5 ms·

didn't help that they called it "Free forever" before taking it away. Lesson learned

by andrenotgiant 11mo ago

ksec 11mo ago
I only remember it was called "Hobby" Plan.
andreybaskov 11mo ago
understandable, but again, "forever" as in heat death of the universe? Sadly there is no such thing as forever either.
- arthurcolle 11mo ago
  Then call it something else
  - samlambert 11mo ago
    we did. we called it the Hobby plan. we never said forever.
    - eskibars 11mo ago
      https://web.archive.org/web/20240124013352/https://planetscale.com/pricing https://web.archive.org/web/20240124013352/https://planetsca... Says "free forever"
      - zzmbnp 11mo ago
        "Hobby Free forever for hobby use" Wow. The guy is a jerk and a liar. The board at PlanetScale needs to get this guy off the internet. He's too much of an asshole to be seen in public. I have no real horse in this race. I know how to manage my own databases, but I do have people asking me about PlanetScale and asking me to use it for certain projects, and I will absolutely never do so now.
    - zenlot 11mo ago
      What are you arguing about? People send you web archive links and you're still stubborn enough to say that it wasn't the case. Shame to even see you here, just shows what kind of company you are from the inside.
    - bomewish 11mo ago
      you answered this after someone just posted the wayback. what gives?
      - zenlot 11mo ago
        Seen previous responses? Also, do you think he doesn't know it?
      - samlambert 11mo ago
        read the timestamps, i did not post it after the wayback.
    - RagnarD 11mo ago
      I'm pretty disinclined to ever use PlanetScale when the CEO is here either ignorant of what his company actually said, or actively gaslighting people.
      - AYBABTME 11mo ago
        I mean, can you picture some marketing copy somewhere on a website saying something you didn't remember? It's not hard to imagine that not every word ever written about a product tier was remembered by the CEO.
        deaux 11mo ago
        What are you even saying? This is the bloody pricing page. If I as the CEO of a SaaS startup don't even know what our pricing page says I should step down. That's our offer, that's the most important page we have. Come on now. Writing "free forever" isn't something some rogue marketing intern does, this is a core positioning decision and something you'd absolutely be part of, if not leading, as the founder.
    - hu3 11mo ago
      note to self: add planetscale to banlist and not-recommended-list of techs
    - samlambert 11mo ago
      correcting this. i've been proven wrong we did say forever.
- tweetle_beetle 11mo ago
  To be fair the CEO is quite comfortable using the word 'forever'. It was used as the title of the announcement to withdraw the Hobby tier and also specifically used to justify it: > We’ve chosen to build a company that can last forever. This is why I have made the decision to prioritize profitability for PlanetScale. https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-forever https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-forever
samlambert 11mo ago
we never said that
- bigyabai 11mo ago
  Hobby Free forever for hobby use
- davedx 11mo ago
  https://web.archive.org/web/20240105211154/https://planetscale.com/pricing https://web.archive.org/web/20240105211154/https://planetsca... > Hobby > Free forever for hobby use
  - samlambert 11mo ago
    wow we did you are right. I am corrected. That's not good.
    - jetpackjoe 11mo ago
      Can you promise the $5 tier isn't going away?
      - samlambert 11mo ago
        for sure. it makes money for us and will lead to more usage. i am stoked we have this.
- darig 11mo ago
  [dead]
- wildrhythms 11mo ago
  This kind of reply is not a good look for you or your company I think
- DetroitThrow 11mo ago
  as much as I question why someone would trust a free "forever" offer, I have a lot more questions about a company that is denying what's in the public record.
eskibars 11mo ago
So as some of my own feelings/thoughts on this: I've also sat on the "receiving side" of a "free forever" campaign now 2 times in my career. The first time driven by the CEO and the second time driven by the marketing team (and supported by the CEO). In both cases, I knew the truth (sitting on the product management side) that there was no sustainable way to have a "free forever" campaign: that there was finite end in both cases on the 2-5 year horizon before we needed to change plans. I advocated against adding the "forever" verbiage knowing this. The first time, I didn't push strongly: it was my mistake. The second time, I pushed strongly and made sure the entire executive team knew that we would be misleading our users. I pointed to the horizon and talked about the problems with "forever" language. I had to push very strongly back on the marketing team to change verbiage and then they silently made updates anyway to add "forever" verbiage. They were eventually fired for this. But what I find concerning here isn't that the "free" tier went away (it almost always must) but that there's denial and push-back in this set of threads about the verbiage. You made a mistake. Own it and apologize for the verbiage you put out there. Don't deny that it was ever there or argue over pedantic details about where/how that verbiage was placed.

didn't help that they called it "Free forever" before taking it away. Lesson learned

ksec 11mo ago

I only remember it was called "Hobby" Plan.

andreybaskov 11mo ago

understandable, but again, "forever" as in heat death of the universe? Sadly there is no such thing as forever either.

arthurcolle 11mo ago
Then call it something else
- samlambert 11mo ago
  we did. we called it the Hobby plan. we never said forever.
  - eskibars 11mo ago
    https://web.archive.org/web/20240124013352/https://planetscale.com/pricing https://web.archive.org/web/20240124013352/https://planetsca... Says "free forever"
    - zzmbnp 11mo ago
      "Hobby Free forever for hobby use" Wow. The guy is a jerk and a liar. The board at PlanetScale needs to get this guy off the internet. He's too much of an asshole to be seen in public. I have no real horse in this race. I know how to manage my own databases, but I do have people asking me about PlanetScale and asking me to use it for certain projects, and I will absolutely never do so now.
  - zenlot 11mo ago
    What are you arguing about? People send you web archive links and you're still stubborn enough to say that it wasn't the case. Shame to even see you here, just shows what kind of company you are from the inside.
  - bomewish 11mo ago
    you answered this after someone just posted the wayback. what gives?
    - zenlot 11mo ago
      Seen previous responses? Also, do you think he doesn't know it?
    - samlambert 11mo ago
      read the timestamps, i did not post it after the wayback.
  - RagnarD 11mo ago
    I'm pretty disinclined to ever use PlanetScale when the CEO is here either ignorant of what his company actually said, or actively gaslighting people.
    - AYBABTME 11mo ago
      I mean, can you picture some marketing copy somewhere on a website saying something you didn't remember? It's not hard to imagine that not every word ever written about a product tier was remembered by the CEO.
      - deaux 11mo ago
        What are you even saying? This is the bloody pricing page. If I as the CEO of a SaaS startup don't even know what our pricing page says I should step down. That's our offer, that's the most important page we have. Come on now. Writing "free forever" isn't something some rogue marketing intern does, this is a core positioning decision and something you'd absolutely be part of, if not leading, as the founder.
  - hu3 11mo ago
    note to self: add planetscale to banlist and not-recommended-list of techs
  - samlambert 11mo ago
    correcting this. i've been proven wrong we did say forever.
tweetle_beetle 11mo ago
To be fair the CEO is quite comfortable using the word 'forever'. It was used as the title of the announcement to withdraw the Hobby tier and also specifically used to justify it: > We’ve chosen to build a company that can last forever. This is why I have made the decision to prioritize profitability for PlanetScale. https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-forever https://planetscale.com/blog/planetscale-forever

samlambert 11mo ago

we never said that

bigyabai 11mo ago
Hobby Free forever for hobby use
davedx 11mo ago
https://web.archive.org/web/20240105211154/https://planetscale.com/pricing https://web.archive.org/web/20240105211154/https://planetsca... > Hobby > Free forever for hobby use
- samlambert 11mo ago
  wow we did you are right. I am corrected. That's not good.
  - jetpackjoe 11mo ago
    Can you promise the $5 tier isn't going away?
    - samlambert 11mo ago
      for sure. it makes money for us and will lead to more usage. i am stoked we have this.
darig 11mo ago
[dead]
wildrhythms 11mo ago
This kind of reply is not a good look for you or your company I think
DetroitThrow 11mo ago
as much as I question why someone would trust a free "forever" offer, I have a lot more questions about a company that is denying what's in the public record.

eskibars 11mo ago

So as some of my own feelings/thoughts on this: I've also sat on the "receiving side" of a "free forever" campaign now 2 times in my career. The first time driven by the CEO and the second time driven by the marketing team (and supported by the CEO). In both cases, I knew the truth (sitting on the product management side) that there was no sustainable way to have a "free forever" campaign: that there was finite end in both cases on the 2-5 year horizon before we needed to change plans. I advocated against adding the "forever" verbiage knowing this. The first time, I didn't push strongly: it was my mistake. The second time, I pushed strongly and made sure the entire executive team knew that we would be misleading our users. I pointed to the horizon and talked about the problems with "forever" language. I had to push very strongly back on the marketing team to change verbiage and then they silently made updates anyway to add "forever" verbiage. They were eventually fired for this. But what I find concerning here isn't that the "free" tier went away (it almost always must) but that there's denial and push-back in this set of threads about the verbiage. You made a mistake. Own it and apologize for the verbiage you put out there. Don't deny that it was ever there or argue over pedantic details about where/how that verbiage was placed.