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Comment on Ask HN: Are subscriptions the doom of the tech sector?

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I personally really enjoy the incentives that subscriptions create for developers. If you expect me to keep paying for your software then I expect you to keep providing value.

The other nice thing is the continuous revenue stream ensures that developer can continue working on enhancements, lowering the risk of it becoming abandoned.

I also get to be on the latest greatest version at all times.

If you expect me to keep paying for your software then I expect you to keep providing value.

If you make paid software part of your workflow, you're going to keep using it whether they keep providing value or not. When someone else captures your workflow into their own infrastructure, there tends to be a high cost associated with extricating yourself.

This is why I think public cloud and open standards for connecting to them will be so important going forward. Its okay for a developer to capture your workflow into their software, but it should be possible to run it in your infrastructure. You can still pay for the software subscription style, but use your infrastructure and pay metered

Exactly - IMO any subscription service that is seeing flattening growth is likely focused too much on "growth hacking." Changing the text on your paywall can only do so much, as those subscribers will still churn if the product doesn't improve to meet their needs over time.

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