> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://docs.vibetoken.cn/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.
# Setting Your Revenue Share (α) as a Vibe Token Founder
> Alpha (α) is the share of each revenue event distributed to token holders. It's permanent after launch — this guide helps you choose the right value.
Alpha (`α`) is your standing commitment to every contributor who holds your token. Every time revenue comes in — every new subscription, every upgrade, every invoice paid — `α` of that amount flows automatically to token holders. You set it once at launch, and it never changes. Choose it as if you're making a promise you intend to keep for the life of your business, because you are.
## What α Controls
Every revenue event of size `dR` splits into two flows:
* **Token holders receive:** `α × dR`, distributed proportionally across circulating supply
* **You retain:** `(1 - α) × dR`, available for reinvestment, salaries, or profit
The per-token payout for each revenue event is:
```
payout per token = (α × dR) ÷ S
```
Where `S` is the current circulating supply (tokens actually issued to contributors — treasury tokens held by you don't count). As supply grows, individual payouts per token shrink, but the total amount distributed stays fixed at `α × dR`.
## Typical Range: 10–30%
Most founders set `α` somewhere between 10% and 30%. Here's how to think about different positions in that range:
**Lower α (10–15%)**
You retain the most revenue for reinvestment. Contributor payouts are real but modest. This makes sense if you're still in a capital-intensive phase, have significant operating costs, or need to keep cash reserves high. Contributors still earn something meaningful on every dollar of growth, just a smaller slice.
**Middle α (20%)**
A balanced default for most businesses. Contributors hold a meaningful stake — one-fifth of all revenue — while you retain 80% to run and grow the company. This is the range most founders land on when they want to signal genuine commitment without constraining their ability to reinvest.
**Higher α (25–30%)**
A strong signal that contributors are central to your model. You're sharing a larger portion of every dollar with the people who helped build the business. This works well for businesses that rely heavily on community, referrals, or contributor-driven growth — where the token system is itself part of the product's value proposition. The tradeoff is lower retained revenue at every scale point.
## Example Calculations
**At α = 0.20 with \$5,000 monthly revenue:**
* Token holders receive: `0.20 × $5,000 = $1,000/month`
* You retain: `0.80 × $5,000 = $4,000/month`
**At α = 0.15 with \$5,000 monthly revenue:**
* Token holders receive: `0.15 × $5,000 = $750/month`
* You retain: `0.85 × $5,000 = $4,250/month`
**At α = 0.25 with \$5,000 monthly revenue:**
* Token holders receive: `0.25 × $5,000 = $1,250/month`
* You retain: `0.75 × $5,000 = $3,750/month`
Now consider what happens as the business scales. At \$50,000/month:
| α | Monthly distribution | Monthly retained |
| ---- | -------------------- | ---------------- |
| 0.10 | \$5,000 | \$45,000 |
| 0.20 | \$10,000 | \$40,000 |
| 0.30 | \$15,000 | \$35,000 |
The absolute amounts increase with revenue regardless of which `α` you choose. The question is what ratio of that growth you want contributors sharing in.
## Why It Cannot Be Changed
The immutability of `α` is not a technical limitation — it's a design choice. Token holders make decisions about whether to contribute, how much to contribute, and whether to hold or exit based on a fixed commitment. If `α` could be changed, every holder would carry the risk that the founder reduces it the moment it becomes inconvenient. That uncertainty would make the token worthless as a contributor incentive.
The permanent `α` removes that risk entirely. Contributors know exactly what fraction of every future dollar they're entitled to. That certainty is what makes the commitment credible.
## Your Compensation as Founder
Your income from the business is `(1 - α)` of all revenue — the retained side. It grows directly with revenue, with no tokens required. Treasury tokens you hold as founder are inert: they do not receive distributions and cannot be used to extract value from the distribution pool.
This separation is intentional. Your incentive as founder is to grow total revenue. Contributors' incentive is the same. Both sides of the equation point in the same direction.
`α` is permanent. There is no mechanism to lower it later, even if growth significantly exceeds your expectations and the distribution pool becomes larger than you anticipated. Set it based on the long-term commitment you're genuinely willing to make — not the minimum you can get away with at launch.
Your personal compensation as founder comes entirely from the retained revenue side: `(1 - α) × dR` on every revenue event. Treasury tokens you hold do not receive distributions. You are not a token holder in the economic sense — you are the operator, and your stake is in the revenue the business generates.