I'm curious if there will be any negative upstream effects in this decision down the road. Optimizely doesn't need to be free, but an affordable and mainstream option seems smart t get early-stage companies in the door. A wise competitor would take advantage of this new gap in the market.
Early stage companies do not need A/B testing. They need to set up their funnel and growth channels properly. Only when companies have a reasonably stable metrics like (CAC/channel, LTV, CTR) should they consider optimizing those metrics.
Moreover, without proper staffing (a dedicated resource for A/B testing), the effort will simply fizzle out. To get benefits out of A/B testing, a company needs to invest (in resources and process) and without that investment, A/B testing is a hit-and-miss kind of a thing.
You're totally right, early stage companies do not need A/B testing and don't have the resources to get it right. But that doesn't mean that many uninformed entrepreneurs won't want to try it.
If the startup in question does get to the stage where real A/B testing is necessary, the enterprise solution the founders are already familiar with will probably have an edge in the selection process.
Comments
I'm curious if there will be any negative upstream effects in this decision down the road. Optimizely doesn't need to be free, but an affordable and mainstream option seems smart t get early-stage companies in the door. A wise competitor would take advantage of this new gap in the market.
Early stage companies do not need A/B testing. They need to set up their funnel and growth channels properly. Only when companies have a reasonably stable metrics like (CAC/channel, LTV, CTR) should they consider optimizing those metrics.
Moreover, without proper staffing (a dedicated resource for A/B testing), the effort will simply fizzle out. To get benefits out of A/B testing, a company needs to invest (in resources and process) and without that investment, A/B testing is a hit-and-miss kind of a thing.
You're totally right, early stage companies do not need A/B testing and don't have the resources to get it right. But that doesn't mean that many uninformed entrepreneurs won't want to try it.
If the startup in question does get to the stage where real A/B testing is necessary, the enterprise solution the founders are already familiar with will probably have an edge in the selection process.