Chapter 01 of 05
The Launch Notes · Vol. 01 No. 04
The Ledger · 01
September 2026 · London
Commercial · 20 June 2026
Why we charge fixed fees, not a percentage of raise
Transaction-based compensation sits next to activity RCA Pad is not licensed to perform. Fixed fees keep the operating boundary intact — and keep the work useful if there is no raise at all.
The Desk · Operating notes, RCA Pad · London
Every few weeks a founder offers us a share of something we will not touch: the raise, the token, the upside if a listing arrives. They mean alignment. We hear a request to stand next to capital formation without the licence, the custody, or the honesty to call ourselves a placement agent. The rate card exists to refuse that request in advance.
The rule · Chapter 01
Pay for the pack, not for the event
RCA Pad sells B2B commercial launch services. Strategy, messaging, campaign operations, community systems, creator management, provider coordination. The thing we hand over is a pack, a set of production assets, or a month of controlled operations. The thing we do not hand over is capital, tokens, listings, or a promised raise. Pricing follows the work, not the event.
Launch Sprint, Launch Build and managed growth are therefore priced as fixed fees, milestones and prepaid retainers. We avoid percentage-of-raise fees and token compensation until specialist counsel confirms a lawful structure. That sentence is a control. It keeps us on the services side of a line that is easy to wander across when a founder is excited and a calendar is tight.
The rate card is public because secrecy here produces folklore. Sprint £3,500–£7,500. Build £10,000–£35,000. Managed growth £5,000–£25,000 or more per month. Deposit to open the desk. No work on a handshake. These ranges are not an invitation to auction us against a success fee. They are the shape of a statement of work.
We are not a fundraising intermediary. Percentage-of-raise and token-only pay are declined.
If a proposed US regime, a UK exemption, or some other path later makes a different compensation structure clean, counsel can say so and we can revisit. We will not revisit it on a call because the round is “imminent.” Imminent is not a legal memo.