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Yev from Backblaze here -> Jack that's interesting insight, thanks! What's funny is that I was the main driver internally for tone and the process as a whole. W

by atYevP 7y ago

Yev from Backblaze here -> Jack that's interesting insight, thanks! What's funny is that I was the main driver internally for tone and the process as a whole. We definitely had some intense conversations about the "band-aid" approach where we'd announce and raise shortly thereafter, and the approach we took which was a bit more measured. In the end, I think we spent a lot of time making sure that we were taking care of the customers, but you're right, our tone in certain communications did come off as a bit apologetic. The truth is we'd never done it before, so we weren't really sure what the reaction would have been - so we erred on the side of caution. Now that we have data points, if we ever need to do this again we'd likely still take an open, honest, but maybe more blunt approach. Tough to say though because I try to default to default to empathy, which means my takes are usually softer. Those conversations are some that didn't quite make it to the blog post, but finding the right balance for us was an interesting process!

jackcodes 7y ago
This is new to me too, so I can’t take any expert high-ground here as I’ve never had to do one either. From that perspective I’m glad that you wrote the blog post as I’ve learned a few things from it. But as a customer I can say that you have a really good reliable service, and one that I’ve shopped around for. You’re effectively my only point of failure for personal artefacts and one of only a couple for anything work related. I do implicitly have an immense amount of trust in your product and let’s be honest, you aren’t charging all that much for it. This is to say if you were to take the more direct and blunt approach next time I absolutely wouldn’t hold it against you - in fact I’d say you don’t need to devote so much sweat into something that is just another fact of life. Costs go up, I’ll get over it, so don’t worry more than you need to. I can tell your heart is in the right place though which gives me confidence and thanks for your response too!
caseysoftware 7y ago
Fundamentally, your customers want you to make money because when you do, you stay in business and stay happy, healthy, and able to hire great people and innovate. Please don't apologize (much) or be timid about applying changes that protect the service, customer experience, and business as a whole.
- el_dev_hell 7y ago
  Theoretcally, that's 100% true. Realistically, a large pool of users don't think about the long-term viability of a business (all they want is the world for $22 per month).
  - Kye 7y ago
    That's quite a bit for this world. How about $1 for a nice island?
- scarface74 7y ago
  Unfortunately, in today’s world and even right here on HN, the emphasis on growth and valuation and ignoring profitability. I’m glad to see any company whose business model is to charge enough for a product to (hopefully) be profitable.
  - atYevP 7y ago
    Yev here -> we HAVE to be cash-flow positive since we're not VC-funded. When we started the company it was bootstrapped, so "making enough money to survive" has always been a part of the equation!
    - scarface74 7y ago
      That's good to hear... But that means you are an unhip "lifestyle business" and obviously if you're profitable, you must be doing something wrong. How do you ever expect to have an enormous exit and make your investors rich?
      - atYevP 7y ago
        Yev here -> Ah, that's a very good question. Staying in business > being hip in most cases ;-) The nice thing about being bootstrapped is that we don't have that many investors, and they're chill with just seeing how this goes. We actually do have on "traditional VC" that invested, but they are very relaxed about the whole thing and don't have a board seat, just an observer role - so they're like, if you eventually are profitable enough, just pay us back at some multiplayer and we're good - otherwise we'll wait for an exit. Nice folks! :D
mikeash 7y ago
The big thing that sets you apart is how open you are about stuff like this. Don’t feel bad for doing it like this!
abraae 7y ago
I'd agree with Jack as well, prices do go up,I don't know that you need to fret so much over it (though certainly it's better than just chucking out out there, which is what 90% of companies do, accompanied by some thin BS justifying it that doesn't ring true). But that said, Backblaze clearly has a strong culture of communication and engagement work their customers, and that really is the path to success. So if being overly sensitive about price increases is an unavoidable aspect of that culture - then keep doing what you're doing.
- jjeaff 7y ago
  Prices do go up. But not usually when it comes to storage and hosting. Those prices do tend to fall.
- scarface74 7y ago
  As a counter example, see all the people who complain every time Netflix raises prices.
abtinf 7y ago
FYI, the price needs to be updated in the text of this page: https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665398-Backing-up-External-Hard-Drives https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665398-Backi...
- atYevP 7y ago
  Yev here - wow, good eye! I'll get it fixed! *Edit -> interestingly, that $5 is there to make a point and isn't really talking about prices, but I changed the text to say "for one license" - which still works. Good catch!
gigatexal 7y ago
When Google’s GSuite moved from 5 bucks to 6 bucks they just sent an email and it took affect the next month. Being confident in the value you offer and raising prices without groveling shows confidence. I stayed with gsuite and disk time think anything of it. You guys offer a great service. Don’t be afraid to charge fair prices.
Phylter 7y ago
Looking at the kind of kick back services like Netflix get I can see why you would want to be so sensitive. In my opinion, empathy is a good approach. Business customers will understand with a brief but direct communication but some home users might respond better to empathy. I’m sure there is a balance to be found there somewhere.

by atYevP 7y ago

jackcodes 7y ago

This is new to me too, so I can’t take any expert high-ground here as I’ve never had to do one either. From that perspective I’m glad that you wrote the blog post as I’ve learned a few things from it. But as a customer I can say that you have a really good reliable service, and one that I’ve shopped around for. You’re effectively my only point of failure for personal artefacts and one of only a couple for anything work related. I do implicitly have an immense amount of trust in your product and let’s be honest, you aren’t charging all that much for it. This is to say if you were to take the more direct and blunt approach next time I absolutely wouldn’t hold it against you - in fact I’d say you don’t need to devote so much sweat into something that is just another fact of life. Costs go up, I’ll get over it, so don’t worry more than you need to. I can tell your heart is in the right place though which gives me confidence and thanks for your response too!

caseysoftware 7y ago

Fundamentally, your customers want you to make money because when you do, you stay in business and stay happy, healthy, and able to hire great people and innovate. Please don't apologize (much) or be timid about applying changes that protect the service, customer experience, and business as a whole.

el_dev_hell 7y ago
Theoretcally, that's 100% true. Realistically, a large pool of users don't think about the long-term viability of a business (all they want is the world for $22 per month).
- Kye 7y ago
  That's quite a bit for this world. How about $1 for a nice island?
scarface74 7y ago
Unfortunately, in today’s world and even right here on HN, the emphasis on growth and valuation and ignoring profitability. I’m glad to see any company whose business model is to charge enough for a product to (hopefully) be profitable.
- atYevP 7y ago
  Yev here -> we HAVE to be cash-flow positive since we're not VC-funded. When we started the company it was bootstrapped, so "making enough money to survive" has always been a part of the equation!
  - scarface74 7y ago
    That's good to hear... But that means you are an unhip "lifestyle business" and obviously if you're profitable, you must be doing something wrong. How do you ever expect to have an enormous exit and make your investors rich?
    - atYevP 7y ago
      Yev here -> Ah, that's a very good question. Staying in business > being hip in most cases ;-) The nice thing about being bootstrapped is that we don't have that many investors, and they're chill with just seeing how this goes. We actually do have on "traditional VC" that invested, but they are very relaxed about the whole thing and don't have a board seat, just an observer role - so they're like, if you eventually are profitable enough, just pay us back at some multiplayer and we're good - otherwise we'll wait for an exit. Nice folks! :D

mikeash 7y ago

The big thing that sets you apart is how open you are about stuff like this. Don’t feel bad for doing it like this!

abraae 7y ago

I'd agree with Jack as well, prices do go up,I don't know that you need to fret so much over it (though certainly it's better than just chucking out out there, which is what 90% of companies do, accompanied by some thin BS justifying it that doesn't ring true). But that said, Backblaze clearly has a strong culture of communication and engagement work their customers, and that really is the path to success. So if being overly sensitive about price increases is an unavoidable aspect of that culture - then keep doing what you're doing.

jjeaff 7y ago
Prices do go up. But not usually when it comes to storage and hosting. Those prices do tend to fall.
scarface74 7y ago
As a counter example, see all the people who complain every time Netflix raises prices.

abtinf 7y ago

FYI, the price needs to be updated in the text of this page: https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665398-Backing-up-External-Hard-Drives https://help.backblaze.com/hc/en-us/articles/217665398-Backi...

atYevP 7y ago
Yev here - wow, good eye! I'll get it fixed! *Edit -> interestingly, that $5 is there to make a point and isn't really talking about prices, but I changed the text to say "for one license" - which still works. Good catch!

gigatexal 7y ago

When Google’s GSuite moved from 5 bucks to 6 bucks they just sent an email and it took affect the next month. Being confident in the value you offer and raising prices without groveling shows confidence. I stayed with gsuite and disk time think anything of it. You guys offer a great service. Don’t be afraid to charge fair prices.

Phylter 7y ago

Looking at the kind of kick back services like Netflix get I can see why you would want to be so sensitive. In my opinion, empathy is a good approach. Business customers will understand with a brief but direct communication but some home users might respond better to empathy. I’m sure there is a balance to be found there somewhere.