Virtual economies need flexible pricing and packaging

by K. V. Rao   Last week I had the chance to meet with a group of very smart folks at a dinner hosted by Canaan partners on virtual economies.   One of the subjects that was discussed was something all of us in ‘real’ economies understand too well: the importance of pricing flexibility to […]

Cloud Commerce is alive and well at Structure09

by K. V. Rao   If you weren’t at GigaOM’s Structure ’09 event yesterday you were missing out. While so many events these days are struggling for attendees I was pleasantly surprised at all the activity. The halls were packed with the movers and shakers in the cloud computing industry including Zuora customers like Sun […]

Hallmark Embraces the Subscription Model with E-Cards

by Annette Giambroni   As you have probably guessed by now, we spend a lot of time talking about different types of businesses moving towards a recurring revenue model. So far, they fall into 3 categories:     Industry disruptors – think Netflix and Zipcar Large IT companies announcing cloud initiatives – like Sun Microsystems […]

Flexible Packaging and Pricing Puts Me in the Mood to Shop

by Annette Giambroni   Recently I’ve noticed a definitive change in the way that companies are marketing to me – as both a consumer and a business decision maker. Whereas last year it was about winning my business, now it seems that companies are focused on keeping it. And they’re using innovative pricing and packaging […]

Adopting Cloud Computing to Green Your Enterprise

by Tricia Reilly   At a recent Zuora board meeting, one of our board members, unable to find a paper cup in the kitchenette, returned to the board room mug in hand noting how ‘green’ a company we are.   At Zuora, we take a hands-on approach to efficient resource management and reducing our environmental […]

What subscription services would you pay for?

by Tricia Reilly   In a recent interview with Kara Swisher at the WSJ’s D7 Conference, Arianna Huffington proclaimed that “subscriptions are for porn.”   Unless you’re selling porn, and especially “very weird porn”, you shouldn’t sell subscriptions.   We obviously think this view is incredibly short sighted. But we’re happy to see it’s not […]

Seattle Web 2.0 Community is Brewing

by Megan Golden   Yesterday, Zuora packed our bags and headed north to Seattle for our fourth Z-tour event this year.   Our luncheon was held at The Dahlia Lounge–fit for foodies and known as the epicenter of Northwest Cuisine featuring flakey crab cakes and steaming doughnuts.   Once the room was packed with a […]