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Good for him! That's my experience with open-source software as well, if something is free, companies will almost never pay for it even if they get a ton of val

Good for him! That's my experience with open-source software as well, if something is free, companies will almost never pay for it even if they get a ton of value out of it. On the other hand, if it's only a small amount e.g. 1,000 USD per year most companies let developers purchase that without much paperwork, so for these kind of tools such pricing is a sweetspot. If you go into enterprise sales territory things become way more complex and your sales cycles longer. For a solo founder that doesn't need to hyperscale this pricing scheme seems perfect.

alex_suzuki 3y ago
Agree. Developers seriously underestimate the amount of paperwork and organizational gymnastics larger companies require to buy literally anything. They won't be not buying your product because it's too expensive, but because it's just too much of a hassle. At that point, price is less of a factor than some people think.
- haolez 3y ago
  Does marketplaces like the one at AWS help with that? I can pay with my AWS billing account. Sounds like another type of sweet spot.
  - playingalong 3y ago
    In principle that should work great. In practice I don't think it's working. Not sure why.
  - playingalong 3y ago
    In principle that should work great. In practice I don't think it's working. Not sure why.
  - Valien 3y ago
    It can help for sure. Especially if a company has an EDP or PPA with Amazon. The process to become an ISV on AWS takes a bit of work though.
    - StackRanker3000 3y ago
      Sorry, could you/someone please help with these acronyms?
      - throwaway11460 3y ago
        Independent software vendor
        StackRanker3000 3y ago
        Thanks! After a quick search, EDP seems to stand for Enterprise Discount Program, and PPA means Private Pricing Addendum.
- eschneider 3y ago
  This is a big reason why enterprise software pricing is the way it is.
- dzikimarian 3y ago
  Also if it's $1000/year (or even better per version) flat and really useful it's actually kinda easy to get green light. If it's $5/user/month, with 3 plans, with add-ons and it's unclear how many people you have to on board (just devs? Maybe business too? Does security team need access?) it's much harder discussion as nobody knows final cost (apart from the fact that we're not gonna like it in the long run).
  - HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
    One of the best versions I saw of this was for an IoT server product. Free for 10 devices or less. Flat fee of $1,000/month for 11+ They made it very clear that they only really cared about enterprise customers.

alex_suzuki 3y ago

Agree. Developers seriously underestimate the amount of paperwork and organizational gymnastics larger companies require to buy literally anything. They won't be not buying your product because it's too expensive, but because it's just too much of a hassle. At that point, price is less of a factor than some people think.

haolez 3y ago
Does marketplaces like the one at AWS help with that? I can pay with my AWS billing account. Sounds like another type of sweet spot.
- playingalong 3y ago
  In principle that should work great. In practice I don't think it's working. Not sure why.
- playingalong 3y ago
  In principle that should work great. In practice I don't think it's working. Not sure why.
- Valien 3y ago
  It can help for sure. Especially if a company has an EDP or PPA with Amazon. The process to become an ISV on AWS takes a bit of work though.
  - StackRanker3000 3y ago
    Sorry, could you/someone please help with these acronyms?
    - throwaway11460 3y ago
      Independent software vendor
      - StackRanker3000 3y ago
        Thanks! After a quick search, EDP seems to stand for Enterprise Discount Program, and PPA means Private Pricing Addendum.
eschneider 3y ago
This is a big reason why enterprise software pricing is the way it is.
dzikimarian 3y ago
Also if it's $1000/year (or even better per version) flat and really useful it's actually kinda easy to get green light. If it's $5/user/month, with 3 plans, with add-ons and it's unclear how many people you have to on board (just devs? Maybe business too? Does security team need access?) it's much harder discussion as nobody knows final cost (apart from the fact that we're not gonna like it in the long run).
- HeyLaughingBoy 3y ago
  One of the best versions I saw of this was for an IoT server product. Free for 10 devices or less. Flat fee of $1,000/month for 11+ They made it very clear that they only really cared about enterprise customers.