Tomorrow I head out to Buying & Selling eContent in Scottsdale. It’s a great conference for me because there’s always an excellent mix of content partners, customers and software vendors. This year it will be a little smaller than usual, but there’s still a terrific line-up of attendees. On Monday I am leading a lunchtime discussion about the freemium business model. It’s an often told story, but in March of 2006 Alacra Board member Fred Wilson was looking for a name for his favorite business model.
I would like to have a name for this business model. We’ve got words like subscription, ad supported, license, and ASP, that are well understood. Do we have a word for this business model? If so, I don’t know it.
Alacra’s VP of eCommerce at the time Jarid Lukin, thought up "freemium" and that was that. Since
the discussion I am leading is outdoors and during lunch, I won’t have
any presentation materials. What I’ve done instead,for those attending my session to
look at once they are back home, is list some of the
key blog posts and materials on the web that delve into the upside and
downside of adopting a freemium model.
Blog Posts:
My Favorite Business Model by Fred Wilson, March 23, 2006
The Freemium Business Model by Fred Wilson, March 23, 2006
Startup Pricing Models: Free Forever, Freemium and Freedom to Pay by Dharmesh Shah, May 16, 2007
Startups and the challenges of the freemium business model by Dharmesh Shah, May 16, 2008
The 'Freemium' Business Model: Not Quite a Slam Dunk by Nilofer Merchant, June 5, 2007
Freemium is not a business model by Mark Evans, October 17, 2008
What is a free customer worth? by Chris Anderson, November 4, 2008
How to create a profitable freemium startup by Andrew Chen, January 19, 2009
Three Freemium Strategies by Eric Ries, January 27, 2009
e-Books, presentations, articles:
Freemium 101: A Brief Introduction to the Freemium Business Model
"Free" Pricing: Models and Strategies
Free: Why $0.00 Is the Future of Business, by Chris Anderson
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