Image via
CrunchBase, source unknown
Here is a note to all cloud storage startups. Please set your price before
going into beta. Almost all the cloud based storage startups I have come across
open their business to beta without even having any idea of what they are going
to charge for their service in the future. I do understand that they need to go
through the beta stage to figure out the challenges they face as a business.
However, they are driving users crazy with their shoot first and think later
strategy.
I have had this experience with many of the storage startups. In fact, only
one among them, Sugarsync, was blunt in
accepting the fact that they are clueless about their pricing. I was very
frustrated when I heard about it. I stopped using Sugarsync till they actually
came up with their pricing plan. Now, I am a happy customer. In fact, my
experience with Dropbox, Syncplicity and others were also the
same. Now, there is a new player is in town with the name Livedrive. Like Syncplicity, they are also
offering unlimited storage right now in beta stage, without any information
about how much they will charge in the future.
I know of many users who uploaded tons of data because Syncplicity offered
unlimited storage for free. Once they started charging after the beta period,
those users had to give up their data on Syncplicity either because they didn’t
want to pay for the storage or because they can’t afford to pay the price due to
the high currency conversion rates. I definitely do agree that storage startups
have to pay their bills and hence they cannot offer it for free. I also agree
that those users who lost their data on Syncplicity, when the service moved from
free to paid plans, are the ones to be blamed. But it highlights a very
important dilemma for users. In the absence of any word about the future pricing
plans, users are hesitant to put their data on these storage startups, usually
offering generous amounts of storage space. Why would anyone spend their
valuable time uploading data into these services, only to find out at a later
time that they cannot afford their pricing. It is a complete waste of people’s
time.
It is very important for these storage startups to do their math on pricing
if they want the users to take them seriously. Seriously, no one wants to spend
their time uploading data to find out that they cannot afford it or they do not
want that pricing. It is not just a waste of user’s time. With ISPs like Comcast
limiting the bandwidth (and in some countries, people pay based on their
bandwidth usage), it is also a case of losing money. This is my suggestion to
all the future storage startups. Please announce your pricing information when
you signup users for beta. Only then your company will be taken seriously.
I’ve seen a lot of this and it is truly a missed opportunity. Why wouldn’t you not only tell users how valuable your “free” beta is but also use the opportunity to give special pricing to either a group limited by a number or a date? If you don’t have buyers of your special offer before the go live date – you have to ask what you are missing.
[..] Krish wrote in December about the importance for startups to do the math early andpublish their pricing: [..]