The tier model

Tier is never re-implemented per app. Every object a member can see, post, or join is filtered by a tier check that reads that one attribute.

Tier	Name	What it is	Gets
T0	Guest / "Learn"	The front. Public learning on-ramp.	Catalog + intro courses, read-only public boards, event calendar (view), AI tutor on public content.
T1	Member — "the room"	The paid baseline.	Full courses + cert-prep + certificates, post to boards, DMs, join events, AI tutor over member content, directory.
T2	Inner Circle — "the table"	The vetted room within the room.	Private boards/spaces, priority events, group DMs with operators, deeper AI (agentic, "talk to the platform"), earlier access.
T3	Founding / Charter	The grandfathered 60 + charter.	Everything in T2 + founder status, permanent standing, shaping input.

The walkthrough — first 15 minutes → first week

The acceptance test for the whole design: if these read true, the pillars and the interaction stack are right.

T0 Guest — "Learn"

First 15 min: lands on the AI-curated home in guest mode — a working feed (intro course, a few public threads, the next event), not a marketing wall. Starts an intro course with no signup gate. Asks the AI tutor a question, answered from public content only (tier-scoped retrieval). Hits a tasteful soft wall on the second course with one-click account creation.

First week: works the free track with the tutor as study partner; reads (can't post to) public boards and wants in; gets one nudge toward a live event (the heartbeat that converts). Conversion moment: value is obvious, the wall is honest, upgrading is one payment on the same identity. Proves "come and learn" is a generous front, not a lead-gen trap.

T1 Member — "the room"

First 15 min: same identity, more depth — no re-onboarding; the shell unlocks. Home now ranks member boards + cohort + full catalog. Chooses their home (pins the cohort). Posts a first introduction to a member board (threaded, tagged, searchable, AI-indexed). Enrolls in the cert-prep track.

First week: works cert-prep (tutor now answers over member content); posts questions, gets peer + operator answers; attends a live event (recorded → becomes a thread + transcript); exchanges a few DMs. By end of week one: a cohort, a study path, connections, a certificate in progress — logs in daily because the home feed is theirs. Proves the paid baseline is a complete product.

T2 Inner Circle — "the table"

First 15 min (admitted after vetting): admission is a moment, not a checkout — the shell reveals private spaces with a short "welcome to the table." Private boards appear in the home ranking. Deeper AI unlocks — the agentic layer, "talk to the platform," scoped to their tier. Sees the priority/small-format operator events they now get.

First week: group DMs with operators (senior attention); the candid private boards; earlier access to new tracks; uses a governed agent for a reasoning-heavy task ("analyze this thread history and tell me what I'm missing"); visibly Inner Circle (tier badge). Proves the money + moat: proximity, depth, AI that does real work, behind genuine vetting.

T3 Founding / Charter

First 15 min (grandfathered — the original 60): recognized on arrival; identity pre-provisioned at Founding; the shell greets them as charter. Everything in Inner Circle + permanent standing + a shaping surface (input on where the platform goes).

First week: same depth as Inner Circle with the weight of being first; their presence anchors the community (new members see founders active → the place is real). Retention by identity: grandfathering the 60 makes their history, standing, and relationships permanent — churn-proof by design. Proves the 60 are honored structurally, not with a coupon.

Cross-tier truths (what every walkthrough demonstrates)

1. One identity, four depths. Upgrading never means re-onboarding. (P1)
2. One shell renders all of it. Tier changes what's visible, not the product. (P2)
3. The AI-curated home is the daily habit — why people log in, and the moat. (P4)
4. Depth is earned or paid, never faked. The front is generous; the room and table are real thresholds.
5. Everything accumulates into durable, searchable, AI-indexed substance — the flywheel. (P3)

What these tiers can charge is a market question — the premium tiers price against the membership-network band (EO ≈ $4.4k → Vistage/YPO ≈ $10–16k → TIGER 21 ≈ $34k), not the $9–$500/mo SaaS platforms. See the Competitive Landscape.

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