Day 2 | web2.0 EXPO | A Dashboard for Freemium Providers: What to Measure–and How
Summary:
I have to be honest with you, I really wasn’t too interested in metrics for Freemium businesses. And most of the attendees were in that side of the business. It was a huge room with a small number of attendees, but every person was on the edge of their seats. You could tell that they wanted to know exactly what turn over rate or conversion rate would work in order to see some profit, and if he/she should quit their full time gig and launch a Freemium. Or at least that’s what I was thinking in my head.
It was amusing to hear Ranjith talk about users and how he predicts them acting, because I’m that user. The Freemium idea is so fascinating. YouSendit established it’s users, then finally started charging. The key was that if you were going to give it away for free, identify how long you can make that happen without user happiness falling with minimal customer support. Then as users begin to see the functionality, offer better services for a marginal price.
Here is what I thought when I walked away:
- Ranjith had all the technical details down for YouSendIt to succeed, he just had no idea the management that went along with it. Customer service, Marketing, Staffing, Partnership, Pricing, Credit Card relationships, etc
- People in the audience wanted to duplicate exactly what YouSendIt did, you can’t. Every experience is going to be different. It’s like the study of economics, you can theorize and debate it all you want. Until the time comes, the market will make its own decision even if past circumstances dictate something completely different.
- NETWORK, Everyone there wanted to learn from Ranjith, and to my suprise he wanted to learn from them. The entrepeunerial spirit was really alive in the room, but you could also tell the high level of stress that was in the air
Q&A
How close do you predict P&L each quarter or year?
We are pretty much spot on each year which is a blessing and a curse. A blessing in that we know how our users exist with our product throughout a fiscal year and make sure we dont over extend ourselves in certain sectors, a curse in that we are trying to go public and people always want too see more $.