Bugsy
Alex Fishman founded Bugsy, a crash reporting tool for iOS and Android apps that records video, network activity, and logs leading up to a crash. The company started in January 2016, launched beta customers in April 2016, and began charging around December 2016 using a freemium model priced by app user count. As of January 2017 the founder said only under 100 customers were paying, with about 1,100 total sign-ups.
Bugsy was built as a crash reporting tool for iOS and Android that records video, network traffic, and console logs leading up to a crash, so developers can see exactly what caused it. The founder compares it to a flight recorder or black box on a plane.
- •A free tier with clear limits (test devices, user count, and three-day bug retention) lets developers adopt Bugsy at no cost and creates a natural upgrade path as their apps grow.
- •Pricing that scales with the size of the app ties Bugsy's revenue to customer success, so larger customers pay more as their usage grows.
- •Positioning the product as a 'flight recorder' for crashes gives developers a concrete, easy-to-understand reason to try it.
- •Backing from an established investor and a restructured cap table gave the team runway to build the product after a previous venture was shut down.
- 1.Offer a free tier that is fully functional but caps usage in ways that matter only once a team is serious about shipping.
- 2.Price by the metric that grows with the customer's success, such as active users, so revenue expands as they succeed.
- 3.Explain the product with a familiar analogy, such as a black box recorder, so buyers grasp the value quickly.
- 4.Track total sign-ups versus paying customers separately so you know your true conversion rate.
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