[awwstn2]

The goal is definitely to monetize -- the point is that they don't need to rush to monetize, so they can focus on growth right now.

If Helpful charged $x/mo and competed with other support tools on features and pricing, it could grow into a decent business. If it's a totally free, community owned (meaning customers can get involved in product direction) competitor to those existing companies, it has a much easier path to being a market leader. Once a product like this has huge distribution, the options for monetizing are plenty. (Build a marketplace of add ons, charge for premium features, etc)

[smoyer]

I understood what the article said ... I was warning that this thinking hasn't worked out so well for some companies. In this case I'll admit that having (successful) paid competitors at least indicates there's a market that will pay (and in theory recognizes the value of this service vertical).