Business Description for Stripe Connect
Platform Overview
Our platform is a skill-based contest marketplace that connects contest organizers with freelancers. The platform facilitates the organization of professional skill-based contests, collection of prize money, submission of contest entries by qualified freelancers, and the distribution of prizes to winning freelancers based on merit and objective criteria.
Our contests are fundamentally different from gambling or games of chance - they are professional work arrangements where freelancers are selected based on the quality of their submitted work.
Important: No entry fees are ever charged to freelancers for participating in contests. Freelancers can join and submit entries to any contest completely free of charge, eliminating any resemblance to gambling or gaming models where participants pay to enter.
Business Model
- Contest Creation: Users can create contests, define requirements, set prize amounts, and establish licensing terms for submissions.
- Prize Pooling: Multiple users can contribute funds to a single contest's prize pool.
- Entry Submission: Freelancers submit their work (which may include digital media, code, or software solutions) as contest entries.
- Collaborative Work: Multiple freelancers can collaborate on a single entry and split any prize winnings.
- Winner Selection: Contest organizers select winning entries based on predefined criteria.
- Prize Distribution: Our platform distributes prize money to winning freelancers (handling splits for collaborative entries).
- Secondary Monetization: When permitted by the contest licensing terms, freelancers can sell their submissions as products or subscriptions to other platform users.
Payment Flows
- Contest Funding: Contest organizers pay prize money upfront, which is held in escrow until a winner is selected. Freelancers never pay any entry fees to participate.
- Prize Distribution: After a winner is selected based on skill and quality of submission, funds are transferred to the winning freelancer(s).
- Platform Fees: We charge a percentage-based fee on all transactions, deducted before disbursement to freelancers. Fees are only charged to contest organizers and/or on prize distributions, never as entry fees.
- Secondary Sales: For permitted product/subscription sales, buyers pay freelancers directly, with our platform collecting a transaction fee.
Risk Management & Compliance
- Content Monitoring: All uploaded content is monitored through both automated systems and human review to ensure compliance with Stripe's Acceptable Use Policy and our Terms of Service.
- Dispute Resolution: We have established detailed processes for resolving disputes between contest organizers and freelancers, including a formal escalation path and clear timelines for resolution.
- KYC/AML Compliance: We collect and verify necessary information from both contest organizers and freelancers to meet Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering requirements across all jurisdictions.
- Intellectual Property: Our Terms of Service clearly define ownership and licensing rules for all contest submissions, with specific provisions for different U.S. states and international jurisdictions.
- Prohibited Activities: We actively monitor and prevent prohibited activities including but not limited to: adult content, gambling, drugs/controlled substances, weapons, and other categories restricted by Stripe.
- State-Specific Compliance: We implement state-specific controls for U.S. states with additional regulations, including New York, California, Florida, and others with specific contest laws.
- Contest Structure Controls: Our platform enforces objective judging criteria and skill-based selection processes to ensure contests are clearly distinguished from games of chance or gambling.
- Documentation Requirements: We maintain detailed records of contest criteria, winner selection processes, and prize distributions to demonstrate compliance with applicable regulations.