Your Product is Going to Fail if you Don’t Ask Users to Pay

http://whatspinksthinks.com/2013/11/18/your-product-is-bullshit-and-youre-going-to-fail-if-you-dont-ask-users-to-pay/

by davidspinks • 13 years ago

19 25 13 years ago

selmnoo• 13 years ago

If you EVER plan on charging for your product you have to ask for money NOW

There are actually a lot of good reasons to wait before you start charging. Like, getting situated, getting everything working, working out the kinks, evaluating possible monetization models, etc. etc.

The second one usually refers to media companies and massive networks like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram etc. If you’re the next Twitter, Techcrunch, Facebook or Instagram then kudos. For the other 99.99999% of you who fall in the first group with the rest of us, if you haven’t asked your users to pay yet, then your startup is completely bullshit until you do.

Uhh, no. A lot of companies can work on this model. And do so. The examples are numerous.

And, what is it with this condescending style of writing? If the content of the article wasn't full of reductive, hand-wavy half-baked ideas, the arrogance in that entire piece would be forgivable. But that's not the situation it looks like.

davidspinks10• 13 years ago

"Like, getting situated, getting everything working, working out the kinks, evaluating possible monetization models, etc. etc."

What does getting situated mean? Working out what kinks? People aren't paying for your product they're paying for what they believe your product to be. Kinks don't matter.

"Uhh, no. A lot of companies can work on this model. And do so. The examples are numerous."

Lets hear them.

"And, what is it with this condescending style of writing? If the content of the article wasn't full of reductive, hand-wavy half-baked ideas, the arrogance in that entire piece would be forgivable. But that's not the situation it looks like."

Sounds a lot like your feedback.

st0neage3• 13 years ago

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.

freehunter3• 13 years ago

Why not put out an MVP for free (beta testing, so to speak), then once your product is feature-complete, start charging for it?

Kinks matter if they make your product unsalable.

vernie• 13 years ago

Is there a Marketer News for these posts?

davidspinks10• 13 years ago

How is this marketing? It's about validating an idea to make sure you're building the right thing.

chc• 13 years ago

Starting and growing businesses is very much within the scope of Hacker News.

basicallydan2• 13 years ago

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"?

davidspinks10• 13 years ago

"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.

basicallydan2• 13 years ago

Hah, typo! I meant, "charging" not "paying".

pearjuice• 13 years ago

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.

davidspinks10• 13 years ago

So you disagree with what the post is saying?

freehunter3• 13 years ago

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.

mvkel• 13 years ago

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.

davidspinks10• 13 years ago

"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.

Your Product is Going to Fail if you Don’t Ask Users to Pay

Related Stories