[SaaS Club] SaaS Freemium Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them

Hey, this is Omer...

Here's the latest SaaS Club update...

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🎧 Podcast
We just published the latest episode of The SaaS Podcast:

SaaS Freemium Pitfalls and How to Avoid Them
Mark Tanner is the co-founder, and COO of Qwilr, a SaaS product that helps you create design-perfect proposals, quotes, client updates, and more.

Dylan (Mark’s co-founder) was a designer/developer who found himself wasting a lot of time creating proposals.

Like any self-respecting designer, he wanted to create beautiful proposals. But that meant a lot of work and back-and-forth using Word, Excel, and Adobe InDesign.

One day, out of frustration, he created a website as his proposal doc.

Not only did he get hired, but the client loved the website proposal and was impressed by how quickly he’d built a website for them. And that’s how the idea for Qwilr was born.

Dylan and Mark teamed up and decided to give this business idea a try for a couple of months. They wanted to learn if they could find their first 10 customers.

In this interview, you’ll learn how they turned that 2-month experiment into a business with 45 employees, $7.5M in funding, and around 3,000 customers.  

We also talk in-depth about the pros and cons of a freemium business model. And you’ll learn about the mistakes, failures, and successes that Qwilr had with their freemium plans.

We also identify some important considerations you have to make before choosing a freemium model and how you can avoid making some of the same mistakes Dylan and Mark did.

👉 Listen to the episode here


💬 Quotes of the Week
Here are the quotes of the week from Mark:

"No one knows who Atlassian is and no one knows what we do."
-- Mike Cannon-Brookes

"10 customers is impossible, but if you can get there, you can definitely get to 20."

-- Jason Lemkin


📕 Book of the Week

This weeks' recommendation is Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High: Tools for Talking When Stakes Are High” by Kerry Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan, and Al Switzler

Here's a brief blurb about it:

"Learn how to keep your cool and get the results you want when emotions flare. When stakes are high, opinions vary, and emotions run strong, you have three choices: Avoid a crucial conversation and suffer the consequences; handle the conversation badly and suffer the consequences. Crucial Conversations gives you the tools you need to step up to life's most difficult and important conversations, say what's on your mind, and achieve the positive resolutions you want. You'll learn how to: Prepare for high-impact situations with a six-minute mastery technique Make it safe to talk about almost anything Be persuasive, not abrasive Keep listening when others blow up or clam up Turn crucial conversations into the action and results you want Whether they take place at work or at home, with your neighbors or your spouse, crucial conversations can have a profound impact on your career, your happiness, and your future."


👋 Say hi on Twitter or LinkedIn
Follow me on Twitter or connect on LinkedIn (mention that you're on my email list).

--Omer

P.S. whenever you're ready, here are 3 ways I can help you with your SaaS:

1. Join SaaS Club Plus: our membership and community for new and early-stage SaaS founders. Join our community, get training and support.

2. Join SaaS Club Launch: a 12-week group coaching program to help you get your SaaS from zero to your first $10K revenue.

3. Apply for SaaS Club Accelerate: If you'd like to work directly with me 1:1, then schedule a 45-minute 'clarity' call.



























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