They even state "for many apps, like Instagram [...]" as a good example when revenue is not needed. I'm flabbergasted.
It is very unlikely that you will be extremely popular and not find a way to make money. It is very likely that you can figure out a way to make money but not be very popular.
Making money is, relatively speaking, easy. Focus on the hardest problems you have first, not the easiest ones.
Is this a strategy people should always aim for? No. But there are legitimate reasons why revenue should not be the top priority, and this post does a good job at narrowing it down.
Without revenue you can say it would have been very hard for them to, you know, exist as a company for some period of time.
Might as well take it a step further and consider waiting on building a product. Why define your business with a real product when you can, like Zombo.com, do anything?
But enlighten me good sir: How can I get some pesky revenue? I at least don't have a product to get in the way but would actually like some money.
Thank you kind sir!
</smartass remark>
I'd love to hear more from Richard about how they tested the impacts of moving from the $5 to the free plan.
And yes, it's definitely a solid strategy to delay revenue for users. I'm sure someone will argue this is Web 1.0-bubbly thinking. But, provided you're doing it in the way that Richard suggests, it's not totally insane. Twitter might not have found a great business yet, but at least they've gotten past one of the big hurdles -- getting people to come to the party.
Really? "Most people" with a new business end up with stable but unexciting businesses?
I suspect most people end in failure, not Stable Business. In a post full of deeply questionable logic, this little gem takes the cake for me. I suspect some anecdotal evidence from otehr commenters will back this up or that there is a bevy of statistics to prove that this is true, even in the rarefied atmosphere of web companies.
If you don't want to take money or you're not in a market that is strongly viral then obviously you have to be concerned about revenue much earlier. If you are though then focusing on revenue in the short run may be detrimental.
