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Thank you for the honest feedback and the good wishes. Here's why we think our subscription model makes sense: In our evaluation (heliumhq.com/AutomatingGmailW

Thank you for the honest feedback and the good wishes. Here's why we think our subscription model makes sense: In our evaluation (heliumhq.com/AutomatingGmailWithHelium.pdf), developing a script with Helium took 75% less effort (man-days) and 66% less code than a script written in pure Selenium. The average developer salary in the US in 2010 was $90k a year(http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/software-developer/salary http://money.usnews.com/careers/best-jobs/software-developer...). Say this developer works 260 days a year, so makes roughly $350 a day. If it doesn't take him 75%, but only 25% less effort to write and maintain some web automation code, then each day of him working with Helium saves the company $87.5. This means that after about 11 working days, using Helium will have paid off, leaving potentially 249 more days in the year during which to reap Helium's benefits.

hyp0 13y ago
Most developers aren't scripting web interaction fulltime. This gives you a target: in which businesses are they doing lots of it? Have some copy on your website that speaks to the managers of those specific businesses - since they are the ones who decide and pay for it. The scenario plays out: developer is sick of testing, hears about Helium, tries it, it works great, he badgers his boss to buy it, boss looks at website, says this is fantastic, let's buy 100, he goes to the next tier of management for approval, and has all the answers for their concerns.
- mherrmann 13y ago
  Very valid points. Especially the barrier that the developer is not the one who makes the purchase decision is one we have already encountered in a previous product.
oblio 13y ago
I'm not a entrepreneur, but from everything I've seen in products I bought or wanted to buy, the personal edition/regular edition, the price was almost always kept under $100. It makes purchases far more likely. Make the license "floating" as you said in another post and reduce the cost to $99. Then make a professional edition (extra features) and an enterprise/volume discount edition (no necessarily extra features but can buy in bulk for reduced overall cost). Similar to what people like Atlassian or Jetbrains are doing, basically ;) (also kudos for the starter license addition, the "social" license - nice touch)

hyp0 13y ago

Most developers aren't scripting web interaction fulltime. This gives you a target: in which businesses are they doing lots of it? Have some copy on your website that speaks to the managers of those specific businesses - since they are the ones who decide and pay for it. The scenario plays out: developer is sick of testing, hears about Helium, tries it, it works great, he badgers his boss to buy it, boss looks at website, says this is fantastic, let's buy 100, he goes to the next tier of management for approval, and has all the answers for their concerns.

mherrmann 13y ago
Very valid points. Especially the barrier that the developer is not the one who makes the purchase decision is one we have already encountered in a previous product.

oblio 13y ago

I'm not a entrepreneur, but from everything I've seen in products I bought or wanted to buy, the personal edition/regular edition, the price was almost always kept under $100. It makes purchases far more likely. Make the license "floating" as you said in another post and reduce the cost to $99. Then make a professional edition (extra features) and an enterprise/volume discount edition (no necessarily extra features but can buy in bulk for reduced overall cost). Similar to what people like Atlassian or Jetbrains are doing, basically ;) (also kudos for the starter license addition, the "social" license - nice touch)