What the hell are programs

Feb 10, 2026 — Riggs#5233

Think of programs as a course of events for the students. Example, Raid readiness program which will have 4-5 events commensing over the month. Maybe 1 event every week based on the Sherpa availability.

Programs are essentially recurring cohort-based program with escrow-like payment protection so neither students nor Sherpas can game the system.

Program as Course of Events

Program as a Course of Events (Single Month)

Raid Readiness Program (February) ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ ┌────────────┐ │ Week 1 │→ │ Week 2 │→ │ Week 3 │→ │ Week 4 │ │ Event #1 │ │ Event #2 │ │ Event #3 │ │ Event #4 │ └────────────┘ └────────────┘ └────────────┘ └────────────┘ Students join at Event #1 ↓ Automatically invited to all future events

If a Sherpa has a raid readiness program commensing over the 4 weeks of Feburary. There are 1 event every week. Bunch of students join the first session and are invited to join all the sessions.

Now imagine if 1st week goes by and the first session was succesful and a new student comes along saying i want to join raid readiness program. Sherpa can create extra events in the Program for these special students.

Late Joiners

Late Joiners & Catch-Up Sessions

February Program (Midway) Week 1 ✔ Completed Week 2 ▶ Ongoing Week 3 ○ Upcoming Week 4 ○ Upcoming New Student Joins │ ├─ Automatically enrolled in: │ • Week 3 │ • Week 4 │ └─ Optional (Sherpa-created) Catch-Up Session

What happens when the Program happening in Feburary ends? So now the Sherpa will create the events again in this program for March based on their availability. Then invite new group of players to take this program.

In this way, a program will keep on repeating it self over months based on the availablity of the Sherpa. So essentially, Programs encourgae and enforce pre-commitment of the sessions that will happen.

Program Repeats Monthly

Program Repeats Monthly (New Cohort Each Time)

Raid Readiness Program │ ├── February Cohort │ ├─ Week 1 Event │ ├─ Week 2 Event │ ├─ Week 3 Event │ └─ Week 4 Event │ ├── March Cohort │ ├─ Week 1 Event │ ├─ Week 2 Event │ ├─ Week 3 Event │ └─ Week 4 Event │ └── April Cohort ├─ Week 1 Event ├─ Week 2 Event ├─ Week 3 Event └─ Week 4 Event

What if I paid for a Program (lets say $150) and then first 2 sessions happen succesfully but the last two sessions doesn't happen? In this case you can get a full refund based on the refund and payment policy of the Program.

Also its upto the Sherpa to set how the pricing works, they could charge per session. They could charge for all sessions before the first session. They could charge for all sessions at the last session.

Now, there will be Sherpa who keeps on delaying the last session and run away with the funds you paid at the beggining of the session. We will make sure only one or twice the session can be rescheduled. After that, it can't be and they must cancel and refund if they can't host the session.

Escrow & Completion-Based Payout

Rules enforced by the system:

• Max 1–2 reschedules allowed • Sherpa cancellation → automatic refund • No refund for student no-shows • Completion = final event successfully hosted

Now the question is, when will the Sherpa get the money for the Program? Because imagine if Sherpa charge $150 at the start of the program. Then the program last 1 month, but the first event happens week 1, and they paid for the first event. Then we can't give Sherpa the first event funds as they could easily run away.

Escrow & Completion-Based Payout

Escrow + Completion-Based Payment Release

Student joins Program │ ▼ Student commits to all sessions Payment authorized ($150) │ ▼ Funds locked in escrow 🔒 │ ├─ Event #1 ✔ Hosted ├─ Event #2 ✔ Hosted ├─ Event #3 ✔ Hosted └─ Event #4 ✔ Hosted │ ▼ Program completed │ ▼ Funds released to Sherpa 💰

Students signup for all 4 events (last one will be paid) and the Sherpa gets their guaranteed payout when last event ends, and with a no refund policy we protect the Sherpa such that even if a student don't show up to the last session and they took the first 3 Sherpa still gets paid.