So I’m a big fan of the freemium model with the proviso that you are able to attract thousands of users, as the 2 - 5% conversion rate that Spencer mentions only works when you have enough users to build a sustainable business.
My question with regards to the above quote is, when do you factor in the cost that it took to sustain a free user for 1000 days (approx 3 years) before they eventually decided to upgrade? Whilst this is great for the business if an user converts that far down the pipeline, the cost associated with that (especially if you have loads of users doing that) is really significant.
As a result, I’ll be sticking to charging from the beginning.