docs: purge the dead $29/$49 + Polar model from every tracked file, add the Y1 forecast

The pricing ruling landed twice (2026-09-21 one-time, then 2026-09-27 Store IAP
$10/mo + $400 lifetime) and the map never caught up. Six tracked files still told
a future session that billing was Polar and the price was $29/$49. A stale memory
map is worse than a stale comment: it is the file every session trusts, and this
one was actively steering work toward a deleted provider.

MONETIZATION.md (gitignored, so not in this commit) was rebuilt first:
- "Revenue projections" now carries a modelled Year 1 forecast —
  pessimistic $4.0K / base $15.4K / optimistic $53.3K net, ~$22K weighted.
  Funnel is installs -> 35-45% activate -> 1.5-3% of active users pay.
- Three findings recorded: Year 1 is ~97% lifetime transactions (subs net $392
  of $15.4K, so MRR is not a Year-1 planning input); conversion dominates price
  (~1pp of conversion = ~$7K net, and ADA 6(h) locks $10 anyway); subscriber
  churn moves Year 1 by under $200 and is a Year-2 problem.
- Break-even restated for $400: $25K net = 74 lifetime buyers, not 862.
  The price cut the volume requirement ~10x and raised the skill requirement
  to match.
- Market sizing willingness-to-pay row rewritten. The 100K-400K TAM was
  price-bound to $29-49 and is wrong at $400; revised ~20K-60K, flagged as an
  estimate rather than a sourced number.
- Flagged a real contradiction: $500K ARR needs ~4,900 concurrent subscribers,
  so the Exit section's ARR multiples do not describe what Years 1-3 produce.
  The defensible asset there is lifetime cash flow, not ARR.

Tracked files corrected to match:
- ai.md: paid-delta, pricing and billing bullets rewritten; Polar product id,
  org id, LCYT- key prefix and LLAMAFOUNDER/LLAMA50 marked as deleted;
  15% share + net-after-tax recorded with the ADA 6(b)(i) citation.
- TASKS.md: catalog row retitled as a teardown; the "still to verify — the
  price is not decided" note closed (it contradicted the ruling 20 lines
  below it); the OverlayHost "Polar unlocks alerts" open question marked
  resolved; Polar file-hosting deliverable removed from the release build.
- task-10: reframed as a teardown. Steps 4-5 marked as surviving, 1-2-3-6-7 as
  deleting, 8 as a compliance action (Velopack downloads AND executes, which
  Store policy 10.2.2 does not permit).
- task-36 item 5 (license-expiry reminders) struck — no key, no expiry, no
  lapse under Store IAP, so there is nothing to remind anyone about.
- Distribution.md 4.2 / 4.4 / 4.5 marked obsolete; 4.5's "already implemented"
  corrected, since PolarLicenseService is being deleted rather than shipped.
- README: "one-time license" -> "paid tier".

Historical Polar sections are retained deliberately — the reasoning is reusable
(merchant-of-record, fee comparison), only the conclusions are dead. Each is now
labelled so it cannot be mistaken for the plan.

No code touched.
This commit is contained in:
2026-10-02 20:56:37 -07:00
parent d95a23c6fb
commit f3fed0a2a8
7 changed files with 145 additions and 70 deletions
+37 -10
View File
@@ -318,9 +318,17 @@ Single-file means everything is inside the `.exe`. No DLLs, no runtime dependenc
**Caveat:** Self-contained single-file means ~80-120MB due to bundled .NET runtime. For smaller size, use framework-dependent publishing (requires .NET 8 runtime on user machines) — drops to ~5-10MB.
### 4.2 Distribution via Polar
### 4.2 Distribution via Polar — ⛔ OBSOLETE (2026-09-27)
**Product setup on Polar:**
> **Superseded by Microsoft Store MSIX + Store IAP** (ruling in
> `TASKS/task-48-distribution-msix.md` item 0). The Store re-signs, hosts, updates, and takes
> payment — so file hosting, license keys, checkout, the customer portal, device deactivation and
> key rotation are **all** handled by Microsoft and none of it needs building. Retained below as a
> record of the model that was designed and abandoned. ⚠️ **The `$29`/`$49` one-time prices in this
> section are dead** — the settled pricing is **`$10/mo` or `$400` lifetime**, net of a verified
> 15% Store share.
**Product setup on Polar (as designed, never shipped):**
1. Create a product: "LlamaCasty" — **one-time purchase** (perpetual license; $29 founder / $49 list).
2. Add two benefits:
@@ -345,6 +353,11 @@ Single-file means everything is inside the `.exe`. No DLLs, no runtime dependenc
- If a key is compromised, customer or merchant can rotate it via Polar.
- Previous key stops validating immediately. Status, usage, limits, expiry preserved.
**What the Store does instead:** the customer installs from the Store listing, pays through Store
checkout, and the app reads the entitlement the OS already holds. There is no key to enter, no
activation call, no portal to visit, and no offline-grace period to maintain — which also retires
the whole "network flaky → app thinks I'm expired" bug class in §4.5.
### 4.3 Code Signing
> ⚠️ **The cert choice below is a live decision, and the old plan's EV recommendation is
@@ -393,7 +406,13 @@ Set-AuthenticodeSignature -FilePath "LlamaCasty.exe" `
**Storage:** Certificate `.pfx` file stored in GitHub Secrets (or Azure DevOps secure files). Never committed to the repo.
### 4.4 Update Mechanism
### 4.4 Update Mechanism — ⛔ OBSOLETE (2026-09-27)
> **Superseded by Store updates.** Microsoft delivers and updates the app from the listing, so
> there is nothing to check and no manifest to host. The Velopack updater currently in
> `App.xaml.cs` **downloads *and executes***, which Store policy **10.2.2** does not permit — its
> removal is a **compliance action**, not optional cleanup (TASK 48 item 3). The Polar-native design
> below is retained as a record of the approach that was rejected; it is not an option.
**Polar-native approach (no custom infrastructure):**
@@ -428,10 +447,18 @@ public class UpdateCheckService
- Download link points to Polar's customer portal (not direct download).
- This adds one external dependency (GitHub) but keeps Polar as the source of truth.
### 4.5 Licensing Logic (already implemented)
### 4.5 Licensing Logic — ⛔ BEING DELETED (2026-09-27)
> ⚠️ **"Already implemented" was true as of 2026-09-21 and is no longer.** `PolarLicenseService`
> and `Helpers/PolarLicense.cs` are being **removed** as part of the TASK 10 teardown (TASK 48 item 0).
> Store IAP replaces the whole validation hop: `IsPremium` is derived from the **OS-supplied Store
> entitlement**, so there is no network call, no key, and — importantly — **no 14-day offline-grace
> machine to protect**, which retires the entire "network flaky → app thinks I'm expired" bug class.
> What survives is only `IsPremium` → `BrandFlashEnabled = !value`. Retained below as the record of
> what shipped and why it no longer applies.
```csharp
// Services/PolarLicenseService.cs — already ships
// Services/PolarLicenseService.cs — shipped under Polar; being deleted
// Calls Polar's customer-portal validation endpoint (no auth required)
// Survives obfuscation — property names excluded via [Obfuscation(Exclude = true)]
[Obfuscation(Exclude = true)]
@@ -444,11 +471,11 @@ public class LicenseValidationResult
}
```
**What's already done:**
- `PolarLicenseService` validates keys against Polar API.
- `OrganizationId` is hardcoded (safe — it's public knowledge, tied to our Polar account).
- License state persists in `LayoutStore.Settings` (SQLite) with offline grace period.
- `PremiumUrl` points to Polar checkout.
**What shipped under Polar (now being deleted):**
- `PolarLicenseService` validated keys against the Polar API.
- `OrganizationId` was hardcoded.
- License state persisted in `LayoutStore.Settings` (SQLite) with an offline grace period.
- `PremiumUrl` pointed to Polar checkout.
**What survives obfuscation:** The validation logic in `Services.dll` is obfuscated. An attacker who decompiles the exe sees only the UI calling an interface — the actual Polar API call is in the obfuscated DLL.