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Imagine a piece of software that had fully recouped it's R&D budget, had minimal support costs, and was sold for a modest profit suddenly went up 100x in price.
by cptskippy 7y ago
Imagine a piece of software that had fully recouped it's R&D budget, had minimal support costs, and was sold for a modest profit suddenly went up 100x in price.
- tptacek 7y agoThis happens all the time. You don't notice it because you're not directly billed for it, but basically the central theme of the startup playbook is to subsidize growth, acquire a userbase, and then (and only then) monetize the hell out if it.
- cptskippy 7y agoWhat you're describing is the early cycle of a Drug before R&D is recouped. We're talking late stage after all the initial VCs have recovered their investment 10x and divested themselves. We're not talking about Uber after successfully running Taxis out of business jacking up prices. We're talking about 25-30 years later after Uber has been the de-facto transportation provider suddenly decides to do a 1000x price increase.
- tptacek 7y agoI'm responding to (really, refuting) a specific argument you made upthread. You can now make a different argument, if you like, but I won't necessarily have much to say about it.
- ummonk 7y agoA lot of startup products go from free to monetized (an infinity x increase in price) at some point.
- cptskippy 7y agoWe're talking about a drug that's going on 50 years on the market, not a startup. The drug has already been monetized and paid for itself 100x times over.
- manigandham 7y agoNothing wrong with going until 200x. Cost != affordability. It's a misdirection of the real issues with the medical industry.