Lessons from Going Freemium: A Decision That Broke Our Business
Visit LinkBobby Pinero discusses how introducing a freemium tier at Equals led to a spike in sign-ups but damaged engagement and revenue. He walks through the misalignments in onboarding, value delivery, and support strain, offering five concrete lessons for anyone considering freemium models. Cautionary and highly actionable.
More in Business Models
Why Do Investors Care So Much About LTV : CAC?
Jamie Sullivan and Alex Immerman use data from 60+ public tech companies to explain how each turn of the LTV:CAC ratio flows through to margins, reinvestment capacity, and ultimately valuation. A clear, numbers-backed argument for why every startup needs to understand their unit economics.
The Complete Guide to SaaS Pricing Strategy
Tomasz Tunguz explores SaaS pricing models—seat-based, usage-based, and tiered—and how they affect customer retention, lifetime value, and growth potential. The guide includes case studies from Twilio, Snowflake, and HubSpot. A must-read for monetization strategy.
13 Metrics for Marketplace Companies
This post by A16Z outlines the most important KPIs for two-sided marketplaces. Metrics include match rate, take rate, market depth, and concentration of supply. It offers a rigorous diagnostic toolkit for founders, investors, and operators looking to assess or pitch marketplace startups.