Not for Free

INTRODUCTION

Nothing’s Free

Revenue Challenges, Revenue Opportunity

Back in the days of the dot-com bust, it was common to mock entrepreneurs and investors for thinking they could be successful without a clear and credible plan for how their business would make money. Those taunts of start-ups and spin-offs were deserved. Yet over the last decade we’ve seen established companies with decades of success suddenly find themselves in the same position—without a business model that fits the reality of their competitive market.

Business model disruption is rampant, not because companies have stopped offering products that people want but because consumers stopped being willing to pay for many products at the same levels in the same ways. “Free” took ...