How Businesses Actually Work
Bridge the gap between basic business vocabulary and strategic execution. Learn how to calculate true unit economics, defend competitive moats, manage cash flow cycles, and allocate capital for durable growth.
Like Duolingo, but for How Businesses Actually Work. Tomo turns the whole topic into a game you play five minutes a day, until it actually sticks.
22 levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes end to end, roughly 9 days at five minutes a day. It moves through Making the Numbers Work, Building Defensible Advantage, and Scaling and Capital Strategy. It assumes you already know the basics.
Free forever · No credit card · iPhone & Android
Key ideas in How Businesses Actually Work
- Contribution margin is revenue minus variable costs incurred per unit sold.
- A negative contribution margin means each incremental sale burns more operational cash.
- Selling higher volume cannot fix unit economics if per-unit variable costs exceed price.
- CAC payback requires tracking gross profit dollars rather than top-line contract value.
- Cost of goods sold like hosting and onboarding reduces the net cash available to repay CAC.
- A low gross margin substantially extends the calendar months required to break even on CAC.
- LTV is a multi-year projection, whereas CAC requires immediate cash outflow.
- A long CAC payback period drains operating liquidity even when lifetime ROI looks high.
- Startups with limited runway go bankrupt waiting for delayed subscription cash flows.
- As a customer base grows, absolute dollars lost to a fixed churn percentage steadily increase.
- A business hits a revenue ceiling when lost churn dollars match total new acquisition dollars.
- Blended CAC divides total acquisition budget across both paid and free organic users.
- Surging acquisition costs in paid channels remain hidden if organic installs stay high.
- Paid channel exhaustion surfaces as decaying click rates and skyrocketing paid-only CAC.
- Accrual accounting logs revenue when invoices issue, not when cash arrives.
- Cash outflows like wages and rent cannot be delayed until receivables clear.
You've tried the other tabs
Thirty open tabs. Four facts you actually kept.
You watched. You nodded. By Sunday it was gone.
One answer, then back to scrolling.
Eight weeks. You meant to finish. You didn't.
Tomo gives How Businesses Actually Work the Duolingo treatment: levels, streaks, and quick quizzes that test what you just learned. That game loop is what the tabs above never had, so it's the one you actually finish.
Here's what playing it feels like
A real question from this course. Take your best guess.
What happens when a business operates with a negative contribution margin?
Get it right to open this lesson and 21 more in the app.
How to learn How Businesses Actually Work, step by step
Go in order. 22 short levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes in all, five minutes a day.
- 1
Making the Numbers Work
- Diagnosing Unit Economics
- Managing the Cash Conversion Cycle
- 2
Building Defensible Advantage
- Capturing Value Through Strategic Pricing
- Establishing Economic Moats
- Choosing Strategic Trade-Offs
- 3
Scaling and Capital Strategy
- Diagnosing Growth Engine Bottlenecks
- Allocating Capital for Long-Term Return
3 sections · 7 units · 22 levels. Built to play, not to enroll.
Questions about How Businesses Actually Work
How do I learn How Businesses Actually Work?
Go in order: start with Making the Numbers Work, then Building Defensible Advantage, then Scaling and Capital Strategy. On Tomo that's 22 short levels, about 44 minutes in all, played five minutes a day. Start free and play the first level in under a minute.
Is there a Duolingo-style app for How Businesses Actually Work?
Yes. Tomo works like Duolingo: short daily lessons, streaks and quick quizzes. How Businesses Actually Work is one of its free courses, and you can type any other topic to get a course of your own.
Is the How Businesses Actually Work course free?
Yes. How Businesses Actually Work is playable on Tomo's free plan, which doesn't expire. No credit card, no waitlist. Download the app and start your first lesson.
How long does it take to learn How Businesses Actually Work?
22 levels across 3 sections, about 44 minutes of play in total. It's built for five minutes a day, so you finish it a little at a time instead of all at once.
Do I need any background to start How Businesses Actually Work?
No. It's pitched at an intermediate level, so it starts where you are and builds up. If you can tap a phone, you can start.
Tomo is in ChatGPT
Tomo is also a ChatGPT plugin: the same playable courses, built and played inside your chat.
Add Tomo to ChatGPT- What to ask
- “Make me a Tomo course on black holes.” “Turn this chat into a Tomo course.”
- What you get
- Quick questions with instant feedback, hearts and stars, ready to play in about a minute.
- Where it goes
- No sign-up to start. Connect your Tomo account and your streak carries on in the app.
You pick the voice
How Businesses Actually Work is taught in the Professor style: clear, structured, thorough. Want a different feel? In the app you can spin up the same topic in any of Tomo's teaching styles. Same facts, totally different vibe.
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Start How Businesses Actually Work today.
Download Tomo, search How Businesses Actually Work, and play your first lesson in under a minute.