Rob Walling

And if you go over that number, then it's not free anymore, but it's not a time-based free trial. So freemium should have not many paid conversions. That's kind of how it works. You know, Dropbox brags or bragged back in the day about we get all these signups and 3% convert to paid after a year. So I would call that not many paid conversions for a year, a year, get 3%.

And if you go over that number, then it's not free anymore, but it's not a time-based free trial. So freemium should have not many paid conversions. That's kind of how it works. You know, Dropbox brags or bragged back in the day about we get all these signups and 3% convert to paid after a year. So I would call that not many paid conversions for a year, a year, get 3%.

This is why freemium, it's not a never for bootstrappers. It's a by default, don't do it. What do you do if there are many free signups and not many paid conversions? Don't do freemium. Listen to this podcast and in general, don't do freemium. Now, are there bootstrap, mostly bootstrap founders who are making freemium work? There are. There are a few, right? Ruben Gomez is the famous example.

This is why freemium, it's not a never for bootstrappers. It's a by default, don't do it. What do you do if there are many free signups and not many paid conversions? Don't do freemium. Listen to this podcast and in general, don't do freemium. Now, are there bootstrap, mostly bootstrap founders who are making freemium work? There are. There are a few, right? Ruben Gomez is the famous example.

When he comes on the show, we talk about SignWell and how he has made freemium work. There are tens of others that I couldn't even name them all. There are very, very few. I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm saying in general, it is way harder to get it to work than you think it is. So if you are in doubt, don't try freemium. Just have a, you can have a free trial.

When he comes on the show, we talk about SignWell and how he has made freemium work. There are tens of others that I couldn't even name them all. There are very, very few. I'm not saying it doesn't work. I'm saying in general, it is way harder to get it to work than you think it is. So if you are in doubt, don't try freemium. Just have a, you can have a free trial.

You don't need to ask for a credit card up front. You need to find out if you build something people want and are willing to pay for. If you have removed the free plan for new signups and you still have a bunch of people hanging out in a free plan that are not converting, you can end your free plan for current users. They're not customers because they're not paying you anything, but free users.

You don't need to ask for a credit card up front. You need to find out if you build something people want and are willing to pay for. If you have removed the free plan for new signups and you still have a bunch of people hanging out in a free plan that are not converting, you can end your free plan for current users. They're not customers because they're not paying you anything, but free users.

And I have done this myself with a product I acquired 15 years ago. And several tiny seed companies have done this. And I say tiny seed companies because I have pretty detailed insight into what they're doing and how they're doing it and the results of it. And any of them that remove their free plan, even for existing users, have never gone back. I didn't go back either.

And I have done this myself with a product I acquired 15 years ago. And several tiny seed companies have done this. And I say tiny seed companies because I have pretty detailed insight into what they're doing and how they're doing it and the results of it. And any of them that remove their free plan, even for existing users, have never gone back. I didn't go back either.

So usually that's what I would do is I'd reach out to, you know, if there are power users that are on the free plan, reach out to them directly. I remember when I removed the free plan, there were a few people that had really helped promote the app over the years. And one of them was like a college professor, for example, a university professor, and asked if he could get a discount or a comp.

So usually that's what I would do is I'd reach out to, you know, if there are power users that are on the free plan, reach out to them directly. I remember when I removed the free plan, there were a few people that had really helped promote the app over the years. And one of them was like a college professor, for example, a university professor, and asked if he could get a discount or a comp.

And I just comped him because he had recommended it to a bunch of people. And you can make exceptions here. But But the idea that you have 500 or 5,000 free users and almost none of them are converting implies that A, either your yardstick is in the wrong place, meaning you're giving away too much in your free plan so people never need to convert. So you might need to think about moving that.

And I just comped him because he had recommended it to a bunch of people. And you can make exceptions here. But But the idea that you have 500 or 5,000 free users and almost none of them are converting implies that A, either your yardstick is in the wrong place, meaning you're giving away too much in your free plan so people never need to convert. So you might need to think about moving that.

Or... You just kill the free plan altogether and build a more traditional bootstrap, mostly bootstrap business with a free trial where people have a time constraint to convert. And if you create enough value for them, then they pay you. There are a lot of levers to pull with freemium. And it is one of those levers.

Or... You just kill the free plan altogether and build a more traditional bootstrap, mostly bootstrap business with a free trial where people have a time constraint to convert. And if you create enough value for them, then they pay you. There are a lot of levers to pull with freemium. And it is one of those levers.

I think it's harder to make a broad generalization of like, well, here's how I would design a free plan, right? I can tell you basically with SaaS pricing, some rules of thumb that I have about each one doubles in price, but you give away more in the value metric. You know, there's all this stuff. I've given talks about this. I've talked about this on this podcast.

I think it's harder to make a broad generalization of like, well, here's how I would design a free plan, right? I can tell you basically with SaaS pricing, some rules of thumb that I have about each one doubles in price, but you give away more in the value metric. You know, there's all this stuff. I've given talks about this. I've talked about this on this podcast.

But freemium is to me much more a one, since it's so complicated, it's much more kind of a one-off product. really understanding your customers and really understanding where that line is, where you're giving away enough in the free plan to get them to use it, but not so much that they never upgrade.

But freemium is to me much more a one, since it's so complicated, it's much more kind of a one-off product. really understanding your customers and really understanding where that line is, where you're giving away enough in the free plan to get them to use it, but not so much that they never upgrade.