Dan Balcauski

About Dan Balcauski

B2B SaaS Pricing is having a moment. It seems like every day another article is published on Freemium or another pricing model “flavor of the month.” Many CEOs face the temptation to adopt a Freemium pricing model. This was the case during my business school internship over a decade ago. The CEO asked me to research if it was a good strategy. I explored the ins and outs of this pricing model and looked for characteristics of when it worked and when it didn’t. The truth? It turns out that it works far less often than the hype would lead you to believe. In fact, it’s almost always a bad idea, and most often, the better answer is to offer new users a 14-30 day free trial instead of a Freemium model. With a Freemium model, there’s a real chance that you’re going to impose a significant hidden tax on your development team for every new feature you develop, slowing you down. It also creates a perpetual illusion of free users who will never convert. How many more times do you want to have the conversation, “Just maybe one more ‘play’ into that group will make the difference.” It also prevents you from doing the actual work of driving prospects through a well-designed funnel and understanding if you’re creating real, sustainable value for your users. Finally, people who push the “Freemium rules” narrative will claim that it helps reduce your CAC. In reality, you are often just playing shell games with your Income Statement. The good news is that there’s a golden opportunity that every B2B SaaS company has right now to build a pricing model that their customers (and your investors) will love that won’t distract you with a mirage of “free growth.”Here are some things you can do TODAY to improve your pricing model:*Segment your market by the value your product provides. Focusing on the outcomes different customer segments are trying to achieve can give you the best chance to create packaging that reduces your CAC, decreases your sales cycle, and dominate your market.*Leverage pricing metrics that align with the value you provide to customers that help them grow with you. Net Revenue Retention growth, anyone?*Create, understand and communicate the differentiated value you provide to your customers over their next best alternative. Differentiated value and value communication are where the value-based pricing game is won.I’m passionate about helping businesses by optimizing their pricing models. Reach out anytime if you’re interested in discussing pricing models related to your business.

Experience

1. Program Leader

   Northwestern University - Kellogg School Of Management

   Dec 2019 — Present

   Program Leader for Kellogg\'s Executive Education Product Strategy (current) & Professional Certificate in Digital Marketing (past) courses. Product Strategy - Dec\'20-PresentHelping train the next generation of Product Leaders in the following cutting edge areas of Product Strategy:•Analyzing Product Opportunities•Discovery and Requirements Definition•Designing Business Models•Agile Product Development•Developing and executing Go-to-Market Plans•Managing Partners•Managing Product Evolution and GrowthProfessional Certificate in Digital Marketing - Dec\' 19-Nov\' 20Helping train the next generation of Digital Marketing Leaders in the following cutting edge areas of digital marketing:•Marketing Fundamentals•Customer Research & Segmentation•Customer Personas & Positioning•Customer Journeys•Metrics and Testing•Content Marketing•Paid Search and SEO•Paid and Organic Social Media•Brand Development and Storytelling•Email Marketing•Conversion Rate Optimization

Education

• Iowa State University

  Bachelor of Science, Computer Engineering

  1999 — 2003

• Northwestern University - Kellogg School of Management

  Master of Business Administration (MBA), Marketing, Analytical Consulting, Management & Strategy

  2010 — 2012

• The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

  MBA, Exchange

  2012 — 2012

Skills

• Product Innovation
• Consumer Behaviour
• Strategic Partnerships
• Pricing Strategy
• Freemium
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• Marketing Strategy
• Storage Management
• Strategy
• Competitive Analysis
• Agile Methodologies
• Management
• Business Model Strategy
• Software as a Service (Saas)
• Marketing
• Leadership
• Server Monitoring
• Pricing Analysis
• Process Improvement
• Value Propositions
• Consumer Insight
• Project Management
• Product Development
• Mobile Applications
• Analytics
• Enterprise Software
• Business Strategy
• Software Engineering
• Storage Area Networks
• Elasticsearch
• Go-to-Market Strategy
• Synergies
• Data Analysis
• Software Design
• Value Engineering
• Log Analysis
• Software Development
• Market Research
• Virtualization
• Datacenter Virtualization