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2004 - "There's no software priced between $1000 and $75,000. I'll tell you why. The minute you charge more than $1000 you need to get serious corporate signoff

by netcan 14y ago

2004 - "There's no software priced between $1000 and $75,000. I'll tell you why. The minute you charge more than $1000 you need to get serious corporate signoffs." http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckies.html http://www.joelonsoftware.com/articles/CamelsandRubberDuckie... It amazing how the payment/delivery medium sets prices in software. There are a lot of SASS products where a substantial number of customers pay that much. Apple's App store opening the $1 end of the spectrum is another great example.

manuelflara 14y ago
Definitely. SaaS can be ridiculously profitable if you provide enough value that customers stay with you for a long time. I wouldn't have paid "$100 for life" when I signed up to Basecamp, but I picked the (old) $12/mo plan. Considering I've been happily using it for 6 years, I've spent close to a thousand dollars already. Pretty crazy.
- jaggederest 14y ago
  Maybe I'm crazy, but when I see people offering a service for a fixed lifetime subscription, I buy the hell out of it. Like guaranteees on car batteries and mufflers, it's usually a bad deal for the person providing it, with the proviso that you remember to use it.
  - lutusp 14y ago
    Consider this -- if they're offering it and they've been in business more than 15 minutes, it must be to their advantage and not yours. It's like electronic extended warranties and service plans -- retailers offer them because they're money machines.
    - niggler 14y ago
      S/minutes/months/. Early on the prices might be at-current-cost or even a slight loss (to gain traction) and then creep later on.
    - manuelflara 14y ago
      Not necessarily. Sometimes they just need the cash now. Think about the famous American Airlines lifetime tickets: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/05/business/la-fi-0506-golden-ticket-20120506 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/05/business/la-fi-0506-...
    - corry 14y ago
      This is true, but for most startups the 'advantage' is that cash now is much more valuable than cash later (since it can be plowed back into growth). It's not that it's more profitable for us to strike sweetheart lifetime deals (it's actually less profitable overall), but by having the money up-front we can grow more quickly. My $0.02

by netcan 14y ago

manuelflara 14y ago

Definitely. SaaS can be ridiculously profitable if you provide enough value that customers stay with you for a long time. I wouldn't have paid "$100 for life" when I signed up to Basecamp, but I picked the (old) $12/mo plan. Considering I've been happily using it for 6 years, I've spent close to a thousand dollars already. Pretty crazy.

jaggederest 14y ago
Maybe I'm crazy, but when I see people offering a service for a fixed lifetime subscription, I buy the hell out of it. Like guaranteees on car batteries and mufflers, it's usually a bad deal for the person providing it, with the proviso that you remember to use it.
- lutusp 14y ago
  Consider this -- if they're offering it and they've been in business more than 15 minutes, it must be to their advantage and not yours. It's like electronic extended warranties and service plans -- retailers offer them because they're money machines.
  - niggler 14y ago
    S/minutes/months/. Early on the prices might be at-current-cost or even a slight loss (to gain traction) and then creep later on.
  - manuelflara 14y ago
    Not necessarily. Sometimes they just need the cash now. Think about the famous American Airlines lifetime tickets: http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/05/business/la-fi-0506-golden-ticket-20120506 http://articles.latimes.com/2012/may/05/business/la-fi-0506-...
  - corry 14y ago
    This is true, but for most startups the 'advantage' is that cash now is much more valuable than cash later (since it can be plowed back into growth). It's not that it's more profitable for us to strike sweetheart lifetime deals (it's actually less profitable overall), but by having the money up-front we can grow more quickly. My $0.02