This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Talk to a qualified professional about your situation.
An agency or consultancy can usually license how it works: proposals, playbooks, project plans, retrospectives and internal communication. What it made for clients, and what clients shared under NDA, depends on each contract, and many contracts assign deliverables to the client. Mercor lists professional services among the industries it takes data from, and micro1 names SOPs and project histories among the records it licenses.
Records and how they are usually treated
| Records | Usually | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Client deliverables assigned to the client | Exclude | The client owns them under the contract |
| Material clients shared under NDA | Exclude | Confidentiality obligations |
| Proposals, pitches and statements of work | Often possible, scrubbed | Your work product; client names and pricing may be confidential |
| Playbooks, templates, training and methods | Often possible | Your own know-how |
| Project management history (Asana, Jira, Monday) | Possible, after review | Task text can quote client material |
| Internal email and chat | Possible, after review | De-identification by the buyer; scrub client specifics |
| Time tracking and resourcing data | Possible | Operations data |
Before you apply
- Group clients by contract terms: which ones assign work product, which ones have broad confidentiality, which have neither.
- Exclude whole client workspaces where the contract is restrictive; it is easier than redacting documents one by one.
- Keep only what you need. The FTC’s guidance for businesses is to keep only what you need and properly dispose of the rest; a licence is a good moment to clean up old personal data.
- Write exclusions into the licence. Nyne, for example, lets companies exclude categories of data.
Which buyers take this industry
| Buyer and program | Industry rule | Company minimums | Operating or closed |
|---|---|---|---|
| micro1: Enterprise Data Partnership | No industry limit in the buyer’s published rules | 30+ full-time employees and substantial historical data; several years of records across systems is a stronger fit. No fixed minimum file count or size. | Both. Operating companies apply to the Enterprise Data Partnership; companies no longer operating apply to the Defunct Company Data Partnership. |
| micro1: Defunct Company Data Partnership | No industry limit in the buyer’s published rules | 30+ full-time employees and substantial historical data; several years of records across systems is a stronger fit. No fixed minimum file count or size. | Both. Operating companies apply to the Enterprise Data Partnership; companies no longer operating apply to the Defunct Company Data Partnership. |
| Nyne: Company data licensing | No industry limit in the buyer’s published rules | 20+ full-time US W-2 employees and 3+ years in business, plus a decision maker who can approve the licence | Operating companies only |
| Mode: Company data partnership | No industry limit in the buyer’s published rules | 10+ employees for legal; 15+ for accounting, medical and finance; 50+ for all other businesses. Several years of records you own make a stronger fit. | Not stated. Mode says businesses and nonprofits can qualify. |
| Mercor: Enterprise data | Buyer lists this industry | Not stated. Names target industries: legal, healthcare, finance and insurance, professional services, manufacturing, retail, real estate, logistics. | Not stated |
| Troveo: Business data licensing | No industry limit in the buyer’s published rules | Not stated | Not stated |
Questions people ask
Do we own the deliverables we made for clients?
It depends on each contract. Many agency and consulting agreements assign deliverables and work product to the client on payment, and NDAs cover what the client shared with you. Check the IP and confidentiality clauses before any client work is included.
What do buyers want from an agency?
Records of how work gets done: briefs, proposals, project plans, feedback rounds, retrospectives and the communication around them. micro1 names SOPs and project histories; Mercor names professional services among its industries.