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That's a really good question ... In terms of product / tech-stack I don't think I would change anything. In terms of marketing and word of mouth I think we s
by rsync 6y ago
That's a really good question ...
In terms of product / tech-stack I don't think I would change anything.
In terms of marketing and word of mouth I think we should have given away hundreds of free accounts in the early years (2006-2010) rather than trying to chase them down as paying customers. I believe we had a lot of decent word of mouth but I don't think I appreciated the power of influencers and their ability to amplify a message.
As for business decisions, I continue to wonder how much business we miss due to not having a Canadian location and we have considered deploying in Montreal for years now but have not pulled the trigger. I don't know if a Canadian location (but still a US company) solves the regulatory requirements of Canadian customers.
- srhngpr 6y agoA Canadian location does solve the regulatory requirements of Canadian customers. Even federal government agencies in Canada no longer have issues using US-based hyperscalers (e.g., AWS, Azure, GCP) that have Canadian datacenters.
- ksec 6y ago>but have not pulled the trigger. Is this a ( lack of ) capital issue or simply an uncertain sustainable revenue stream issue?
- bombcar 6y agoI think giving away free accounts as a targeted marketing campaign (think - free accounts for the ZFS developers) can be worthwhile - but trying to have a free plan whilst offering the level of support that makes it worth paying for can end up being an exercise in futility. Even though I love free plans I think it’s better for small startups to grow organically with “cheap and easy to cancel” instead. Or offer credits for new users.