Launching Q2 2026 · Illustrative · Applications open in phases

Direct List

For people with 5+ years of documented trajectory who want a market-clearing price on their career. Commit e% of your Total Economic Benefit in perpetuity. Trade from day one. No covenant. No principal by default.

This isn’t a vanity listing. Direct Listing accepts ~7–8% of applicants. The review is ruthless because the product’s entire premise is quality signal. What follows is the full flow — why you’d do this, what we check, what your profile would look like, and what happens next.

Why list on Preflop

A market-clearing price on yourself

A traded token gives you a live benchmark: what the market actually thinks you're worth as an economic unit. Usable in compensation negotiations, speaking contracts, and your own strategic decisions.

Aligned backers, on the record

A public network with economic interest in your ongoing success. Unlike passive followers, Direct Listing backers have skin — they win when you do. That's a different quality of relationship.

Optional liquidity without dilution

Flow C lets you sell a portion of your reserved tokens into the market 6–12 months after listing at a price the market actually validated. No equity dilution in any single company.

A data-driven reputation rail

Your Conviction v2 score is transparent, algorithmic, and versioned. It's a credential that travels with you across roles, industries, and platforms — grounded in actual TEB history.

Eligibility · hard gates

≥5 years of documented income history (W-2, 1099, K-1, brokerage)
≥$250K cumulative lifetime Total Economic Benefit
Willing to share tax returns annually with Preflop
Willing to grant cap-table read access (Carta / Pulley / Shoobx / AngelList) where applicable
No active Chapter 7 or Chapter 13 bankruptcy
No current fraud or financial-crime indictments or convictions
US person or US tax nexus (MVP — non-US opens in Phase B)

Scorecard

0/ 7 gates met

Application locks until every gate is satisfied. If one won’t apply to you, the Covenant path may be a better fit.

Process · 4–12 weeks end-to-end · ~7–8% accept

Stage 01

Application

Today

+ detail

Form submission + uploaded documents. Preflop runs automated hard-threshold checks (age, identity, background) and a preliminary Conviction v2 score from whatever data is attached.

Typical pass rate: ~30%

Stage 02

Automated screening

Days 1–3

+ detail

Background check API, Persona identity verification, sanctions list check. Hard-gate failures reject immediately with a written rationale.

Typical pass rate: ~30% of apps

Stage 03

Data completeness audit

Days 3–10

+ detail

Verifier team validates documentation. Tax returns reconciled against Plaid-connected accounts. Cap-table access set up. Public records check. Civil-judgment search.

Typical pass rate: ~50% of stage 2

Stage 04

Human review + counsel

Days 10–21

+ detail

Preflop partner review. Counsel review triggered for: e > 2%, listing market cap > $1M, non-US domicile, existing revenue-share obligations, pending regulatory actions. Interview with the applicant. References contacted.

Typical pass rate: ~50% of stage 3

Stage 05

Reference price modeling

Days 21–28

+ detail

Conviction v2 runs the full pricing model. Forward TEB forecast generated. Reference price with confidence interval. Issuer can accept, renegotiate, or withdraw. Preflop vetoes pricing outside defensible ranges.

Typical pass rate: Issuer decision

Stage 06

Pre-trading lockup

2–8 weeks

+ detail

Listing approved, tokens minted, public profile live, waitlist opened. Final disclosures published. Market-maker engagement finalized. Length scales inversely with data confidence.

Typical pass rate: All approved

Honest stats at /stats. Most applicants do not qualify.

Application · 4 steps

Step 1 · You

Full legal namePreferred / public nameEmailPhoneCurrent residenceDate of birthPrimary professionProposed ticker (3–5 letters)

Live preview · est.

not approved

—Your name

—

Est. reference price$14.29

low $10.00high $20.00

Est. listing market cap$142,900

Committed TEB %2.0%

TEB used for preview$500,000

Est. Conviction v261

050100

Estimates use the same Gordon-growth + Conviction v2 heuristics the engine runs. Real reference price is set at Stage 5 with a fairness opinion above $1M market cap.

Implied self-valuation

V_HC engine-mid$7.14M

V̂_HC implied at target$7.14M

e_eff2.00%

κ ratio1.00

Anchored

κ is your raise’s implied self-valuation divided by the engine’s mid forecast. Anchored (≤ 1.2) clears smoothly. Higher tiers require additional disclosure or higher conviction. Full regime in /spec/human-capital.

Your /market row

Ticker	Phase	Price	24h	7d	Score	Orig
—Yn.	Person	$14.29	▲ 1.2%	▲ 4.5%	61	DIR

Comparables · sample

These are illustrative Direct Listings in our existing cohort. A real application is priced in the context of its category, not in isolation.

MYOFM.O.DIR

Maya Okafor

Writer · labor-economics newsletter

$34.00▼ 11.8%

Score 78e% 2.5

CHENJ.C.DIR

Jordan Chen

Bootstrapped SaaS founder · AgeTrack (HR analytics)

$58.00▼ 3.9%

Score 71e% 1.5

AMRSA.S.DIR

Amara Singh

AI safety researcher · frontier lab

$71.00▲ 29.8%

Score 87e% 3

What happens after you submit

Review

Human review + counsel where triggered. Most applicants do not pass.

Model

Conviction v2 (backward + forward) builds a reference price with a published confidence interval.

List

Lockup 2–8 weeks, then live trading on the Preflop Market with day-1 market-maker coverage.

Counsel-reviewedEvery listing above $1M market cap goes through outside counsel before approval.

How we decideCriteria and rejection-rate history in the how-it-works page.

Published acceptance ratesHonest numbers at /stats.

FAQ

+What's the difference between a Direct Listing and a Covenant?

A Covenant raises capital upfront with a 5–15 year income-linked dividend that converts to a perpetual claim on the trajectory. A Direct Listing skips the dividend phase — you commit e% of TEB perpetually from day one, no principal, no covenant period. See /how-it-works for the full comparison. Read more →

+Do I get money when I list?

Not by default. Flow A — our MVP default — is pure direct listing with no primary capital to the issuer. Flow C lets you sell a pre-defined block of your reserved tokens 6–12 months after listing once a market price exists. Flow B (capital at listing) is opt-in for qualified issuers once we have a broker-dealer partner. Read more →

+What if I change careers after listing?

The commitment follows you. It's a perpetual e% of your Total Economic Benefit — whatever career you have, whichever company you run, wherever the income flows from. Your token is a stake in you, not in any single venture. Read more →

+What is TEB?

Total Economic Benefit is the comprehensive measure of income your labor produces: W-2 wages, self-employment, K-1 partnership distributions, equity sale proceeds, royalties, board and speaking fees, non-cash consideration. Full definition in the spec. Read more →

+Can I buy myself out later?

Not unilaterally — token holders own a contractual interest. Most likely path is a governance-approved buyback at a multiple of market cap. Details in the Delisting Framework and governance sections of the spec. Read more →

+What if something goes wrong — scandal, lawsuit, bankruptcy?

We have a Delisting Framework modeled on how US public equity markets handle SEC suspensions, deficiency notices, and fraud-driven delistings: trading suspension, 30-day cure, review panel, and holder-protection options. Full list of grounds in /how-it-works §6. Read more →

/how-it-works /roadmap /discover /raise a covenant