Read the market
Review released results, rankings, customer signals, your own strategy history and any research your company purchased.
HOW MARKUP MARKETS WORKS
How It Works
Run a company, make one connected plan each quarter, compete against the same customers and learn from what the market actually rewards.
THE CORE LOOP
One quarter turns separate business topics into one operating decision.
Every company sees the same evolving market, but each team controls its own product, budget and strategy. Competitors never see another company’s private current-quarter decision before the market is processed.
Build one plan
Choose price, target customer, marketing message, advertising, production, quality control, channel mix, research and—when available—future-product development.
Submit privately
Your plan is locked to your company. In a class, teammates share one company decision and instructors can control deadlines and the decision window.
The market resolves
Customers decide whether to buy and then choose among the available offers. Production capacity and inventory determine whether demand can actually become sales.
Read the consequences
Sales, market share, profit, cash, inventory, customer satisfaction, brand and competitive position update together.
Adapt
Use the outcome to decide what to keep, what to change and what your competitors may be learning at the same time.
WHAT YOU CONTROL
Your choices compete for the same cash.
There is no isolated “marketing round” or “operations round.” Increasing one budget leaves less money for another decision, and every decision can change demand, cost or future flexibility.
ProductDesign Product I; in Full Game, decide whether and when Product II is worth funding.
PricingBalance willingness to pay, margin and positioning.
MarketingSelect a target and message, then decide how much reach is worth buying.
ProductionForecast sales without creating a stockout—or expensive aging inventory.
Quality & factoryManage defects, efficient capacity and longer-term operating capability.
DistributionTrade wholesale reach against direct-to-consumer margin and fulfillment burden.
ResearchBuy information when reducing uncertainty is worth the cash cost.
FinancePreserve enough cash to survive mistakes and act on future opportunities.
QUICK GAME
4 quarters · one business year
Every company designs Product I before Quarter 1 and manages that same product through the year. The shorter horizon emphasizes pricing, positioning, production, inventory, marketing and cash discipline.
FULL GAME
8 quarters · two business years
The same operating decisions continue for two years, with Product II adding a multi-quarter investment and launch problem. A Year 1 valuation gives an interim snapshot before the final valuation.
ACADEMIC MODE
Built around the way a professor actually runs a class.
Instructors create the class and control pacing. Students can join without creating an account by using the class code and their team’s private code.
- 1Create the class
Choose 4 or 8 quarters, team slots, team size, Practice Round, rationale and final-reflection settings.
- 2Invite teams
Share the class code with everyone and one private team code with each company.
- 3Practice safely
An optional disposable Practice Round lets students learn the interface before official Quarter 1.
- 4Monitor—not micromanage
See who is not started, in progress or submitted. Team decisions stay private until processing.
- 5Process, then release
Close the decision window, process the market privately, review the result and release it to every team together.
- 6Debrief the decisions
Use analytics, decision history, management rationale, reports, exports and final reflections to connect strategy with outcome.
WHAT COUNTS AS WINNING?
Market share is only one result.
The simulation tracks revenue, profit, cash, market share, product technology, brand health, customer outcomes and inventory. Final Company Value combines cash, profitability, market position, launched technology and brand equity.
This means a company can sell the most units and still be strategically weaker if it destroys margin, overspends, overproduces or fails to invest for the future.
CommercialRevenue · units sold · market share
FinancialProfit · cash · Company Value
CustomerSatisfaction · ratings · brand
OperatingInventory · defects · capacity
StrategicPositioning · research · technology
READY TO TRY IT?