DOCSLIB.ORG

'Free Business Models' Successful in Software As a Service Ventures

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
'Free Business Models' Successful in Software As a Service Ventures Key Factors that Make ‘Free Business Models’ Successful in Software as a Service Ventures ALI MEKOUAR DINO POHILJ Master of Science Thesis Stockholm, Sweden 2015 Key Factors that Make ‗Free Business Models‘ Successful in Software as a Service Ventures Ali Mekouar Dino Pohilj Master of Science Thesis INDEK 2015:30 KTH Industrial Engineering and Management Industrial Management SE-100 44 STOCKHOLM Master of Science Thesis INDEK 2015:30 Key Factors that Make ‘Free Business Models’ Successful in Software as a Service Ventures Ali Mekouar Dino Pohilj Approved Examiner Supervisor 2015-May-26 Terrence Brown Gregg Vanourek Abstract This thesis research analyzes why and how Software as a Service (SaaS) ventures can succeed or fail using the two forms of free business models: freemium and free based on a multi-sided platform. Software as a Service ventures nowadays need a strong market presence and visibility to be financially sustainable, and that is why they are constantly innovating methods to reach solvency. Many of those companies chose free business models to reach that market presence and economic growth. Academic research in this subject is very limited, and there is no framework or guide that shows how companies using these business models can succeed. The aim of this research is to address that gap and determine the key factors that lead to success for ventures using these business models. The researchers‘ approach of understanding, analyzing and deciphering these business models stands on a qualitative open-ended research strategy with case studies, backed by interviews of companies using these business models. The findings are based on the gathered and analyzed data from the case studies and the interviews. The result of this research is the classification of key factors in three major groups: Customers, Development Strategy, and Business Sustainability. This research expands the information and understanding in the field of business models, and more precisely freemium and free based on a multi-sided platform. Also, it demonstrates that both free business models can be a viable choice for SaaS ventures. Keywords Customers, Business Models, Business Model Innovation, Business Sustainability, Development Strategy, Free, Freemium, Free based on a Multi-Sided Platform Table of contents Abstract ..................................................................................................... 2 Acknowledgements ................................................................................... 4 Terms ........................................................................................................ 5 Abbreviations ............................................................................................ 6 List of Figures ........................................................................................... 7 1. Introduction ............................................................................................ 8 1.1 Background ......................................................................................... 8 1.2 Research Question and Aim ............................................................... 10 2. Literature Review ................................................................................. 11 2.1 Industrial Dynamics ............................................................................. 11 2.2 Business Model Innovation ................................................................. 12 2.3 Free Business Models ........................................................................ 14 3. Methodology ......................................................................................... 19 3.1 Research Design and Method ............................................................ 19 3.2 Data Collection and Analysis .............................................................. 20 3.3 Limitations ........................................................................................... 22 3.4 Delimitations ....................................................................................... 23 4. Empirical Findings ................................................................................ 24 4.1 Case 1: Facebook ............................................................................... 24 4.2 Case 2: Shazam ................................................................................. 28 4.3 Case 3: Everpix ................................................................................... 31 5. Discussion ............................................................................................. 34 5.1 Customers ........................................................................................... 34 5.2 Business Sustainability ....................................................................... 35 5.3 Development Strategy ........................................................................ 37 6. Conclusions ........................................................................................... 38 6.1 Further Research ................................................................................ 40 7. Bibliography ............................................................................................. 41 8. Appendix ................................................................................................. 48 8.1 Appendix A: Interviewees ................................................................... 48 8.2 Appendix B: Interview Guide ............................................................... 49 3 Acknowledgements First and foremost, we would like to express our gratitude and appreciation to our supervisor, Gregg Vanourek. His guidance, recommendations, critical feedback and expertise in our area of research have been very helpful throughout the whole process. Secondly, we want to thank Terrence Brown, our program director, for sharing insights and guidance regarding the thesis structure and content. Lastly, we are thankful for the time and insights that our interviewees--Siavash Ghorbani from Tictail, and Gustav Gyllenhammar from Spotify--shared with us. 4 Terms Business Model: The rationale for how an organization creates, delivers and captures value. Business Model Canvas: is a visual tool that describes the key components of a business. Created by A. Osterwalder. Closure: A concept that describes how an industry or a product can reach specific technological limitations after a period of development. Conversion rate: The rate at which customers convert from free to the premium version of a product or service. Cumulative technologies: Sticking with current technologies, practices and routines, since the payoff of the new ones are uncertain. Customer acquisition cost: Cost incurred when trying to convince potential customer to use, buy or subscribe to product or a service. Customer lifetime value: The projected value that will come from a customer throughout their future relationship with a company. Dominant Design: New, key features (often technological) that become a standard. Engagement rate: The rate at which customers interact with a product or service. Free based on MSP: is a business model where businesses create value for at least two different types of customers, providing products or services that allow a mutual interaction and benefits. Freemium: is a business model where the main product or service is free, whilst additional or premium features are being charged for. Hosted applications: Applications that are based on Internet (cloud). Term often used to describe Software as a Service (SaaS). Lock-in-effect: A situation when the probability to change to other option is decreased, once an investment has been made. Network effect: A situation when some product or service is more valuable when more/other people use it, and therefore new users are coming because of existing ones. 5 Path dependency: A concept that describes how previously made decisions limit future possibilities. Razor and Blades: is a business model where customers acquire a heavily discounted product, or even free of charge, but then they are locked-in with expensive replacements or add-ons. SaaS: Any cloud services where people use the Internet to access software applications. Tag: A term that has several different purposes and is a common term with web ventures. Shazam uses it to define the results of song recognitions. Viral coefficient: Metric used to determine how many customers each current customer brings on an average. Abbreviations BM: Business Model BP: Business Plan DAU: Daily Active Users IT: Information Technology MAU: Monthly Active Users MSP: Multi-sided Platform ROA: Return On Assets ROI: Return On Investment SaaS: Software as a Service SEM: Search Engine Marketing SEO: Search Engine Optimization SNS: Social Networking Site 6 List of Figures Figure 1. Five components of a business model innovation ............................ 13 Figure 2. Business model canvas – Facebook ............................................... 26 Figure 3. Revenue by segment – Facebook .................................................... 27 Figure 4. Key statistics – Shazam ................................................................... 29 Figure 5. Exponential growth in tags - Shazam ................................................. 30 Figure 6. Revenue vs. Cost graph - Everpix ...................................................... 32 Figure 7. Gross income from operations – Everpix ........................................ 32 Figure 8. Key
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Comércio Eletrônico
    Comércio Eletrônico Aula 1 - Overview of Electronic Commerce Learning Objectives 1. Define electronic commerce (EC) and describe its various categories. 2. Describe and discuss the content and framework of EC. 3. Describe the major types of EC transactions. 4. Describe the drivers of EC. 5. Discuss the benefits of EC to individuals, organizations, and society. 6. Discuss social computing. 7. Describe social commerce and social software. 8. Understand the elements of the digital world. 9. Describe some EC business models. 10. List and describe the major limitations of EC. Case: Starbucks Electronic Commerce (EC) EC refers to using the Internet and other networks (e.g., intranets) to purchase, sell, transport, or trade data, goods, or services. e-Business • Narrow definition of EC: buying and selling transactions between business partners. • e-Business refers to a broader definition of EC: – buying and selling of goods and services – Servicing customers – collaborating with business partners, – delivering e-learning, – conducting electronic transactions within organizations. – Among others e-Business Note: some view e-business only as comprising those activities that do not involve buying or selling over the Internet, i.e., a complement of the narrowly defined EC. Major EC Concepts: Non-EC vs. Pure EC vs. Partial EC • EC three major activities: – ordering and payments, – order fulfilment, and – delivery to customers. • pure EC: all activities are digital, • non-EC: none are digital, • otherwise, we have partial EC. Major EC Concepts: Pure
    [Show full text]
  • E-Commerce Business Models and Concepts
    CHAPTER 2 E-commerce Business Models and Concepts LEARNING OBJECTIVES After reading this chapter, you will be able to: ■■ Identify the key components of e-commerce business models. ■■ Describe the major B2C business models. ■■ Describe the major B2B business models. ■■ Understand key business concepts and strategies applicable to e-commerce. Tweet Tweet: Twitter’s Business Model witter, the social network phenomenon based on 140-character text mes- Tsages, continues in the long tradition of Internet developments that appear to spring out of nowhere and take the world by storm. Twitter provides a platform for users to express themselves by creating content and sharing it with followers, who sign up to receive “tweets.” Twitter began as a Web-based version of popular text messaging ser- vices provided by cell phone carriers. The basic idea was to marry short text messaging on cell phones with the Web © Kennedy Photography / Alamy and its ability to create social groups. You start by establishing a Twitter account online. By typing a short message called a tweet online or to a code on your cell phone (40404), you can tell your followers what you are doing, your location, or whatever else you might want to say. You are limited to 140 characters, but there is no installation required and no charge. Coming up with solid numbers for Twitter is not easy. By 2013, Twitter had an esti- mated 550 million registered users worldwide, although it is not clear how many continue to actively use the service after signing up. According to Twitter itself, it had 200 million “active” users worldwide as of July 2013.
    [Show full text]
  • “Business Models and Pricing Strategies in Videogames Industry”
    ΔΘΑΣΜΗΜΑΣΘΚΟ ΠΡΟΓΡΑΜΜΑ ΜΕΣΑΠΣΤΥΘΑΚΩΝ ΢ΠΟΤΔΩΝ ΢ΣΑ ΠΛΗΡΟΦΟΡΘΑΚΑ ΢Τ΢ΣΗΜΑΣΑ Διπλωμαηική Εργαζία “Business models and Pricing Strategies in videogames industry” ηοσ ΠΑ΢ΥΑΛΗ ΑΡΑΜΠΑΣΖΗ Τποβλήθηκε ως απαιηούμενο για ηην απόκηηζη ηοσ μεηαπηστιακού διπλώμαηος ειδίκεσζης ζηα Πληροθοριακά ΢σζηήμαηα Φεβροσάριος 2014 2 Abstract In our thesis we examine which factors have an influence on players‟ intention to buy virtual items. In order to examine these factors we created a research model and conducted an online survey. Especially, we included constructs from an IS (Information System) perspective as well as from a game centric approach. We analyzed the results using PLS-SEM method and we found out that the Game-centric constructs: customization options, in-game functionality features, prestige, participation and perceived enjoyment have a positive effect. We distinguished as the most important Game-centric constructs the customization options, the in-game functionality features and the prestige. IS-centric constructs such as performance expectancy, effort expectancy and perceived value are also important for players‟ intention to buy virtual items and they have a strong effect. These results can be useful to videogame companies which adopt business models that include virtual item transactions. Based on these results we suggest that videogame companies should offer virtual items taking into account the most important Game-centric constructs and establish or improve their virtual shops by taking into account the IS-centric constructs. 3 Acknowledgements I would especially like to thank my supervisor Professor Dr. Anastasios Economides and Phd Vasileios Terzis for their trust and valuable guidance. Besides, I would like to thank everyone who has taken the time to complete the questionnaire of this Thesis.
    [Show full text]
  • Thefreemiummanifesto-Profitwell.Pdf
    + + + + 0111 + - 0110001 THE 0110001010010011 011 0111 FREEMIUM MANIFESTO 000000 1110 0110001 Free Premium THE FREEMIUM MANIFESTO 001 PROFITWELL TABLE OF CONTENTS PAGE 03 PAGE 46 THE BIRTH COMPANIES THAT OF FREEMIUM TOOK THE TIME TO MAKE FREEMIUM WORK + + + PAGE 17 FREEMIUM IS FOR ACQUISITION PAGE 60 NOT REVENUE TACTICAL GUIDE TO MAKING PAGE 31 FREEMIUM WORK FREEMIUM ECONOMICS THE FREEMIUM MANIFESTO 02 PROFITWELL 2018 + - + 0110001 + + 0110001 0110001 Chapter 01 THE BIRTH + OF FREEMIUM THE FREEMIUM MANIFESTO 00303 PROFITWELL PRICING MODELS NEVER MADE HEADLINES UNTIL FREEMIUM CAME ALONG. Praised as the fuel for rapid growth of companies such as Dropbox, Spotify, and Evernote, and lambasted as the reason smaller companies went bankrupt, freemium has piqued the interest of developers and CEOs who hope to get as many people possible hooked on their products. Freemium is Free + Premium: a good or service that can be offered for free, but ramps up to include premium features that cost money. The concept is basic and widespread: entice enough curious people, accept some early losses, and win over a few remunerative customers for life. An ice cream truck offers free samples; some people stop by to try a flavor, some just take a bite and leave, and others buy large cones for the whole family every summer for generations. Often the path to buying software is not as direct as ordering soft-serve. We want to clear the air about freemium and its place in the SaaS landscape. Ad for Ben & Jerry’s annual free cone day. [source] Consider this guide the final word on how to make freemium work We’ll look at why it works, what happens when it breaks down, how in SaaS from the people that have seen inside more SaaS compa- profitable companies have made it fit into their longterm goals, nies than anyone else.
    [Show full text]
  • Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation
    Long Range Planning 43 (2010) 172e194 http://www.elsevier.com/locate/lrp Business Models, Business Strategy and Innovation David J. Teece Whenever a business enterprise is established, it either explicitly or implicitly employs a particular business model that describes the design or architecture of the value creation, delivery, and capture mechanisms it employs. The essence of a business model is in de- fining the manner by which the enterprise delivers value to customers, entices customers to pay for value, and converts those payments to profit. It thus reflects management’s hypothesis about what customers want, how they want it, and how the enterprise can organize to best meet those needs, get paid for doing so, and make a profit. The purpose of this article is to understand the significance of business models and explore their connections with business strategy, innovation management, and economic theory. Ó 2009 Published by Elsevier Ltd. Introduction Developments in the global economy have changed the traditional balance between customer and supplier. New communications and computing technology, and the establishment of reasonably open global trading regimes, mean that customers have more choices, variegated customer needs can find expression, and supply alternatives are more transparent. Businesses therefore need to be more customer-centric, especially since technology has evolved to allow the lower cost provision of information and customer solutions. These developments in turn require businesses to re-eval- uate the value propositions they present to customers e in many sectors, the supply side driven logic of the industrial era has become no longer viable. This new environment has also amplified the need to consider not only how to address customer needs more astutely, but also how to capture value from providing new products and services.
    [Show full text]
  • Chapter 4 the Digital Economy, New Business Models and Key Features
    4. THEDIGITALECONOMY,NEWBUSINESSMODELSANDKEYFEATURES – 69 Chapter 4 The digital economy, new business models and key features This chapter discusses the spread of information and communication technology (ICT) across the economy, provides examples of business models that have emerged as a consequence of the advances in ICT, and provides an overview of the key features of the digital economy that are illustrated by those business models. The statistical data for Israel are supplied by and under the responsibility of the relevant Israeli authorities. The use of such data by the OECD is without prejudice to the status of the Golan Heights, East Jerusalem and Israeli settlements in the West Bank under the terms of international law. ADDRESSING THE TAX CHALLENGES OF THE DIGITAL ECONOMY © OECD 2014 70 – 4. THEDIGITALECONOMY,NEWBUSINESSMODELSANDKEYFEATURES 4.1 The spread of ICT across business sectors: the digital economy All sectors of the economy have adopted ICT to enhance productivity, enlarge market reach, and reduce operational costs. This adoption of ICT is illustrated by the spread of broadband connectivity in businesses, which in almost all countries of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) is universal for large enterprises and reaches 90% or more even in smaller businesses. Figure 4.1. Enterprises with broadband connection, by employment size, 2012 Fixed and mobile connections, as a percentage of all enterprises % All Large Medium Small 100 95 90 85 80 75 70 60 50 40 FIN ISL CHE FRA SVN NLD AUS SWE ESP EST LUX CAN BEL ITA GBR DNK SVK CZE PRT IRL AUT DEU NOR HUN JPN POL GRC MEX For Australia, data refer to 2010/11 (fiscal year ending 30 June 2011) instead of 2012.
    [Show full text]
  • Disruptions in Retail Through Digital Transformation Reimagining the Store of the Future November 2017
    Disruptions in Retail through Digital Transformation Reimagining the Store of the Future November 2017 Disruptions in Retail through Digital Transformation Message from ICC Retail Summit Chair The word “Innovative Disruption”, to Transformation in Retail” which will quote from Mr. Clayton Christensen, the immensely benefit the businesses, Start- Author of “Innovator’s Dilemma”, refers ups to SMEs to large enterprises and the to an organization or entrepreneur various stakeholders in their journey of anticipating Customer’s needs, exciting growth ahead. passionately falling in love with Customer and creating a market where We wish to thank the Deloitte leadership none existed. The rapid pace of such team for the extensive work done disruptions mostly shake up established including the interactions with Retail traditional business models and make industry leadership teams in various the earlier known Rules of Success or Companies. Growth redundant in today’s “Phygital” ICC is also delighted to host its First connected world especially Retail. Retail Summit in Southern India and Technology is getting intertwined and I thank the ICC leadership and MC becoming seamless in both B2B as well members for the Initiative! as B2C experiences. Cycle times and Planning times are expected to shrink All the best, as complex processes get reconfigured through Bots and concepts like AI and IOTs. With this backdrop and booming outlook for growth, Retail Sector in India is clearly poised to become one of the largest beneficiaries of the disruptive era that has begun. ICC is proud to associate with Deloitte team who have taken the efforts to bring out the S KANNAN “knowledge paper” on “Disruptive Digital SUMMIT CHAIR 01 Disruptions in Retail through Digital Transformation KONNECTED to consumers Foreword by Deloitte The modern economy has been built performance on these parameters.
    [Show full text]
  • Open Source Vendors' Business Model
    Linköping Studies in Science and Technology Dissertations, No. 1438 Open Source Vendors’ Business Models Thomas Rosenfall April 2012 Department of Management and Engineering Linköpings universitet, SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden © Thomas Rosenfall, 2012 ”Open Source Vendor’s Business Models” Linköping Studies in Science and Technology, Dissertations, No. 1438 ISBN: 978-91-7519-926-9 ISSN: 0345-7524 Printed by: LiU-Tryck, Linköping Distributed by: Linköping University Department of Management and Engineering SE-581 83 Linköping, Sweden Tel: +46 13 281000 2 Acknowledgements This thesis was a long time in coming. The author is graciously indebted to several individu- als and organizations for their support and contributions during the process. First, the work of my supervisor, Anna Öhrwall Rönnbäck, together with professor Staffan Brege, whom probably are the sole reason for the completion of this thesis. Without their support and advice, the author would have given up years ago. The author would also like to thank the case companies and their representatives that have shown patience over the years, with a special note to the new and former management of Cendio AB. Several other colleagues have been involved in the process and provided much support and insight, for which the author is grateful. A special “thank you” goes to Christina Grundström for the support and advice concerning as assistance supervisor. Additionally, the author gra- ciously would like to thank Mica Comstock for the outstanding proofreading. The research was funded by Lundbergstiftelserna in 2005 - 2008, while the final thesis was conducted as a part of the research project BOSSANOVA, financed by VINNOVA between 2008 and 2011.
    [Show full text]
  • Characteristics of the Subscription Revenue Model in Saas Applications
    Helinä Turunen CHARACTERISTICS OF THE SUBSCRIPTION REVENUE MODEL IN SAAS APPLICATIONS JYVÄSKYLÄN YLIOPISTO TIETOJENKÄSITTELYTIETEIDEN LAITOS 2012 ABSTRACT Turunen, Helinä Characteristics of the subscription revenue model used in SaaS applications Jyväskylä: University of Jyväskylä, 2012, 22 p. Information Systems, Bachelor’s Thesis Supervisor: Ojala, Arto Cloud service and cloud business have increased tremendously in the last few years. Both the technology and business aspect of cloud services have been studied widely, especially the advantages of cloud computing from the cus- tomer perspective. Cloud service pricing and its characteristics have been stud- ied less than the technology and business models, and this thesis concentrates on the characteristics, advantages and disadvantages of the subscription model used in Software as a Service (SaaS) applications. The thesis is based on a literature review conducted by using various academic article databases such as IEEE Explore and ACM Digital Library. The research was conducted by using academic articles and up-to-date Internet resources. Among the principle findings of this research is that the characteristics of the subscription model are closely related to the already know characteristics of cloud services. The most surprising finding was how using the subscription model motivates the software developers to create better software faster and more efficiently when compared to traditional software models. From the customer point of view, a negative finding was the possible customer lock-in effect caused by the subscription model together with the SaaS delivery model, as the combination might cause enormous switching costs should such a change be required. The profitability of the subscription model should be analyzed from the customer perspective as well as the provider perspective.
    [Show full text]
  • The Founder's Guide to Financial Modeling
    [email protected] 28 Jan 2020 1 The Founder’s Guide to Financial Modeling Dave Lishego © 2019 Dave Lishego All Rights Reserved [email protected] 28 Jan 2020 2 The Founder’s Guide to Financial Modeling Contents Acknowledgements………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………….3 Introduction and Author’s Note ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Chapter 1 – Basic Guidelines for Financial Models ........................................................................................................................................... 8 Chapter 2 – Revenue and Customer Acquisition Models ........................................................................................................................... 14 Chapter 3 - Cost of Goods Sold (COGS) ............................................................................................................................................................ 22 Chapter 4 - Personnel Costs (SG&A Expenses Part 1) .................................................................................................................................. 29 Chapter 5 - Other Overhead Expenses (SG&A Expenses Part 2) ............................................................................................................. 37 Chapter 6 – Nonoperating Expenses ..................................................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • Business Models in Video Game Industry
    Video Game Industry as Business Industry and Developers Business Models Fast growth of Game business Global Games Market 2012- 2017 TOTAL MOBILE 2013-2017 CAGR TOTAL MOBILE Key Take-Aways. TOTAL MARKET 2013 2013 +8.1% 2017 2017 $75.5 $17.6 $102.9 $35.4 MOBILE Bn Bn Bn Bn GAMES +19.1% TOTAL $Bn $102.9 TOTAL TOTAL GAMES MARKET MOBILE GAMES MARKET TOTAL $95.2 100 © 2014 Newzoo This year mobile TOTAL $88.4 90 gaming passes a TOTAL $81.4 quarter share of the TOTAL $75.5 80 $70.4 games market. In 2017 70 60 34% MOBILE MOBILE Of global game 50 $35.4 MOBILE $30.7 revenues will be MOBILE SHARE generated through 40 MOBILE $26.3 SHARE 34% MOBILE $21.8 (smart)phones and $17.6 SHARE 32% 30 $12.7 SHARE 30% tablets, at SHARE 27% 20 SHARE 23% 18% 10 $35.4bn Double compared to 2013 and more than 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 consoles…. © 2014 Newzoo Global Games Market Report | May 2014 www.newzoo.com/globalgamesdata PC vs Console Digital distribution Mobile Game Markets 2013 Markets are changing Mobile opportunities Global Games Market 2013-2017 Key Moments Towards 2017 | Revenues Per Year and Market Segment Key Take-Aways. © 2014 Newzoo, Global Games Market Report 2013 Global Revenues Smartphones and Mobile Games Market Exceeded Expectations Driven Tablets Match Global Share Rises to 35% with by Continued Growth in China Console Revenues. $35Bn Revenue. and Mobile Gaming on a Global Scale. Tencent Takes 10% of Global MMO Revenues Between2013 and 2017, the World Games Market.
    [Show full text]
  • Exploring the Freemium Business Model Msc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship
    Exploring the Freemium Business Model MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship Erlend Vihovde Reime May 20th 2011 ii Exploring the Freemium Business Model MSc in Innovation and Entrepreneurship - Erlend Vihovde Reime - Oslo May 20th 2011 University of Oslo iii © Erlend Vihovde Reime 2011 Exploring the Freemium Business Model Erlend Vihovde Reime http://www.duo.uio.no/ Print: Reprosentralen, Universitetet i Oslo iv Abstract This thesis is exploring the Freemium business model, answering how a Freemium model is defined and how it works in real-life. It discusses the original definition by Fred Wilson, and present the context where the Freemium business model is used, Internet services in the Web 2.0. It also looks at how customers react to free services and the Internet. After this, the three main directions within business strategy theory are explored: Industry-based competition, Firm-specific Resources and Capabilities, and Institutional Conditions and Transactions. The concept of business models is discussed by looking at different definition and analytical frameworks. A few generic business models that are using the concept of “free” are presented, before returning to the Freemium model again. Other definitions of the Freemium model are being discussed here. Based on the theory on strategy, business models, and Freemium, a model of Freemium is presented leveraging the users role as co-creators of value and the importance of network effects. The key characteristics of the model are finally used in a case study of Skype and Spotify. Keywords: Freemium, Network Effects, Business Models, Strategy v vi Acknowledgement First, I would like to thank my supervisor Tronn Skjerstad for believing in the idea from the beginning.
    [Show full text]