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I have a hard time taking provocative titles and harshly written articles like these serious. Especially when the author has no real, credible experience building sustainable businesses.
So you disagree with what the post is saying?
Earlier quoted context omitted.
I think what you're missing is that there are very different kinds of startup. There is the high stakes "next facebook or bust" kind, where it makes a lot of sense to first grow a userbase, get a lot of investors to pay you and take it from there. And then there's the "we are starting a business" kind of startup you seem to be talking about. And a lot in between.
Any examples?
Though referral/affiliate models are uncommon they challenge the statement about "Two kinds of companies".
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Any examples?
Zenefits is a licensed insurance broker it's free for users, they collect a referral fee from insurance companies. Since it's online they're sustainable from broker fees alone and don't charge users. I think some travel startups also work on a commission model for hotels + flights. Hipmunk etc... Though referral/affiliate models are uncommon they challenge the statement about "Two kinds of companies".
It's very naive and silly to make blanket statements like this. Charging immediately just because you're "supposed to" is just as bad a strategy as not charging because you're "supposed to." Some business models are "get as many users as possible, get acquired, and live as a loss leader for a larger organization" and that's perfectly fine.
I agree, and address that in the article.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
So you disagree with what the post is saying?
I think you may be a little too active in your own post's discussion. You don't need to reply to every comment, especially if all you're going to do is argue and shut down any critical debate.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Zenefits is a licensed insurance broker it's free for users, they collect a referral fee from insurance companies. Since it's online they're sustainable from broker fees alone and don't charge users. I think some travel startups also work on a commission model for hotels + flights. Hipmunk etc... Though referral/affiliate models are uncommon they challenge the statement about "Two kinds of companies".
Yea that's a good point...though one could argue that they're still selling a product, the insurance. But yea this model may require a different approach.
Though, there's services like pricegeek that crawl Ebay graphing the better deals. They piggyback of Ebay's existing affiliate model. They never solicit anything from the customer, nor does backlinking alter the price of the item. I guess the utility is of an 'aggregator', that makes decently priced items for more accessible.
My main point was that 'Your Product is Going to Fail if you Don’t Ask Users to Pay' seemed a little overtly broad.
Earlier quoted context omitted.
Yea that's a good point...though one could argue that they're still selling a product, the insurance. But yea this model may require a different approach.
I guess it's a little semantic at this point. Though, there's services like pricegeek that crawl Ebay graphing the better deals. They piggyback of Ebay's existing affiliate model. They never solicit anything from the customer, nor does backlinking alter the price of the item. I guess the utility is of an 'aggregator', that makes decently priced items for more accessible. My main point was that 'Your Product is Going…
I see what you're getting at, but your language may have been a little bit too hard-hitting. Shall we at least agree on the idea that "maybe some products should not be free and the creators should consider paying for them"?
"maybe some products should not be free and the creators should consider paying for them"? Not sure what you mean by the creators should consider paying for them.