freem

Spotify is a music app, Adobe provides apps for creatives to draw and design, Fortnite is a game. These three products are completely different when it comes to what service they provide. But they all have same revenue model: a  subscription model. To be precise: The Freemium Subscription Model. In a subscription model, the consumer uses a product or service by paying a fixed monthly or yearly cost. The Freemium model offers the consumer a subset of features for free without any payment. Freemium model has a structural benefit for both the participating sides. App provider can get insights from the potential paying customer, while the customer can use the product without committing to pay for it. The term freemium was first coined by Jarid Lukin at the suggestion of Fred Wilson in 2006. Since then, it turned out to be an effective way to acquire customers for subscription business. There are many reasons why freemium model works. But its effectiveness comes from the psychological effect it creates. This psychological effect is called Reciprocation. What is Reciprocation Effect? If a person receives a gift or a favor from another person, he or she feels indebted to the person. The feeling of indebtedness makes them more likely to repay the favor at a future instance. The effect is simple and ubiquitous. The following phrases represent how this effect ingrains in everyday lives: Treat others as you want to be treated Give something to get something Always pay your debts back Reciprocation effect is much deeply ingrained into the human psyche than often realized. We often develop Judgmental heuristics (mental shortcuts) to navigate our everyday life without thinking. These heuristics increase the speed and efficiency of our decision-making process. Reciprocation effect is one such shortcut. It defines and develops from social interactions we face, norms we follow and moral code we adhere to. For example, in almost all cultures it is frowned upon if one does not return a favor/gift that he/she received. Trade outside extended families is unique to humans. no other species trades outside their extended families. Reciprocation helped initiate this phenomenon. It created a trust between families that would have otherwise never traded. The first move for this trading phenomenon was a mere gesture rather than a transaction. Trust that came out of reciprocation resulted in a catalytic trade that changed the route of sapien life. Example of Reciprocation Effect in Action used to ask for donations in public places with a lot of foot traffic. Their strategy included giving a red rose to the passing “potential donor” before requesting for donation. The hare Krishna society The rose in this context acted as a gift to the perspective donor. It induces a feeling of indebtedness making him/her more likely to donate. This strategy worked for the society and the donations skyrocketed. Reciprocation In Action In the case of the freemium model, the consumer starts to use the product for free. There is no commitment to the premium subscription. The free usage of the product is a gift that the potential customer receives. It creates a feeling of indebtedness in the consumer mind to return the favor. The feeling of indebtedness makes the customer more likely to become a paid member. The effect increases the likelihood for the consumer to commit. It doesn’t guarantee it. There are many other reasons why the freemium model works. But this effect indicates the underlying psychological reaction it can generate. And often does generate. Reciprocation is not the first judgemental heuristic used in business models and marketing. It won’t be the last. But being aware of the intentions behind the freemium model will promote decision making based on self-awareness rather than external persuasion. 😃 You can connect with me on Twitter! @natarajsindam 👇 You can find more stories from me below. https://hackernoon.com/predictions-2019-and-beyond-vu2nu3z8b https://hackernoon.com/the-obvious-flaw-in-recommendation-systems-oa26e3zoa

The Freemium Model's Reciprocation Effect

If you've not had your comfort zone challenged in a while, I have a treat for you today. My latest interviewee, , is as infamous as he is controversial. His profound metaphysical rhetoric is ascorbic and cutting with its dry-wit, designed to provoke introspection. Mr Freeman To pigeon-hole his philosophy with some form of brevity (see below quote!), , is the phrase which comes to mind. 'inspirational nihilism' "If words lose their weight, then the world becomes nothing more than a brothel and a circus" And what gives Mr Freeman such freedom to derisively galvanise a movement? Well, he isn't your average man. In fact, he isn't a man at all... In his own words: "I created myself... I actually exist. In the real world. I think, and I'm totally free of stereotypes... And I'm real. You're staring at your computer screen right now, but are you there?.. And have you any way to prove that to ? So it appears, that " me you don't exist, and I do. As you can imagine, this wasn't my typical interview. Philosophy aside, Mr Freeman is more than simply a silver tongued Messiah and we have a topic and common interest at hand, which is how this came to be, but we'll get to that: "So, hello, Mr Freeman. Let’s start by addressing the obvious, I’m a big fan, but, well, this is the first time I’ve interviewed a fictional character. Is this as weird for you as it is for me?" "Nope. It so happened that in my life I gave dozens of interviews with ' over the past 10 years. This is not unusual, but it should be noted that this is my first interview in English. I had one occasional collaboration with Banksy, but everything was on his side, including all possible interviews." real people' "Sure your English is way better than my Russian so don’t worry about it! It was the Dismaland exhibition you worked with Banksy on, if I’m not mistaken?" "Absolutely right. There were many screens in Dismaland on which my "Walking On By" video was played. Banksy chose it himself and made an announcement. That is, it is difficult to call it a full-fledged collaboration, but still you can call it a kind of creative co-integration. This is what prompted the fact that subsequently almost all the premieres of new video monologues were held in the actionism mode. One premiere was on the screens of mobile cinema buses, another one took place in a Stalin's bunker at a depth of 60 meters under the land in the centre of Moscow city. Another one took place simultaneously in online mode in more than 200 cities around the world." "Stalin's bunker sounds incredibly cool and creepy at the same time! Would you say the way in which you present your message is almost as important as the message itself?" "The main message that I want to convey is quite simple: 'People, learn to think! This is the main thing that you need to be able to!' After all, it is known that all knowledge can be obtained within oneself, for this it is absolutely not necessary even to read books. Dialogue with oneself is the main tool of cognition. Socrates spoke about this, Lao Tzu used this tool, all the great "Captains Obvious" (as I am often called on the net) found wisdom within themselves." "It might sound obvious to an anarchist like yourself perhaps, but common sense isn’t always as common as we think, right?" "I would not call myself an anarchist, since I am not a supporter or denier of any socio-political model. I am 100% sure that current government models are catastrophically outdated. Most of the modern states are just a complex of services provided to their citizens for their own money and through their (citizens) own labour. Territories aside, the modern state is no longer different from corporations. The state of the future is a large service corporation, and patriotism is brand loyalty. This position is not anarchism, it is a vision of the world in a new format. Is not it so?" "I can't disagree with the vision, but from my corner of the world it is hard to see how we could begin to rebuild society without first tearing down the old one. As an example, for Bitcoin and Cryptocurrency to see mass adoption and Satoshi's vision to flourish, the existing financial institutions have to topple. You can't make an omelette without breaking eggs, can you?" "The appearance of the telephone communications gradually supplanted the telegraph. The appearance of the internal combustion engine gradually supplanted steam engines. The advent of high-speed communications has gradually supplanted ADSL connections. The advent of automobiles supplanted the massive usage of horses and donkeys. These are ordinary evolutionary processes, steps in the development of mankind. Exactly the same will happen in the end with fiat money and crypto, just over time the crypt will replace the money we are used to, which will remain only to identify the exchange rate (cross-rate nominal exchange element). The same will happen with the state of the future, which will gradually replace the models of the past." "I like that, evolution over anarchy. So in terms of crypto then, what made you decide to start your own currency with MFcoin, and how did this evolve to include blockchain passports?" "To integrate into any area, you need to start working closely with it. The format of buying and selling cryptocurrencies is not my profile, because this is the field of the trade. My idea is creative processes: if you can do something, then do it and learn everything yourself. It was the need to see the cryptocurrency world from the inside that prompted me to launch my own blockchain. Further, various services, interests, opportunities, projects, concepts, etc. began to be involved in it. The result was a constructor for creating social experiments. Moreover, many active people have decided to take part in this project. Of course, Freeland's passport was also tied to the blockchain, but how could it be otherwise?" "Bitcoin are worth exactly what people are willing to pay for them, just like some antique china or Stalin's used underwear." "Well that bleeds rather smoothly into the Freeland integration with the Free TON community, which has been described as ‘one of the largest social experiments in the world’. Was this motivated more by technological or philosophical reasoning would you say?" "To bring technology to a high-tech project, you need to be an engineer, programmer, or mathematician. I am an ideologist, futurologist, psychologist and media screamer. Of course, the main goal was to introduce an ideological and philosophical basis. All the technological changes that I can give to the FreeTON project are mediated mechanics which go through my audience, which is extremely active and has already begun to integrate their developments on the new platform. Gradually, the Freeman community will join FreeTON, supplement the existing range of ideas and services with its own, and we will get a new and truly valuable crypto project. In fact, the integration of Freeman and Freeland is the capitalization of FreeTON through people, through active participation, through social experiments." "Sounds exciting! I know you’ve some incredibly talented folk in the Freeman community, and meritocracy (people as capital as you say)  is what happens here, can’t wait to see what’s next. To round things to a close though, you use the phrase ‘Media Screamer’ to describe yourself above. Anything you want to scream at the media while we’re here? I’m not exactly mainstream, but you never know who reads these things, right?" "New comes in a moment, you don't have to wait for it. What was the future a second ago has now become present. The new is not worth resisting. But most people are conservative: let it be bad for everyone, but it will be clear. Modern society resists cryptographic and decentralized solutions, because the representatives of the old world in panic shout: "This is a pyramid!" Although their fiat pyramid is much scarier and more dangerous! Since the dollar was no longer backed by gold and began to be backed only by purchasing power, the financial world turned into an exclusive instrument of control. And the world of cryptocurrencies can change that. The modern banking world has thrown into the trash such a thing as "banking secrecy." But the cryptocurrency world can change that. Ever since real estate and movable property began to be registered in digital databases, to which a limited number of people have access, endless fraud has arisen in this area. But decentralization and smart contracts can change that. The elections became a provocation and a public game, they have long ceased to be real elections in many countries - they are just a farce. But decentralized solutions and blockchain can change that. My main message is that there is no need to be afraid of the new. Don't be afraid of knowledge. Don't be afraid to gain experience. As you know, freedom is a child of enlightenment. The idea of ​​freedom is spread and strengthened through education and perhaps nothing else. Knowledge and the desire to receive it is the true path to freedom." Well, there we have it then. I'm off to question everything I ever thought I knew about reality, life, and knowledge now...

Learn to Think: a (very real) fictional Interview with Mr Freeman

Freemium is not a new concept, and neither is it exclusive to SaaS providers. Many companies have been successful at freemium marketing, and we know that the model works well at ramping up users who you can upsell to later. are just a few among the prominent names that come to mind. Dropbox and Evernote Unfortunately, things are not perfect in the world of freemium as this pricing strategy comes with a few potential downsides. First off, the free level of service you provide may already be satisfying all your users’ needs, so in this case, you most likely will not be able to convert them into paying customers. Detractors also argue that freemium SaaS spends far too much supporting free users, without any chance of earning back the cost of doing so. Last but not least, critics point out that freemium puts companies at great risk because they become vulnerable to abuse by users with malicious intentions. So while the first two fundamental issues can probably only be addressed at the leadership level, the last one is of a technical nature and can be resolved by implementing software. In this article, I’ll take a closer look at the problem of abuse and discuss how can actually help businesses to combat the issue. email verification No Free Lunch for SaaS Applications with Free Trials For end-users, the point of entry into a freemium SaaS application is at registration time, when they input their email address. For you, as a service provider, email is, of course, ubiquitous as it represents your customers’ online identity and allows you to continuously communicate with them. However, email is also where problems might begin for SaaS providers. The thing is, many freemium users create disposable email addresses or burner accounts to enroll in the service. It’s easy and allows building a layer of anonymity between themselves and your service. Yet, disposable addresses can become a real pain for your business and if these are not timely detected and eliminated, they can mean a slow, agonizing death for your service. The anonymity creates the perfect environment for fraud and abuse of your service as malicious users never actually intend to use their burner accounts for anything other than to register into a SaaS application. Chances are they’ll never even open any emails you send to their disposable inboxes and this can adversely skew your analytics. It can also have a disastrous effect on your sender score, which email delivery services look at to establish your reputation as a sender. And when these disposable email accounts are then discarded, this also adversely affects your sending bounce rates, which in turn affects your sender reputation. High bounce rates can also lead to your sending IP address being blacklisted, subsequently bringing your marketing and support processes to a complete standstill. Flagging Likely SaaS Freemium Abusers by their Email Address So where does stand here and can it actually help? email verification Basically, the software analyzes each email address to establish two important factors. First, is the email address a valid one? Does it have a prefix and a domain separated by the standard “@” symbol, and do both of these parts conform to acceptable formats? Any deviation from this is quickly flagged down and the email address is excluded from your list. Next, the email verification API checks if the address truly exists. Disposable emails that have long since been terminated may continue to persist within your user database and mailing lists, creating all sorts of problems for your marketing efforts. The API constantly and consistently checks the list for these disappearing mailboxes to and keep your subscriber base fresh and legitimate. manage your email bounce rates Sounds great, however, it’s important to note that even the best email verification API is far from being entirely foolproof. The issue lies in the process as it involves subjecting each email address to a barrage of tests. If the address passes these tests then the probability increases that it is valid and should pose no threat. But it is still just a probability, and not 100% certainty — so you might want to complement email verification with other tools and practices. --- End-users can and will register to your freemium SaaS using disposable email addresses, often with the intention to abuse the service. And unfortunately, no software will give a 100% guarantee that this won’t happen to your SaaS. However, we still recommend you to initiate measures that will help ensure you nip abuse at the bud, that is, at the point of entry.

Avoiding Freemium Trial Abuses with Email Verification

If you are selling physical products on your WooCommerce store, you should also know how to handle the shipping properly. Whether you ship the products yourself or make use of third-party shipping carrier plugins like , , , , etc., you must be very well aware of how shipping works and how you can integrate shipping carriers using WooCommerce plugins. DHL USPS FedEx UPS In this article, I’ll list some of the best free WooCommerce shipping plugins that are available in the WordPress eco-space. Let’s dive in… Here are the Best Free WooCommerce Shipping Plugins 1. ELEX EasyPost (FedEx, UPS & USPS) Shipping Method Plugin for WooCommerce If the default WooCommerce shipping methods don’t suit your business requirement and you do not want the hassle of shipping the parcels to your customers, you can opt for third-party shipping carriers. This is capable of returning rates from FedEx, UPS, and USPS on your WooCommerce store. ELEX WooCommerce EasyPost Plugin Cool, isn’t it? It also allows you to select either Retail or Commercial Rates. Download the Free Plugin The screenshot on the left shows the USPS, FedEx, and UPS shipping rates and services on the cart. The is capable of the following: premium version Printing shipping labels Track shipments Show USPS Flat Rate Boxes Add Insurance Option Box Packing Options, and much more… 2. WooCommerce Weight Based Shipping If one of your primary concerns in calculating shipping costs is order weight, this plugin can be quite handy for you. In addition to using order weight as a determinant of shipping cost, you can also set rules based on the shipping destination and cart sub-totals. Download the Free Plugin The core features of the plugin include creating shipping rules based on Order weight, subtotal, and customer destination. In addition, you can use this plugin to set up free shipping conditions as well. With the plus version, you can override the product shipping class settings of your store. 3. WooCommerce Table Rate Shipping by JEM If you are looking to set up table rate shipping or tiered shipping on your WooCommerce store, this plugin is ideal for that. It boasts a very friendly user interface that will help you configure it pretty quickly. With this plugin, you can define shipping charges by weight or total cost. The rates will be calculated with or without tax based on your store settings. It also allows you to configure multiple tiers of shipping costs as well as incorporate additional charges for each order. Download the Plugin The allows you to set unlimited shipping services, shipping based on the destination address and predefined shipping classes. You can also configure based on a number of items and weight, as well as include handling fees. Pro version 4. WooCommerce DHL Shipping Plugin by ELEX This plugin helps you display DHL Express services and their real-time rates on the cart and checkout pages of your WooCommerce store. The rates will be automatically determined based on the product weight, dimensions, and shipping destination. You will be able to set a custom method title for the DHL shipping method while using this plugin. And, you can create price adjustments to each specific service. The developers are an , giving you another reason to trust this plugin. Official DHL Partner Download the Free Plugin In addition, you can - Show rates specific to your DHL account so that your customers will get the advantage of reduced rates. Show a price breakdown on the checkout page for shipping charges (as shown in the screenshot). This would help to create better clarity and transparency in shipping charges and consequently enhance the customer experience. Display the estimated delivery time for each service (as shown in the screenshot), which is another essential component of a good shipping experience. The premium version — allows store owners to: ELEX WooCommerce DHL Shipping Plugin with Print Label Print shipping labels, return labels, commercial invoices, proforma invoices, and archive air waybill. Integrate DHL Paket and DHL eCommerce Track DHL Shipments Box Packing DHL Parcel Pickup Service Easy handling of , Alcohol, and Prohibited Goods. Dangerous/Hazardous Goods Special services like , Duty Payments, Paperless trade, Saturday delivery, Cash on Delivery, and so on. Customs 5. WooCommerce PDF Invoices & Packing Slips by Ewout Fernhout This plugin helps you add a PDF invoice automatically to the order confirmation emails sent out to your customers. You can modify the available template based on your business requirements. You can also download or print the documents from the WooCommerce order admin page. Download the Plugin You can bulk generate PDF invoices and packing slips. The templates are fully customizable as they are created using HTML and CSS. Another important feature of this plugin is its multi-language compatibility. Languages like Ukrainian, Slovenian, Japanese, and Slovak also feature in the long list this plugin supports. There are several premium extensions that let you create/email PDF Proforma Invoices, Credit Notes, Email Packing Slips, and Automatic upload to Dropbox. Additionally, the extensions help to automatically send the documents to the printer whenever the order is placed. And there are a lot of templates to choose from. 6. WooCommerce Shipping This extension will help you print shipping labels directly from your store by accessing the discounted rates of your USPS account. By being able to print USPS shipping labels right from your store, you can save money, and save time by avoiding a visit to the post office. However, to display services and rates of USPS, you need to purchase the premium extension. Download the Plugin 7. WooCommerce Advanced Free Shipping (You know you have been on the receiving end too, where you look out for Free Shipping for that Amazon product! :D) Free shipping is one of the most popular shipping strategies in the eCommerce business. It is a great strategy to improve conversions and reduce cart abandonment on your WooCommerce store. However, setting up a free shipping option requires careful considerations as it can eat into your profit margins. This plugin will help you set up advanced conditions to decide how and when free shipping will be offered to your customers. Download the Plugin The plugin makes available several conditions to set up free shipping on your store depending on the shopping pattern of your customers. You can use parameters like user roles, order quantity, product weight, shipping class, shipping destination, etc., to enable free shipping. [There are also ways to apply free shipping on your WooCommerce store without a plugin, find those methods in .] this article 8. AfterShip — WooCommerce Tracking This free plugin allows you to track shipments using 550+ shipping carriers! ( ). You need to signup for an AfterShip account and choose the desired shipping carrier. That’s a lot! Download the Plugin The tracking information will be displayed on the order history page, as shown in the screenshot below. Hence, these are the Best Free WooCommerce Shipping Plugins on the WordPress market. In addition to this, I am giving you a guide for WooCommerce Shipping Strategies for Better Profitability . Go check out!

Freemium WooCommerce Shipping Plugins

Free Trial or Freemium? Going From 0 to 100,000 Users In Six Months With Wes Bush

Source Even though the term ‘ ’ got introduced into business lingo , the central idea behind it is not something new: give a product/service for free to the customer with the hope to influence her to buy another product. Gillette this idea in the modern industrialized world in late 19th century by giving razors for free but charging customers for disposable blades to recover the cost of razors. And, thus built a brand with a powerful moat that has survived for more than 100 years. Freemium recently pioneered Nowadays, you can see numerous examples of the same business model all around where a paid product is cross-subsidizing the free product: get $700 worth of phone for free by signing a $60/month cellular contract for 2 years; get a for free and pay a fixed %ge on each transaction. Square Card Reader This strategy of cross-subsidization worked well in digital world too when software was sold on CDs in physical stores. It works even now in the gaming industry where game publishers pay Microsoft and Sony a fixed percentage on each sale of game CD sold that runs on PS4 or Xbox. But everything changed after the invention of internet. It flipped the assumptions around how software products are delivered and consumed as marginal costs — the costs incurred in selling an additional unit of product or service — came down significantly. is zero as software is just a piece of code that can be infinitely replicated. Cost of Goods Sold — costs of getting the product in the hands of the customer — also became almost zero as software can be delivered over the internet v/s buying CDs in stores. Distribution costs , the costs of executing and supporting a transaction, also became very efficient. You don’t need to go to a physical store; don’t need a sales person to show you around; don’t need a cashier to help with the transaction. All you need to do is enter your credit card details and you’re all set. You might never interact with any personnel from the company in your life. Transaction costs As all of the these variable costs mentioned above have come down significantly, it has become even more tempting for software businesses to offer a free version of the product with the hope to acquire a significant number of customers that they can convert to paid later. But it’s easier said than done. History of software products is littered with examples that couldn’t succeed at this approach; Companies that didn’t think deeply enough about basic principles and or even if they did, by the time they realized it was too late to make any course correction. What are those principles/conditions that create the environment conducive for freemium to work? Without further ado, let’s dive in: It’s free, but still Good As i said earlier, the core objective of freemium in the software world is to acquire as many users as you can with the hope to convert them to paid users sometime later — you can afford to do so because of very low marginal costs. But users will come and stick around only if they can derive value out of it that they can’t get for free elsewhere. Providing a sub-par experience in free version and hoping that customers will convert to paid, better version will do your business more harm than good as customers will shun your product at a faster rate than they came in. Not only will they leave but will also discourage other customers from trying out the product. Therefore, no gimmicks; no sub-optimal product; no bad user experience, please. Customer must be able to derive sufficient value from the free product even if they never decide to upgrade. , an email marketing and marketing automation company, is a shining example. It 9 years back. Read the linked blog bost. It’s so good! MailChimp introduced freemium Through it’s free version a user can send emails to upto 2,000 contacts or a maximum of 12,000 emails/month. Product works the same way for both free and paid versions. To add to that, since the launch of free version, it has consistently increased the value in the free product by increasing the number of contacts you can send email to. It started with 500 contacts, increased it to 1,000 to finally 2,000. (Source: Mailchimp.com) On the other hand, i hate . Not only is the overall product buggy and non-intuitive, but the free version is just awful. You get a paltry 5GB of storage for free. And that hasn’t changed ever since the launch in 2011, even though the number of images/videos you take on your phone and the quality/resolution of those has changed drastically. Apple’s iCloud Storage iCloud Photo Stream is a half baked attempt at solving this problem as it keeps your recent photos/videos in the cloud for for 30 days before deleting. In comparison, Google’s new phone Google Pixel allows unlimited storage of photos and videos taken through the phone. If I ever switch to Android, iCloud would definitely be one of the biggest reasons. Very large market with some degree of virality According to Tomasz Tunguz, products normally varies between 2 to 4%. A simple math exercise shows that to achieve $100 million in Annual Recurring Revenue (ARR), a company needs 1 million customers who pay you $100/year. Assuming an average conversion of 3%, company needs to have 33 million customers, both free and paid. That’s quite a lot actually and implies that to be successful: conversion rate for freemium The product needs operating in a market that is huge. Company needs to figure out a way to acquire these customers very cheaply, as paid acquisition channels are not a option; business economics will not make sense at all. Therefore, product needs to have the right hooks/incentives in place to go viral and bring customers into the fold, either organically or through referrals. is one such rare company that everybody loves to talk about. It has 500 million total users and only 2% are paying customers. Dropbox has been able to achieve such a feat because: Dropbox — Every time a user shared a file in Dropbox with somebody who didn’t have Dropbox, other person was inclined to try it out. And as more and more people got on the Dropbox and shared files, value of Dropbox increased for everybody. Network Effects — Dropbox famously hacked its way to hundreds of millions of users by incentivizing customers with free storage for every new user they referred to Dropbox. With this simple hack users became their evangelists in droves. Viral Referral Growth (Source: Dropbox.com) , a do-it-yourself (DIY) website builder struggled to achieve the scale needed to become a sustainable freemium model and was finally sold to Square at a lower valuation than their last funding round. Weebly Just to be clear, selling your for hundreds of millions of dollars ($365 million to be exact) is no small feat and is not a failure by any standard. I just want to highlight that getting millions of SMBs on board to use your product — even for free — is very difficult, if not impossible. startup First, Weebly didn’t have right ingredients in place to go viral. Free websites prominently show advertising somewhat implying that the business might be cheap. No customer looking for a professional web presence would like to be associated with such image. Plus, most of the competing website builders offered a similar free product. There wasn’t anything unique that would set them apart and gain virality. Second, it couldn’t outspend Wix or GoDaddy in brand dollars to acquire free customers. A graceful exit through acquisition by a large company made so much sense. ‘Powered by Weebly’ Costs to serve customers needs to be very low So far, the company has created a valuable free product and has figured out a way to acquire customers cheaply. But that’s not enough. To become a sustainable business, the costs to serve/support customers should be very low. In the case of Dropbox, only 11 million out of the total 500 million are paying, yet the company is free cash flow positive. , a survey/form builder tool, is another good example to illustrate this point. Like MailChimp their free version is limited by number of free surveys per month or total number of questions that you can send in a survey. A person with rudimentary understanding of the online world can create and start sending surveys without any personnel help, whatsoever. In addition, the cost to Typeform for sending/managing surveys (bandwidth and storage costs) is almost zero. Typeform Whereas , a music streaming app, is the antithesis of this principle. At the time of recent filing of its IPO, it had 158 million monthly average users and 70 million paid subscribers, implying close to 90 million free users. Spotify Spotify between $0.0006 to $0.0084 royalty fee to rights holders for each stream of music played. Assuming a free user plays on an average 5 songs/days each month, at a minimum, these free users would be costing Spotify ~$100 million each year. That’s a LOT of money to support free users. There are various industry dynamics responsible for such high costs. I’ll try to cover that in a separate blog post, sometime later. pays Strong incentive to upgrade from free to paid Even if a company swiped right on all the points covered so far, all the effort will go down the drain if there doesn’t exist a compelling reason for customers to upgrade to a paid offer. For that, not only you need to be judicious in deciding what features to keep in the free version, but also you need to be innovating to consistently improve the paid version. , a DIY website builder that lets you host your website for free, has 130 million registered and 3.5 million paid users. Free users get a domain with *.wixsite.com in the suffix, only 500MB storage & 1GB Bandwidth, no website analytics, and Wix branding on their website — strong enough constraints to push a person to upgrade if she wants a ‘Professional Looking’ online identity. Wix , a company that made the Kanban board ubiquitous, struggled to convert free users to paid plan as there wasn’t enough value in the . All that was in the paid plan was the ability to customize the background of Kanban board board or use stickers/emojis or upload large size files. And not many wanted to pay $5/month extra just for these niceties when free product can get the same job done. Trello paid plan (Kanban Board, Source: Vertex4) To make it even more difficult, their competitors copied the Kanban board format (like Instagram copied Stories format from Snapchat) stunting the growth of Trello. Result — what could have been a multi billion dollar company was bought by Atlassian for just north of $400 million. , a dating app, launched Tinder Gold last year that had only one additional feature on top of existing paid product Tinder Plus. Tinder Gold lets a user see who had liked his/her profile without the need to swipe right on countless profiles to find a match. And it completely changed the trajectory of Tinder’s business adding a whooping 476,000 subscribers within just a quarter after the launch taking their total subscriber count from 2 million to 2.5 million. Tinder Source Acquisition is just the start; Engagement is end game Customer churn is inevitable part of any business. And free customers are any ways less incentivized than paid ones to stick around making churn even more difficult to manage. Successful companies try to overcome this challenge by making onboarding super slick so that user can experience core use case of the product as soon as possible and over time help her derive more and more value out of the product making it difficult to switch or leave. Famous ‘Smile Graph’ of , a note taking and sharing app, is an excellent illustration of this idea. As you can see from the graph below that the percentage of users returning to the app drops first as few users churn out, but in second year it starts trending upwards as more and more users make Evernote an integral part of their professional/personal workflows. Evernote (Source: ) Techcrunch That’s broadly it! To summarize, I’d say that Internet has made it possible to enable freemium model at a scale that wasn’t possible before. But you need to have the right ingredients — a valuable free product, very large market with some degree of virality, low cost to serve free customers, strong reason for customers to upgrade, and retention of both free and paid users — in place to make it tick, otherwise you will end up writing the obituary of your business with your own hands. Are you aware of any other products/companies that have interesting freemium models? Let me know in comments. Thanks and for reading the drafts and suggesting the edits. Karan Pooja

Freemium and The Internet: A Match Made in Heaven….or Hell

Freemium vs Free Trial vs Hybrid Customer Acquisition Models in SaaS:

I am having a hard time sleeping these past a couple of days. So after struggling to sleep for the last 6 hours, I decided to just get up and write them down. And one of the things I’ve being thinking is a theory about freemium pricing models. First of all, I would like to clarify that I have no experience at all with using the freemium model. So everything written in this post are pure speculation. However, I am a frequent consumer of freemium products, and so I do believe I have some basis for my theory. UPDATE: Our startup is now actually building a freemium Saas platform now, and I’m following a lot of the principles in this post that I made a year ago. So here goes. According to wikipedia, “ is a pricing strategy by which a product or service (typically a digital offering or application such as software, media, games or web services) is provided free of charge, but money (premium) is charged for proprietary features, functionality, or virtual goods.” Freemium This pricing strategy is interesting as it involves users who merely uses your product, and users who pays for your product(also known as customers). And as a result, you essentially have two targeted market. However, the problem lies in that the customers are a subset of users and they can easily be confused as one. Let me demonstrate: Product B with 2% paying customers As you can see, both product A and product B have the same size for user base, but product A can be much more profitable as they can convert 5 times more users into paying customers. What is dangerous about this is that if you used total numbers of users as your metric for evaluating success, you’ll get the exact same numbers! In fact, if product B had twice the users, it’ll appear twice as successful even though it would only make less than 50% profit of product A. This is why we are seeing a lot of startups using freemium pricing model lose money even though they have a gigantic user base. So in this case, the best way to avoid this problem is to use revenue as the measurable metric rather than the user base. Now would that mean it’s pointless to acquire a large user base? Not exactly. This is where we look in more depth on how to evaluate the worth of the user base (purely by revenue) Different user conversion for different prices In the above graph, say you had a million users. And you can convert a 80% into paying users if they all paid $1 (which I imagine is a ridiculously high conversion rate for freemium products), convert 60% if they paid $2, convert 35% if they paid $3, convert 15% if they paid $4 and only convert 5% if they paid $5. Then the value of this user base would be $1.2 million as having a premium price of $2 would give you the best returns. And with a 60% customer conversion rate from free users, you essentially get $6 for every 5 new users, which means an average revenue of $1.2 per user! So as long as you really dive deep into figuring out the right premium price, a large user base could really be quite profitable. And if you got viral user growth going, it is essentially a money making machine. The problem, is when you have an user base that would not pay for anything at any price. This happens when the core value of your product is being “Free”. I personally feel this way for Dropbox. A couple years back, I got over 80 Gb of storage from Dropbox from all the promotions they were doing and was storing all my files on it. Dropbox isn’t a bad product and it is basically free storage for me. Last year, when my free space expired, I completely stopped using it. Why? There are other free alternatives! When I had 80+ Gb, it is great compared to others like OneDrive and Google Drive, which had much less, but now, Dropbox provides much less space compared to its competitors and why not just switch to a free one instead of paying for more? The solution is to find the right feature from your product that some of your users would pay for. For example, buying extra life from Candy Crush, or new champion skin from League of Legends. Even though freemium can be a dangerous pricing model to use if you aren’t aware of its risks, it does have a couple of significant benefits. 1. The user acquisition is just much easier. It’s a lot easier to get people to try a free product than getting people to pay for a paid product. People like free stuff. 2. You get a lot more control over how to develop your product. You are not as obligated to respond to user requests for a free product than for a paid product. People will be a lot more forgiving of free products over paid ones. 3. You are building your own market with a direct channel to everyone. The best example of this is Wave Accounting. Wave created an amazing free accounting that is very friendly to startups, freelancers and small business owners. And all its features are free forever (or at least according to their website). Where the “premium” comes from is their accompanying payroll services. I find this really clever because they are essentially doing targeted advertisement for themselves with a free product. And since the is doing all its bookkeeping with a free product, they’ll likely require a payroll service as well once they start hiring (or for freelancer and small businesses, they make money off of online payments). So what’s better than a payroll service that fully integrate with your bookkeeping platform? In my opinion, this is the biggest advantage of having a freemium model instead of straight out pay to use product. SaaS startup UPDATE: this is exactly what we did. We now use Wavesapp for payroll and it’s awesome! So the best way to decide on what to charge as the premium is to treat it like a separate product, and the users of your free product as a sales channel. This way, you’ll be able to keep your users happy as well as generate revenue from the converted customers. In summary, to efficiently use the freemium model there need to be careful selection of the premium features. Figure out what your users are willing to pay for and setting it at the right price instead of making a good free product and picking features you think the user will pay for. And lastly, don’t spend all your effort on user acquisition and falls in the trap of “massive user base”, and instead make your success metrics based on revenue. This way you can become profitable without needing to sustain yourself from investor money. is how hackers start their afternoons. We’re a part of the family. We are now and happy to opportunities. Hacker Noon @AMI accepting submissions discuss advertising &sponsorship To learn more, , , or simply, read our about page like/message us on Facebook tweet/DM @HackerNoon. If you enjoyed this story, we recommend reading our and . Until next time, don’t take the realities of the world for granted! latest tech stories trending tech stories

A theory of the freemium model

Dangers and benefits of the freemium model — What did we learn out of Parse’s shutdown? Freemium business model is very popular, especially among start-ups. The main idea is to That’s a great marketing approach because naturally people like free things(cool service for free yeaah :) ), so soon they are hooked up and the service can grow pretty fast. give users cool free service and a premium version of it with more features included. There are some classic examples of great and successful freemium project such as , which was launched in September 2008 and 8 year later, in June 2015, had more than 75 million active users and this March announced 30 million paid users, an impressive number considering the huge free service part. Spotify Of course this is the positive lesson**- it’s not a perfect business plan**, because there’s a risk out there: first you must have a really large number of users (we’re talking about millions) in order for the company to be successful — only 1–2 % percent of the free users turn into paid ones. So the model is and not for those, whose range of products is limited in scope. effective for services who could gain potentially a large number of auditory In addition, there’s another crucial and tricky moment: you should be very careful with the decision which features to be paid and which not, cause if you don’t give enough cool free things you won’t gain users. But if you do — there will be no interest to pay for the premium version of the service. Why Parse’s freemium model didn’t work out offered a lot for free and this is probably the main financial discrepancy. Parse Core included 30 api requests per second, 20GB of file storage, 20GB of database storage, 2TB of file transfer, 1 million unique recipients/month, advanced push targeting, push scheduling and multiple push certificates available to everyone for free (including advanced analytics) which is Parse is reportedly supporting around 500 000 apps that makes about 5000 potentially paying users, which is not enough. Parse quite enough for a regular mobile app to be working just fine. , developers found it convenient and easy to focus on the building of the actual app, saving a lot of time and efforts. After Parse’s announcement to shut down, and worried that the scenario may repeat again with the next provider. This is the main flaw of the freemium model: not profitable enough, there’s no point to keep up with it. . That’s fine if we talk about enjoyable programs like Runastic, which we use in our personal life, — that’s a problem. Parse contributed a lot to make MBaaS so popular developers began to doubt the back-end industry So, it’s not trustworthy as a service but if your business depends on the service , the excellent iOS endless runner/beat-em-up crossover, have abandoned its free-to-play business model and decided to sell the game for $0.99 on the App Store. Rocketcat Games’ product gained more than 600,000 downloads in its first week since release, but from its in-app purchases. Players reported that there was so much free stuff in the game Rocketcat’s Kepa Auwae commented that if the studio didn’t change its business politic the studio risked “leaving mobile game development completely.” Parse is not the first popular company to experience the bad side of the freemium: Punch Quest failed to make much money that there was no point for buying the full version. Another example of failure of the freemium is Bidsketch — a SaaS based app for designers. There’s a quite by Ruben Gamez, the company’s founder, in which he honestly explains the struggles he felt after launching the product: while his users-base was growing, paid ones were just 1% and income was very small. He tried changing the free features but this didn’t work and at the end he had to support the huge amount of free users. The truth is: interesting article if one service is popular doesn’t automatically mean that it will be also profitable for the owner. Free vs. Secure It’s not fun and nice to say, especially if you’ve felt once the great experience of free awesome service, but products cost money for their creators: it takes time, resources and effort to deliver something great. And when the product doesn’t give back the investment: . Even if it doesn’t get completely shut down — it won’t be upgraded in the future and users will draw back from it naturally. Paying even a small amount of money ensures the long life of the service and the investments for its better quality and performance, which is especially valuable in the software technologies. the danger of being abandoned is always real There’s examples for paid services, which make the same growth as the freemium model: such as , which in December 2015 was announced as the second largest hosting company in the world in terms of web-facing computers and raised $ 123.21 million in funding. Their success was largely due to the flexible easy-to-understand paying model and their low-costed servers make a lot of sales. DigitalOcean So you don’t have to offer expensive service in order to have profitable and successful business. You just have to bring the best, not to charge more than what you deliver, but to know the price of your service in order to keep the quality. Marian Ignev ( @mignev )CEO of SashiDo

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There’s actually a lot of audiovisual media about cryptocurrencies and related technology that you can enjoy from your couch. Through analyses and unique tales, these films and documentaries address topics such as the history of Bitcoin, the evolution of the crypto market, its economic and social implications, and the legal and regulatory challenges. Besides all the learning stuff, they also give us unique perspectives about the crypto world, and amazing fictional stories full of action, mystery, drama, and more. Well, who doesn’t want to see a good story about a big heist or a death mystery? Let’s check ahead some crypto stories now available on several streaming platforms. The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014) This documentary first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2014. It was directed by the American Nicholas Mross, and it follows the life of Daniel Mross, a 35-year-old programmer who, in addition to his work and family life, has a great passion for Bitcoin. Since discovering this cryptocurrency in 2011, he’s been fascinated by everything surrounding it. Along with his brother Nicholas, who’s also the director, they decided to start filming this documentary due to their strong belief that Bitcoin could be the future of the economy. On his journey, Daniel meets and interviews several pioneers to explore this decentralized technology. Over time, it becomes evident that not everyone involved in Bitcoin managed to overcome the initial challenges. The piece received a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes, along with 82% of the audience score. Besides the Mross brothers, the cast includes Daniel’s wife, Eliza Mross; some Bitcoin entrepreneurs such as Gabriel Sukenik and Erik Voorhees, as well as crypto-personalities and consultants like Gavin Andresen, Brian Armstrong, Charlie Shrem, Alex Waters, and Jered Kenna. Currently, the documentary is available on Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcwnpvODd-8&embedable=true Bitcoin Heist (2016) Directed by the Vietnamese-American filmmaker Ham Tran, this action movie was released in Vietnam in 2016. The film's main cast includes Kate Nhung, Thanh Pham, Petey Majik Nguyen, Suboi, Veronica Ngo, and Nhung Kate. It immerses us in a plot where a group of undercover agents team up to capture the enigmatic criminal known as "The Ghost." Combining their unique skills, they embark on a mission filled with intrigue and technology to bring this cryptocurrency heist expert to justice. The movie offers a mix of suspense, action, and touches of comedy, providing an exciting look at the world of digital crimes. It received a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed a total of $562,919 in its country. Currently, this film is available on Prime Video and Fandango at Home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqUB58LnhE&embedable=true StartUp (2016-2018) This one is an American crime drama series created by Ben Ketai and premiered in 2016 on the video streaming platform Crackle. The main cast, led by Adam Brody, Martin Freeman, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, Ron Perlman, Mira Sorvino, and Addison Timlin, captivated the audience. After its second season on November 15, 2017, the series was greenlit for a third installment that premiered on November 1, 2018. However, it wasn’t renewed for a fourth season. The story narrates the rise of GenCoin, a new digital coin created with dubious purposes. The plot revolves around three unconventional individuals who don’t necessarily fit the stereotype of tech entrepreneurs, and a corrupt FBI agent determined to sabotage their efforts at all costs. With a backdrop of organized crime, corruption, and ethical challenges, the series explores the complexities of starting a business in the digital world, where the lines between good and evil blur, and moral decisions are constantly tested. StartUp received an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes. Currently, it can be found on Prime Video and Fandango at Home. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCf_MpXAXK8&embedable=true Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain (2018) This documentary, written and directed by British-American actor Alex Winter, was released in 2018 by SingularDTV. The film recounts the evolution of Bitcoin from its beginnings to its first encounter with fame through the infamous Silk Road market on the Darknet. It also examines the government's resistance to the idea of a decentralized currency, exemplified in the cases of hacktivists Lauri Love and Aaron Swartz. Trust Machine explores the fascinating world of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and its potential to transform various aspects of our society. That includes its potential applications in industries such as banking, healthcare, and logistics, where it offers a decentralized and secure system for data exchange and transaction recording. Additionally, it also addresses the public perception of cryptocurrencies as tools for illicit activities. It received a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 79% audience score. Currently, it can be found on Fandango at Home and on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvohNgVWKvw&embedable=true Crypto (2019) Maybe not the most popular option, but likely the first crypto movie backed by a heavyweight production company, such as Lionsgate. Released in 2019 and directed by John Stalberg Jr., it also features a notable cast including Beau Knapp, Alexis Bledel, Luke Hemsworth, and Kurt Russell. The film combines elements of suspense, crime drama, and money laundering through the world of cryptocurrencies. The plot follows a young Wall Street anti-money laundering agent who is demoted by his company to a small branch in his hometown and ends up investigating a series of suspicious financial transactions. As he delves deeper into the case, he uncovers a giant network of corruption and organized crime using cryptocurrencies to cover their illicit activities. Crypto offers an intriguing and suspenseful look at the darker side of the modern financial world. However, its release was limited to Turkiye, and it received a 17% score on Rotten Tomatoes, plus a 55% audience score. You can be the judge there. Currently, it’s available on Prime Video. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJPaeX2wp0&embedable=true Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet (2020) This award-winning documentary, released in 2020, explores the potential impact of cryptocurrencies and DLT. Directed by Torsten Hoffmann and produced by Bitfilm Production, the film examines how these innovations are shaping the future of the Internet and redefining concepts such as money, privacy, and online security. Cryptopia offers an insightful and enlightening view of the ongoing digital revolution, highlighting the opportunities and challenges these new technologies pose for society as a whole. The cast includes prominent figures in crypto, such as Andreas Antonopoulos, Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, and Roger Ver. The film premiered at various film festivals worldwide before becoming available on streaming platforms. It received an 82% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, and it’s currently available on Prime Video and YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMLSXH8TAdw&embedable=true Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King (2022) This title is an exclusive Netflix documentary directed by Luke Sewell and released in March 2022. The plot follows a group of cryptocurrency investors who were affected by the collapse of the Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX and the supposed death of his founder, Gerald Cotten, which caused millions in losses. About this, the documentary examines Cotten's strange and untimely death in India and the subsequent financial crisis that left thousands of investors without access to their funds. The cast includes testimonies from cryptocurrency experts, lawyers, and victims affected by the scandal. It received a 34% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes, but it could be a thought-provoking starting point to understand the Gerald Cotten and QuadrigaCX case. Maybe fraud? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2BPQ15OSw&embedable=true Now, time to relax and pick your favorites! If you want to make your own story in the crypto world, don’t forget to visit Obyte. From human-readable smart contracts to customized coins, we have everything there. Featured Vector Image by gstudioimagen / Freepik There’s actually a lot of audiovisual media about cryptocurrencies and related technology that you can enjoy from your couch. Through analyses and unique tales, these films and documentaries address topics such as the history of Bitcoin, the evolution of the crypto market, its economic and social implications, and the legal and regulatory challenges. Besides all the learning stuff, they also give us unique perspectives about the crypto world, and amazing fictional stories full of action, mystery, drama, and more. Well, who doesn’t want to see a good story about a big heist or a death mystery? Let’s check ahead some crypto stories now available on several streaming platforms. The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014) The Rise and Rise of Bitcoin (2014) This documentary first premiered at the Tribeca Film Festival in New York in 2014. It was directed by the American Nicholas Mross, and it follows the life of Daniel Mross, a 35-year-old programmer who, in addition to his work and family life, has a great passion for Bitcoin. Since discovering this cryptocurrency in 2011, he’s been fascinated by everything surrounding it. Along with his brother Nicholas, who’s also the director, they decided to start filming this documentary due to their strong belief that Bitcoin could be the future of the economy . On his journey, Daniel meets and interviews several pioneers to explore this decentralized technology. Over time, it becomes evident that not everyone involved in Bitcoin managed to overcome the initial challenges. Along with his brother Nicholas, who’s also the director, they decided to start filming this documentary due to their strong belief that Bitcoin could be the future of the economy The piece received a 67% score on Rotten Tomatoes , along with 82% of the audience score. Besides the Mross brothers, the cast includes Daniel’s wife, Eliza Mross; some Bitcoin entrepreneurs such as Gabriel Sukenik and Erik Voorhees, as well as crypto-personalities and consultants like Gavin Andresen, Brian Armstrong, Charlie Shrem, Alex Waters, and Jered Kenna. Currently, the documentary is available on Prime Video, Fandango at Home, and YouTube . Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes YouTube YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcwnpvODd-8&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gcwnpvODd-8&embedable=true Bitcoin Heist (2016) Directed by the Vietnamese-American filmmaker Ham Tran, this action movie was released in Vietnam in 2016. The film's main cast includes Kate Nhung, Thanh Pham, Petey Majik Nguyen, Suboi, Veronica Ngo, and Nhung Kate. It immerses us in a plot where a group of undercover agents team up to capture the enigmatic criminal known as "The Ghost." It immerses us in a plot where a group of undercover agents team up to capture the enigmatic criminal known as "The Ghost." Combining their unique skills, they embark on a mission filled with intrigue and technology to bring this cryptocurrency heist expert to justice. The movie offers a mix of suspense, action, and touches of comedy, providing an exciting look at the world of digital crimes. It received a 93% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes and grossed a total of $562,919 in its country. Currently, this film is available on Prime Video and Fandango at Home. Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes grossed grossed https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqUB58LnhE&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCqUB58LnhE&embedable=true StartUp (2016-2018) This one is an American crime drama series created by Ben Ketai and premiered in 2016 on the video streaming platform Crackle. The main cast, led by Adam Brody, Martin Freeman, Edi Gathegi, Otmara Marrero, Ron Perlman, Mira Sorvino, and Addison Timlin, captivated the audience. After its second season on November 15, 2017, the series was greenlit for a third installment that premiered on November 1, 2018. However, it wasn’t renewed for a fourth season. The story narrates the rise of GenCoin, a new digital coin created with dubious purposes. The plot revolves around three unconventional individuals who don’t necessarily fit the stereotype of tech entrepreneurs, and a corrupt FBI agent determined to sabotage their efforts at all costs. With a backdrop of organized crime, corruption, and ethical challenges, the series explores the complexities of starting a business in the digital world, where the lines between good and evil blur, and moral decisions are constantly tested. The story narrates the rise of GenCoin, a new digital coin created with dubious purposes. StartUp received an 89% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes . Currently, it can be found on Prime Video and Fandango at Home. Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCf_MpXAXK8&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yCf_MpXAXK8&embedable=true Trust Machine: The Story of Blockchain (2018) This documentary, written and directed by British-American actor Alex Winter, was released in 2018 by SingularDTV. The film recounts the evolution of Bitcoin from its beginnings to its first encounter with fame through the infamous Silk Road market on the Darknet. It also examines the government's resistance to the idea of a decentralized currency, exemplified in the cases of hacktivists Lauri Love and Aaron Swartz. Trust Machine explores the fascinating world of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and its potential to transform various aspects of our society. That includes its potential applications in industries such as banking, healthcare, and logistics, where it offers a decentralized and secure system for data exchange and transaction recording. Trust Machine explores the fascinating world of Distributed Ledger Technology (DLT) and its potential to transform various aspects of our society. Additionally, it also addresses the public perception of cryptocurrencies as tools for illicit activities. It received a 90% score on Rotten Tomatoes and a 79% audience score. Currently, it can be found on Fandango at Home and on YouTube . Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes YouTube YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvohNgVWKvw&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hvohNgVWKvw&embedable=true Crypto (2019) Maybe not the most popular option, but likely the first crypto movie backed by a heavyweight production company, such as Lionsgate. Released in 2019 and directed by John Stalberg Jr., it also features a notable cast including Beau Knapp, Alexis Bledel, Luke Hemsworth, and Kurt Russell. The film combines elements of suspense, crime drama, and money laundering through the world of cryptocurrencies. The plot follows a young Wall Street anti-money laundering agent who is demoted by his company to a small branch in his hometown and ends up investigating a series of suspicious financial transactions. As he delves deeper into the case, he uncovers a giant network of corruption and organized crime using cryptocurrencies to cover their illicit activities. The film combines elements of suspense, crime drama, and money laundering through the world of cryptocurrencies. Crypto offers an intriguing and suspenseful look at the darker side of the modern financial world. However, its release was limited to Turkiye, and it received a 17% score on Rotten Tomatoes , plus a 55% audience score. You can be the judge there. Currently, it’s available on Prime Video. was limited was limited on Rotten Tomatoes on Rotten Tomatoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJPaeX2wp0&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TxJPaeX2wp0&embedable=true Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet (2020) Cryptopia: Bitcoin, Blockchains and the Future of the Internet (2020) This award-winning documentary, released in 2020, explores the potential impact of cryptocurrencies and DLT. Directed by Torsten Hoffmann and produced by Bitfilm Production, the film examines how these innovations are shaping the future of the Internet and redefining concepts such as money, privacy, and online security. Cryptopia offers an insightful and enlightening view of the ongoing digital revolution, highlighting the opportunities and challenges these new technologies pose for society as a whole. The cast includes prominent figures in crypto, such as Andreas Antonopoulos, Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee, and Roger Ver. The film premiered at various film festivals worldwide before becoming available on streaming platforms. It received an 82% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes , and it’s currently available on Prime Video and YouTube . Cryptopia offers an insightful and enlightening view of the ongoing digital revolution, highlighting the opportunities and challenges these new technologies pose for society as a whole. Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes YouTube YouTube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMLSXH8TAdw&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aMLSXH8TAdw&embedable=true Trust No One: The Hunt for the Crypto King (2022) This title is an exclusive Netflix documentary directed by Luke Sewell and released in March 2022. The plot follows a group of cryptocurrency investors who were affected by the collapse of the Canadian crypto exchange QuadrigaCX and the supposed death of his founder, Gerald Cotten, which caused millions in losses. About this, the documentary examines Cotten's strange and untimely death in India and the subsequent financial crisis that left thousands of investors without access to their funds. The cast includes testimonies from cryptocurrency experts, lawyers, and victims affected by the scandal. It received a 34% audience score on Rotten Tomatoes , but it could be a thought-provoking starting point to understand the Gerald Cotten and QuadrigaCX case. Maybe fraud? examines Cotten's strange and untimely death in India and the subsequent financial crisis that left thousands of investors without access to their funds. Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2BPQ15OSw&embedable=true https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vW2BPQ15OSw&embedable=true Now, time to relax and pick your favorites! If you want to make your own story in the crypto world, don’t forget to visit Obyte . From human-readable smart contracts to customized coins , we have everything there. Obyte Obyte customized coins customized coins Featured Vector Image by gstudioimagen / Freepik Featured Vector Image by gstudioimagen / Freepik Freepik Freepik

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I always wondered how free apps make money. I did some research on this and found a lot of different avenues to follow. Let's jump into the ins and outs of how to earn money with free apps Background I always encountered those exciting, sometimes annoying ads and pop-ups while browsing the web. YouTube has certainly made their ads unescapable, robbing me of two minutes of desired view time. Have you thought about why they appear anyway? I certainly have. Those are some of the different monetization strategies for free apps. There are multiple other ways to monetize free apps. “Free App” Monetization Monetization is the ability to earn from your creations. App monetization is the strategy of making money off an application. Some monetization styles perform better than others. Let's learn the monetization method that works best in your situation. How to make money from an app: Different monetization strategies There are countless ways to profit from free apps. You can apply one or several monetization methods depending on your industry or the type of app. Let's get into the details: In-app advertising Do you know how YouTube makes money? Discover what is in-app advertising and how it occurs below: Apps like YouTube display banner ads via content uploaded on its platform. Despite being a popular monetization style, you may need high engagement rates to make good advertising income. Video ads You have most likely come across those ad videos that appear when viewing certain content. Video ads are more visually appealing and could attract the audience better than display ads. At the same time, you must ensure the ads do not ruin user experience and affect your monetization. There’s no way to tell where this line is but if YouTube is anything to go by then I can guess the line is far. Native advertising In-app advertising can also work by promoting other businesses, products, or services. Native advertising may also include sponsored content mixed into the app. This method may be popular if you do not want to distract your audience through other ads. In-app purchases How does Amazon make money? In-app purchases are one of them through the products or services listed on the platform. The benefits of in-app purchases are low costs, and you do not need to own the products or services. In-app purchasing is popular with e-commerce sites, dating apps, gaming platforms, and fitness apps. Monetization through this method can occur in the following ways: Paid content Paid content is information on your app, whether video, text, or downloadable that others must pay to access. Examples like e-books and courses can be offered as paid-for content despite your app being free for other services. Subscriptions Free apps may not be free forever. Free apps provide trial periods where users can use them at no cost. The aim is to lure them into paying a subscription fee once they are used to the product or service offered. Freemium model Freemium apps make money by charging users for premium features. Users have unrestricted access to the basic free version. They have to pay for advanced features. An example of this is ChatGPT, which you can access for free, but you will be charged $20 monthly for ChatGPT Plus. Data monetization Have you ever wondered why companies like Google and Facebook can provide relevant content tailored to your needs? It's because they have mastered the art of data monetization. Below are some valuable data monetization methods. User data Do you want to know how to monetize user data? If you hold a directory of people visiting your app, you can monetize it by licensing or selling it to third parties that need it. This monetization may require user approval; as unauthorized sharing can cause privacy violations. You may also use the user data to tailor your in-app products or services for maximum value creation. Location data Think of navigation apps like Waze. These apps collect crucial geo data. Businesses needing to place location-related ads rely on such apps for data collection. If your app is one of these categories, this could be a suitable monetization strategy, although you may need user consent. Targeted advertising Once you understand the type of data you hold, including age profiles, sex, preferences, and user traits, you can use it for targeted advertising. You can sell your own or a third-party product or service through targeted ads. How to choose the best free app monetization strategy There are numerous ways to monetize free apps. However, to succeed in-app monetization, you must apply the right strategy. There are plenty of tips to use when choosing the app monetization strategy. What is your business goal? It must be clear what you want in your app monetization. A monetization method like a subscription could work best if you already have a client base. If you are relatively new, you may consider an advertising revenue model. What's your target audience? Know your customers and what they want. Are they able and willing to pay for a product or service, and what functionality do they want with the app? It would be prudent to run a rewarded video ad for gamers since it addresses their needs. Knowing your audience and offering tailored ads ensures better response rates and engagements. How about the competition? Chances are that a rival app is using your considered monetization method. You may use the same strategy if you can cut a niche that suits your business. However, you may evaluate the competitors' strengths and weaknesses and use a unique monetization method. Does it make economic sense? As much as you may prefer a particular monetization, it must make sense regarding the potential number of users, signups, average spending, etc. The numbers must add up either now or in a predictive model. Your last wish is to select a monetization method that will make your business struggle to break even. Summary I don’t think there is a specific rule for monetization for your free app. Your choice method needs to make economic sense and not impact user experience. My rule of thumb is to choose a monetization method that aligns with the business goal and users and carries a unique value proposition. I always wondered how free apps make money. I did some research on this and found a lot of different avenues to follow. Let's jump into the ins and outs of how to earn money with free apps Background I always encountered those exciting, sometimes annoying ads and pop-ups while browsing the web. YouTube has certainly made their ads unescapable, robbing me of two minutes of desired view time. YouTube Have you thought about why they appear anyway? I certainly have. Those are some of the different monetization strategies for free apps. There are multiple other ways to monetize free apps. “Free App” Monetization Monetization is the ability to earn from your creations. App monetization is the strategy of making money off an application. Some monetization styles perform better than others. Let's learn the monetization method that works best in your situation. How to make money from an app: Different monetization strategies There are countless ways to profit from free apps. You can apply one or several monetization methods depending on your industry or the type of app. Let's get into the details: In-app advertising Do you know how YouTube makes money? Discover what is in-app advertising and how it occurs below: Apps like YouTube display banner ads via content uploaded on its platform. Despite being a popular monetization style, you may need high engagement rates to make good advertising income. Video ads You have most likely come across those ad videos that appear when viewing certain content. Video ads are more visually appealing and could attract the audience better than display ads. At the same time, you must ensure the ads do not ruin user experience and affect your monetization. There’s no way to tell where this line is but if YouTube is anything to go by then I can guess the line is far. Native advertising In-app advertising can also work by promoting other businesses, products, or services. Native advertising may also include sponsored content mixed into the app. This method may be popular if you do not want to distract your audience through other ads. In-app purchases How does Amazon make money? In-app purchases are one of them through the products or services listed on the platform. The benefits of in-app purchases are low costs, and you do not need to own the products or services. In-app purchasing is popular with e-commerce sites, dating apps, gaming platforms, and fitness apps. Monetization through this method can occur in the following ways: Paid content Paid content is information on your app, whether video, text, or downloadable that others must pay to access. Examples like e-books and courses can be offered as paid-for content despite your app being free for other services. Subscriptions Free apps may not be free forever. Free apps provide trial periods where users can use them at no cost. The aim is to lure them into paying a subscription fee once they are used to the product or service offered. Freemium model Freemium apps make money by charging users for premium features. Users have unrestricted access to the basic free version. They have to pay for advanced features. An example of this is ChatGPT, which you can access for free, but you will be charged $20 monthly for ChatGPT Plus. Data monetization Have you ever wondered why companies like Google and Facebook can provide relevant content tailored to your needs? It's because they have mastered the art of data monetization. Below are some valuable data monetization methods. User data Do you want to know how to monetize user data? If you hold a directory of people visiting your app, you can monetize it by licensing or selling it to third parties that need it. This monetization may require user approval; as unauthorized sharing can cause privacy violations. You may also use the user data to tailor your in-app products or services for maximum value creation. Location data Think of navigation apps like Waze. These apps collect crucial geo data. Businesses needing to place location-related ads rely on such apps for data collection. If your app is one of these categories, this could be a suitable monetization strategy, although you may need user consent. Targeted advertising Once you understand the type of data you hold, including age profiles, sex, preferences, and user traits, you can use it for targeted advertising. You can sell your own or a third-party product or service through targeted ads. How to choose the best free app monetization strategy There are numerous ways to monetize free apps. However, to succeed in-app monetization, you must apply the right strategy. There are plenty of tips to use when choosing the app monetization strategy. What is your business goal? It must be clear what you want in your app monetization. A monetization method like a subscription could work best if you already have a client base. If you are relatively new, you may consider an advertising revenue model. What's your target audience? Know your customers and what they want. Are they able and willing to pay for a product or service, and what functionality do they want with the app? It would be prudent to run a rewarded video ad for gamers since it addresses their needs. Knowing your audience and offering tailored ads ensures better response rates and engagements. How about the competition? Chances are that a rival app is using your considered monetization method. You may use the same strategy if you can cut a niche that suits your business. However, you may evaluate the competitors' strengths and weaknesses and use a unique monetization method. Does it make economic sense? As much as you may prefer a particular monetization, it must make sense regarding the potential number of users, signups, average spending, etc. The numbers must add up either now or in a predictive model. Your last wish is to select a monetization method that will make your business struggle to break even. Summary I don’t think there is a specific rule for monetization for your free app. Your choice method needs to make economic sense and not impact user experience. My rule of thumb is to choose a monetization method that aligns with the business goal and users and carries a unique value proposition.

Learn How Free Apps Make Money

Authors: (1) William P. Wagner IV, Claremont Graduate University. Table of Links Abstract & Introduction Definition of Key Terms Fundamentals of Internet Operation Encapsulation Usage-Based Economic Models Net Neutrality Legal History Researcher Conclusions Areas for Further Exploration & References Abstract This paper serves as a brief technical examination of Net Neutrality and the Internet fundamentals relevant to the discussion. This document seeks to provide sufficient technical perspective that it may inform the political and economic debate surrounding the issue in the United States. Further, this research demonstrates that existing Internet economics are based strictly on usage, and that this model can account for all uses. Finally, I will argue that there should be some legislation and regulation of ISPs with regard to Net Neutrality in the U.S. Keywords - Net Neutrality, Internet, ISP, Provider, Government Regulation 1. Introduction Net Neutrality has been in the news over the last decade as a topic of political, economic, and civil rights consideration in the United States [1][2][3]. As documented in the rest of this paper, The U.S. Government as well as those of other nations [4], state and local governments, the national private networks that make up the Internet backbone, and major technology and content providers are all engaged in an active push-pull to define internet standards that protect innovation, corporate interests, and consumer needs. The Internet is fundamental to success in the modern world [5]. Communities, law enforcement, hospitals, militaries, corporations, and individuals with a certain level of access to the internet are all demonstrably better equipped for success in the current United States and globally. In 1996, in section 230(b) of the Communications Act of 1934, as amended, Congress describes its national Internet policy. Specifically, Congress states that it is the policy of the United States “to preserve the vibrant and competitive free market that presently exists for the Internet” [6] and “to promote the continued development of the Internet [7].” Because of this need, it has become desirable for infrastructure planning and budgeting to define minimum standards. What those minimum standards are and what mechanism should regulate them is the first piece of the Net Neutrality debate. Proponents of Net Neutrality want legislation that prevents ISPs from restricting or prioritizing traffic – known as “fast lanes” – claiming this will stifle freemarket innovation, investment, expansion, and user choice along the “Edge” of the Internet. Opponents of Net Neutrality claim the legislation will stifle freemarket innovation and expansion by ISPs. As illustrated in fig.1, the consumer’s interests are protected through a combination of free enterprise and legislation, so this paper explores any relevant technical considerations and existing protocols, before moving to the economic models, then finally the legal fight in the courts. This research paper demonstrates how all Internet traffic uses a process known as Encapsulation to achieve complete separation between the content/application developers, and the hardware/networking engineers. Finally, this paper explains how the current economic model, based strictly on usage, accounts for all internet traffic down to the smallest possible unit of measure – a single bit. It is beyond the scope of this paper to fully explore the socio-political and economic ramifications of any changes to the current system such as supply-side assistance that would encourage network expansion vs. demand-side stimulus to reduce consumer cost, however this researcher will provide some legal history and make some observations on the current state of the political and legal debate. This paper is under CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 DEED license. available on arxiv

A Technical Perspective on Net Neutrality

নেট নিরপেক্ষতার উপর একটি প্রযুক্তিগত দৃষ্টিকোণ

Eine technische Perspektive zur Netzneutralität

Una perspectiva técnica sobre la neutralidad de la red

Une perspective technique sur la neutralité du Net

नेट न्यूट्रैलिटी पर एक तकनीकी परिप्रेक्ष्य

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