

Ask YC: Give Beta users a free release copy?  - anand

We're getting close to launching our product which is a consumer desktop app.  We're currently in private beta.<p>Should we give our beta testers a free or discounted copy of the final Pro version?  Some sound like they are expecting a free copy or they'd be offended.<p>I want to be as generous as possible and establish strong long-term relationships with our customers, especially those who've given us extensive feedback.  But we've got a big beta list that took time to generate and thats a lot of potential revenue we're kissing goodbye.  I'm conflicted.
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MikeW
Long answer to a short question: (It depends.)

Some things I've picked up from being a beta tester, to running betas, and
working at a company that did betas from tens of beta testers to many
thousands of beta testers:

\- There are groups of people who jump from beta to beta, trying to get a free
ride without having to pay for the software (always jumping to the next beta
because it's "good enough" if it doesn't meet a high quality bar)

\- There are those who go well beyond the extra mile and help shape the
products giving insights we never thought of. Those people were worth far more
than $25.

One of the teams decided they would give the final version of software worth
hundreds of dollars to any tester who submitted one or more pieces of
feedback. This worked to: \- Help links between the testers and the company
long term. \- Was a fair way of rewarding anyone who at least found an issue
or design flaw.

Managing a good beta community takes a LOT of time and resources. At the start
of the beta I spent more time engaging with users though the bugtracker/email
(which ended up establishing norms) than actual deving, but when I ended up
with 3 or 4 testers who understood what I was trying to achieve and try out
what I wanted - they were brilliant. So perhaps instead of trying to figure
out who should get pro versions and who should not:

\- Give anyone who gave you valuable feedback/real bugs the pro product since
it's so cheap - but be transparent. Loads of testers feel involved (and feel
they have the right) to something so if you are transparent about the criteria
then they can be applied to everyone rather than "top" people. Beta tester
revolts get ugly and cost so much time and goodwill. \- Find some way of
rewarding the top few testers who you have a good relationship with and _help_
your development and product evolution.

Although just about every project has had completely different expectations,
motivations and feedback loops so chop and change any advice to suit you.
However in every project I was involved with: the testers felt part of a
community so don't ruin that.

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aaroneous
Wil Shipley (Omni Group, Delicious Monster, etc) has a great talk called
"Monster Marketing" full thing here:
<http://www.viddler.com/explore/rentzsch/videos/4/>).

~25mins in he talks about being a software slut. Do that.

~~~
anand
Nice. I like the suggestion of giving beta users a free copy of software if
they found a bug you didn't know about.

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SingAlong
Select a small set of users of different sets (like those who speak minimal
english) and and of different age groups and whatever categories you want.

Since you are in private beta and you work on paid stuff. Give them free
copies of the final pro. Thats the best you can thank them. That's a lot
better than paying every beta tester $50 and of a lot more value and respect
to them. If its a good product they would be more than happy to get a free
copy.

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phil_KartMe
as a customer, i would be very upset if something was taken away from me,
unless initially it was clearly labeled a trial (and beta does not equal trial
--gmail is still in beta).

could you let them use the pro version they have for free (version 1), and
offer them a discount in 6 months for upgrading to Version 2? or offer them a
maintenance & support package for a fee?

------
shutter
I'd say it depends on the number of beta testers; you say you had a big beta
list, so it might make more sense to offer a discount rather than just free
versions, if you intend on doing anything at all.

Is the Pro version more featureful than a "non-Pro" version, or is the app
itself the only version?

~~~
anand
How deep of a discount would make sense? We're looking at a $25-30 price
point.

We plan on having a Free and Pro version. The Free version will have a
generous helping of the features. It'll be fully functional and not crippled.
The Pro will have a few more icing features, but stuff that can be lived
without.

~~~
modoc
Have you gotten $25 worth of testing, feedback, bugs, tweaks, etc... out of
your average beta tester? I'll bet you have.

If so, you should give them a free pro copy, and ask them to introduce their
friends to your software. If your beta testers are a good sales demographic,
they probably have many friends who are also good sales demographic folks.

~~~
anand
I wouldn't say our average tester has given us $25 worth of testing. But some
definitely have, even more than $25 worth. Separating these after the fact is
potentially sticky.

~~~
silencio
Well, would there be some not-sticky way of separating them after the fact?
like, say, based on amount of non-trivial input they've given? There _are_
sometimes beta "testers" who never really give any input.

For my startup, we're providing a service we'll be charging for monthly. All
the beta testers will get some kind of discount we've yet to figure out yet (a
few months free, most likely, or some steep discount) and all beta testers
actually telling us about issues something probably double that if not more.

I guess I just don't like the idea of rewarding someone giving me absolutely
nothing in return equally as someone giving me invaluable amounts of help.

~~~
DaniFong
In general you don't need to give beta testers much more than thanks, and the
chance to try shiny new things. Earnest thanks tends to make them pretty
happy, all by itself.

Btw, What's your startup, silencio? My email is dani.fong at gmail.

~~~
anand
BumpTop. <http://bumptop.com> a 3D desktop yo.

