement, not churn-driven growth tactics.
Integrated Payments Revenue
Payments operate as a native layer of the Onyx service. Users transact through embedded card and stablecoin rails as part of staying connected and operational. This generates interchange, settlement, and foreign exchange–related revenue that scales naturally with usage.
Payments reinforce the core service by ensuring users can move value wherever their connectivity takes them, increasing both stickiness and lifetime value.
Hardware as an Activation Channel
Onyx ONE extends the business model by embedding service activation directly into the device. Each phone ships with global connectivity enabled, converting hardware distribution into a direct channel for acquiring recurring subscribers.
Hardware revenue stands on its own, while also accelerating adoption of higher-margin recurring services. Every device represents a pre-onboarded user with reduced friction and higher expected lifetime value from day one.
Compounding Growth Dynamics
The Onyx model compounds through longer customer lifetimes, increased revenue per user as connectivity and payments converge, and declining marginal acquisition costs driven by owned activation channels.
Growth follows deeper integration into daily life rather than expansion into unrelated product lines.
Performance Measurement
Onyx evaluates success through sustained active usage, recurring revenue per user, and system reliability at scale. The business grows by optimizing continuity across connectivity and payments, measured in real-world adoption and retention rather than speculative metrics.
3.2 Unit Economics
Onyx is built on clear, traditional unit economics driven by recurring services and disciplined pricing. The business combines global mobile connectivity, payments, and premium hardware into a single system designed for predictable margins and compounding lifetime value.
Per-User Connectivity Economics
Onyx delivers network-agnostic mobile plans optimized for reliability, continuity, and predictable performance across regions. Costs vary by geography and usage, but the model is structured around sustainable margins rather than aggressive price competition.
Annual connectivity cost assumptions per active user:
- Light usage profile: $180–$240
- Core usage profile: $300–$420
- Heavy usage profile: $600–$800
Onyx prices mobile plans to target gross margins of approximately 30–50%, depending on usage tier, region, and carrier mix. Plans scale with customer behavior rather than relying on rigid bundles, allowing margin protection as usage patterns evolve.
The objective is consistent service quality and long-term retention, not lowest-cost positioning.
Payments Economics
Onyx integrates card-based payments and stable settlement rails directly into the mobile experience. Revenue derives from standard interchange and transaction fees generated through everyday spending.
Illustrative assumptions for an active premium user:
- Annual spend volume: $15,000–$30,000
- Net revenue capture: ~0.8%–1.2%
- Annual payments contribution: $120–$300 per user
Payments revenue scales naturally with user activity and benefits from high retention once a user adopts Onyx as their primary travel-ready payment method.
Hardware Economics: Onyx ONE
Onyx ONE is designed as a premium device that activates recurring service usage rather than a standalone consumer electronics product. It anchors the customer relationship and materially increases lifetime value.
Key assumptions:
- Retail price (MSRP): $999
- Estimated bill of materials and manufacturing: $550–$650
- Target hardware gross margin: 30–40%
Hardware margin supports production and distribution, while service attachment drives long-term profitability beyond the initial sale.
Blended Annual Contribution (Recurring)
For a core active user, illustrative annual contribution margins are:
- Connectivity gross profit: $120–$300
- Payments gross profit: $120–$300
Total recurring contribution per user: $240–$600 annually, excluding hardware margin.
Lifetime Value Dynamics
Onyx benefits from high switching costs once users rely on the platform for both connectivity and payments. The combination of recurring services, device attachment, and daily utility produces long customer lifetimes and predictable revenue expansion over time.
This economic foundation allows Onyx to scale responsibly without relying on short-term incentives or unsustainable pricing strategies.
3.3 Go-To-Market Strategy
Onyx enters the market through controlled, high-signal distribution rather than broad consumer advertising. The strategy prioritizes environments where continuity failures are immediately felt and where premium users already self-identify through behavior.
Initial Market Focus
Onyx targets mid-to-high income professionals who value reliability, speed, and control over price optimization. These users travel frequently enough to experience friction, but remain active domestically where continuity still matters.
Primary early segments include:
- International professionals and founders
- Remote executives and operators
- Finance, technology, and media professionals
- Premium travelers who expect their devices and payments to work without intervention
The product is built to handle the most demanding travel scenarios while delivering everyday value at home. This allows Onyx to serve a narrow, high-value audience without positioning itself as a niche travel-only solution.
Acquisition Channels
Onyx prioritizes direct activation and community-led distribution over paid mass acquisition.
Initial channels include:
- Conference activations and private events
- Partner-led distribution through aligned brands
- Referral-driven onboarding using controlled attribution
- Pre-sales and device-led acquisition for Onyx ONE
These channels favor quality over volume, allowing Onyx to maintain pricing discipline and avoid users with low lifetime value.
Conference and Event Activation
Events serve as high-intent onboarding environments rather than brand awareness exercises. Users encounter Onyx in moments where connectivity and payments are immediately relevant, such as international conferences or travel-heavy gatherings.
Event activations focus on:
- Immediate service activation
- Minimal onboarding friction
- Clear value demonstration within minutes
This approach produces strong conversion signals and measurable retention compared to traditional top-of-funnel campaigns.
Referral and Ambassador Mechanics
Referrals function as attribution and trust signals rather than growth hacks. The system rewards verified activation and sustained usage, not superficial signups.
Referral mechanics emphasize:
- One-to-one sharing
- Physical and digital touchpoints
- Clear ownership of attribution
- Delayed rewards tied to real usage
This ensures growth aligns with platform health and unit economics.
Hardware-Led Expansion
Onyx ONE introduces a hardware-led acquisition loop that complements software distribution. Each device ships with active service and converts immediately into a recurring revenue relationship.
Hardware distribution supports:
- Higher lifetime value
- Lower churn
- Stronger brand association
- Reduced reliance on paid acquisition
The device acts as both an activation surface and a long-term retention anchor.
Geographic Expansion Logic
Onyx expands regionally based on service reliability, partner readiness, and user demand—not arbitrary market size. Availability scales as network redundancy and payment coverage meet internal quality thresholds.
This ensures expansion does not degrade the core experience or introduce unmanaged operational risk.
Measurement and Feedback Loops
Success is measured through real-world usage and retention, not vanity metrics.
Core indicators include:
- Activation-to-retention conversion
- Monthly active service usage
- Payment attachment rate
- Customer lifetime value relative to acquisition cost
Every distribution channel must justify itself against these metrics to remain active.
Spend-Driven Referral and Rewards Loop
Onyx incorporates a spend-based referral and rewards system designed to reinforce usage, not speculation. The system ties rewards to real economic activity across connectivity and payments, ensuring growth aligns directly with revenue.
The mechanism operates on three principles:
- Usage comes before rewards
- Rewards compound with engagement
- Attribution persists across time and devices
Users earn rewards by:
- Activating service through a referral
- Spending on mobile plans and payments
- Driving downstream activation that converts into sustained usage
This creates a compounding loop where the most valuable users — those who actively use the platform — become the most effective distribution channel.
Viral Distribution Mechanics
Referral attribution is designed to be frictionless and physical-world friendly. Onyx supports both digital and proximity-based referral flows, allowing users to onboard others through simple, immediate interactions.
These mechanics are optimized for:
- Conferences and in-person events
- Travel and shared environments
- High-trust, peer-to-peer recommendations
The result is organic virality driven by real-world presence rather than online incentives.
Rewards Without Distortion
Rewards scale with verified spend and retention, not one-time actions. This prevents inflationary behavior and aligns incentives across users, partners, and the platform.
Key characteristics:
- No rewards for idle accounts
- No benefit for short-term churn
- Rewards unlock progressively with sustained usage
This ensures the rewards system strengthens unit economics instead of undermining them.
Why This Matters for Growth
The referral and rewards loop reduces reliance on paid acquisition while increasing customer lifetime value. It also creates a defensible growth moat: users are financially and behaviorally invested in expanding the network responsibly.
This system allows Onyx to grow faster without sacrificing pricing power, experience quality, or operational control.