🧰 207 - Google is coming for Notion, Basecamp gained more customers than they lost, Is equity crowdfunding the alternative to VC and stripe keeps innovating

Free business model

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Free business model

How do you create a business when everyone wants it for free?

Ever felt like you got so much value in a product/service for free, and wondered how the heck are they making money?

Businesses of all kinds are under threat from digital and the trend towards a price of zero. The transition from mass marketing has meant that some people are giving away their product for free and seeking out the superfans who love what they do enough to keep them in business.

Photo Credit: @jahnoyl

💡Good to Know

• Google announced at its recent I/O conference, we’re launching smart canvas—a new product experience that delivers the next evolution of collaboration for Google Workspace. Watch out Notion or maybe Coda. Link

• As things start opening up, AirBnB founder Brian Chesky showing great leadership by being transparent about having to cut the workforce and helping people with job opportunities. He took to Twitter this week to announce how he’s made it 10X better with core features for Airbnb's Host and Guest communities to drive acquisition and mitigate churn from active users. Link

• Check out this daily business newsletter that’s giving you bite-sized business news from the UK and beyond in an engaging style. Link

• Basecamp gained more customers than they lost, despite the public dragging on Twitter. Link

• Flair is building anonymous data guides to help companies understand how anti-racist your culture truly is, with honest feedback from those who matter most. Link

• Is equity crowdfunding an alternative to VC? Equity crowdfunding does require a lot of upfront work in building an audience, community, and trust. But it's a more antifragile path where you get to control more of your destiny than other paths. Link

🛠️ Low-Code Tools

• Really cool plugin to connect your Bubble to your Stripe without hassle. Link

• Stripe Payment Links: Create a link. Sell anywhere in under 5 minutes. Link

• Turn your Google Sheet into an API. Link