Incentive based vertical market

• US 7,610,235 B2
• Filed: 09/25/2001
• Issued: 10/27/2009
• Est. Priority Date: 08/27/2001
• Status: Expired due to Fees

• Current Assignee: BGC Partners Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: BGC Partners Incorporated (BGC Group, Inc.)
• Inventors: Lutnick, Howard W., Noviello, Joseph, Uman, Jonathan, Varacchi, Frederick, Varacchi, legal representative, Uman, legal representative
• Primary Examiner(s): PATEL, JAGDISH
• Application Number:
  US09/963,197
• Publication Number:
  US 20030040961A1
• Time in Patent Office: 2,954 Days
• Field of Search: 705/1, 705/36, 705/14, 705/26, 705/37
• US Class Current: 705/37
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/02 Marketing; Price estimation or determination; Fundraising
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0208 Trade or exchange of goods or services in exchange for incentives or rewards
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 30/0213 Consumer transaction fees
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/00 Finance; Insurance; Tax strategies; Processing of corporate or income taxes
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/04 Trading; Exchange, e.g. stocks, commodities, derivatives or currency exchange
• CPC Class Codes: G06Q 40/06 Asset management; Financial planning or analysis

Abstract

A vertical market is provided in which members of the market are incentivized to exchange goods and services within the market. The members of the market may enter into an agreement. The participants of the agreement are incentivized to generate revenue within the market. These incentives may include the option to convert warrants at the full conversion rate into ownership shares of the goods and services owned by the participants of the agreement. Warrants may be converted into shares when a pre-determined amount of gross revenue is achieved within a certain amount of time (success incentive), or based on the ratio of gross revenue generated within a certain amount of time over the target amount of gross revenue to be generated within the term of the agreement (growth incentive). Participants may also be entitled to fees for services provided.

Claims

1. A method for incentivizing a plurality of participants to exchange goods or services of a vertical market on a marketplace, comprising:

based on an agreement among the plurality of participants, issuing with a processor at least one warrant to a participant who trades on the marketplace, in which the warrant provides a right to the participant for converting the warrant into at least one ownership share of the marketplace, and in which the right is conditioned on the participant'"'"'s performance on the marketplace;

determining via the processor the participant'"'"'s performance on the marketplace;

determining via the processor, based on the participant'"'"'s performance, a quantity of warrants that may be converted into the at least one ownership share of the marketplace; and

transmitting to a remote device a notification of the quantity of warrants to the participant, in which the remote device and the processor are in communication over a network.

2. The method of claim 1, in which the participants agree to exchange goods or services of the vertical market directly with other participants.

3. The method of claim 1, in which determining the participant'"'"'s performance comprises determining a revenue generated by the participant'"'"'s trading activity on the marketplace over a period of time;

and

in which determining the quantity of warrants that may be converted comprises determining that the revenue generated by the participant during the period of time meets a threshold for converting the warrant to the at least one ownership share.

4. The method of claim 1, in which determining the participant'"'"'s performance comprises determining a revenue generated by the participant'"'"'s trading activity on the marketplace over a period of time;

and

in which determining the quantity of warrants that may be converted comprises determining that the revenue generated by the participant during the period of time exceeds the threshold, in which the warrants are converted at a full conversion rate.

5. The method of claim 1, in which determining the participant'"'"'s performance comprises:

determining a growth rate of the marketplace, in which the growth rate is attributed to the participant'"'"'s trading activity over a period of time.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

determining that the participant'"'"'s performance comprises a trading activity that is accomplished via a plurality of services, in which at least one of the plurality of services is provided by the participant.

7. The method of claim 6, in which determining the participant'"'"'s performance comprises:

determining a level of service provided by the participant over a period of time.

8. The method of claim 7, in which determining the participant'"'"'s performance comprises:

determining fees derived from the level of service provided by the participant over the period of time.

9. The method of claim 1, in which determining the quantity of warrants that may be converted comprises:

determining a ratio of a first revenue to a second revenue, in which the first revenue is generated by the participant during a first period of time and the second revenue is a pre-determined revenue that the participant is expected to generate over a second period of time.

10. The method of claim 9 further comprising:

multiplying the ratio by an amount of warrants issued in accordance to the agreement.

11. The method of claim 9, in which determining the quantity of warrants that may be converted is based on:

determining a percentage of the goods or services that is owned by the participant.

12. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an indication, from the remote device, to convert the warrant into at least one ownership share of the marketplace.

13. An apparatus comprising:

a processor; and

a memory, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, direct the processor to perform the steps of;

issuing, based on an agreement among the plurality of participants, at least one warrant to a participant who trades on the marketplace, in which the warrant provides a right to the participant for converting the warrant into at least one ownership share of the marketplace, and in which the right is conditioned on the participant'"'"'s performance on the marketplace;

determining the participant'"'"'s performance on the marketplace;

determining, based on the participant'"'"'s performance, a quantity of warrants that may be converted into the at least one ownership share of the marketplace; and

transmitting a notification of the quantity of warrants to the participant.

14. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the participant'"'"'s performance by determining a revenue generated by the participant'"'"'s trading activity on the marketplace over a period of time, and

determining that the revenue generated by the participant during the period of time meets a threshold for converting the warrant to the at least one ownership share.

15. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the participant'"'"'s performance by determining a revenue generated by the participant'"'"'s trading activity on the marketplace over a period of time;

determining that the same revenue generated by the participant during the period of time exceeds a threshold for converting the warrant to the at least one ownership share; and

converting the warrants at a full conversion rate.

16. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the participant'"'"'s performance by determining a growth rate of the marketplace, in which the growth rate is attributed to the participant'"'"'s trading activity over a period of time.

17. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining that the participant'"'"'s performance comprises a trading activity that is accomplished via a plurality of services, in which at least one of the plurality of services is provided by the participant.

18. The apparatus of claim 17, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further directed the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the participant'"'"'s performance by determining a level of service provided by the participant over a period of time.

19. The apparatus of claim 18, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the participant'"'"'s performance e by determining fees derived from the level of service provided by the participant over the period of time.

20. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining the quantity of warrants that may be converted by determining a ratio of a first revenue to a second revenue, in which the first revenue is generated by the participant during a first period of time and the second revenue is a pre-determined revenue that the participant is expected to generate over a second period of time.

21. The apparatus of claim 20, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

multiplying the ratio by an amount of warrants issued in accordance to the agreement.

22. The apparatus of claim 20, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

determining a percentage of the goods or services that is owned by the participant.

23. The apparatus of claim 13, in which the memory stores instructions which, when executed by the processor, further direct the processor to perform the steps of:

receiving an indication to convert to the warrant into at least one ownership share or the marketplace.