The essentials
- Three or four tiers, not seven. Every extra tier reduces clarity and does not increase the amount.
- The benefit that works is the one that costs little margin and a lot of status: access, priority and participation.
- Permanent discounts on the product are the most expensive benefit and the one that generates the least loyalty.
- No benefit can be presented as a return on the investment: that turns it into something else.
What a tier is for
A tier performs three functions at once, and it helps to keep them separate in your head when designing it.
- It orders the decision. A form with an open field forces the person to invent a figure. Three named options give them a frame.
- It raises the average ticket. The anchoring effect is real: the existence of a high tier shifts the choice upwards for someone hesitating between the first two.
- It gives belonging a language. Being an owner is abstract; belonging to a group with a name is not.
VICIO structured its May 2023 campaign in four tiers, of forty, four hundred, four thousand and fourteen thousand euros, with growing benefits in each one. It is the pattern that repeats in the community rounds that work, and the multiplicative progression between tiers is not an accident.
How many tiers and how far apart
Three or four. Above that the table stops being read and the person picks the first one by default, which is exactly the opposite of what was intended.
The distance between tiers usually works better multiplicative than additive: each step is worth several times the previous one. A small jump invites people to compare pennies; a large jump forces them to decide which group they want to belong to.
| Tier | Role | What it has to achieve |
|---|---|---|
| Entry | Excluding nobody | That any customer can be an owner |
| Middle | The one most people choose | A tangible, visible benefit |
| High | Anchor | Real access and recognition |
| Exceptional | Few people, large amounts | A direct relationship with the team |
Which benefits work
The criterion for choosing is twofold: how much margin it costs and how much status it gives. The best benefits fall in the corner of low cost and high status.
| Benefit | Margin cost | Perception |
|---|---|---|
| Early access to launches | None | High |
| Limited editions for owners only | Low | Very high |
| Advisory vote on product decisions | None | Very high |
| Annual shareholders' event | Medium | High |
| Priority on bookings or waiting lists | None | High |
| Permanent discount across the catalogue | Very high | Low and falling |
The line you don't cross
There is a line separating a benefits programme from a promise of a return, and crossing it changes the legal nature of what you are offering.
- A benefit cannot be presented as a return. Saying that the annual discount is equivalent to a percentage of the amount invested turns a commercial advantage into an expectation of yield.
- You cannot promise what depends on the future. Benefits are subject to review and that has to be said; committing a catalogue for ten years is an obligation nobody can sustain.
- You cannot communicate without validation. During the offering window, the communication of the offer goes through the authorised entity that supervises the marketing.
The safe formulation is also the most honest one: the benefit is a consequence of being an owner, not the reason to be one. The reason to be one is a share in the value of the company, with its risk.
How it is run afterwards
A benefits programme is easy to announce and hard to sustain. The part that is always underestimated is running it afterwards, when there are four hundred people with different entitlements and you have to know at all times who has which.
- The tier is recalculated. If an investor increases their position during the window, they move up a tier, and the system has to reflect that with no manual intervention.
- A benefit has a status. Draft, scheduled, published, sold out or expired. A benefit with limited stock that doesn't keep count creates a broken promise.
- Activation is measured. A benefit nobody uses is not building loyalty with anyone, and it is worth knowing so you can replace it.
- Communication is segmented. Announcing to everyone a benefit that only applies to one tier produces exactly the opposite of the intended effect.
When this is run on a spreadsheet, it works for the first three months. After that, it doesn't.
Frequently asked questions
Can I change the benefits after closing the round?
Commercial benefits are subject to review and it is worth saying so from the start, in the issuance document and in the communications themselves. What cannot be changed unilaterally are the economic and voting rights the security confers, which are a different thing.
Are the benefits taxable for the investor?
It depends on the nature of each benefit and on how it is implemented, and there are relevant differences between a commercial discount and a form of remuneration. It is a question for tax advice before designing the programme, because it can shape which benefits to offer.
How many tiers are too many?
From five onwards the table stops being read at a glance and the choice shifts to the entry tier by default. Three or four cover the range between excluding nobody and leaving room for whoever wants to come in big.
Can I give my retail shareholders a vote on company decisions?
You can give them advisory participation on specific decisions, and it tends to be one of the best received benefits because it costs no margin. Corporate voting is a different matter: when investors are grouped in a vehicle it is exercised inside that vehicle and not directly at your company's general meeting.
Legislation and sources cited
- VICIO, crowdfunding campaign of May 2023 on Crowdcube. Figures reported by El Economista and by the restaurant trade press.
- Law 6/2023 of 17 March on Securities Markets and Investment Services (BOE-A-2023-7053). Art. 36.1, supervision of the marketing process during the offer.
Updated 16 Sep 2026. This article is for general information and does not constitute legal or financial advice. The specific terms of each transaction depend on its structure and should be reviewed with professional advice.
