But as harsh as the comments about this on HN were this weekend, they were also helpful.
I think this will show you what I have in mind.
If you don't want to say anything publicly, email me: mail at awarner dot com
Maybe you should have posted this before making the switch. I think people would have been less harsh and more likely to offer advice. As bad as you got "ripped", remember that most of us here put your work in very high regard.
You've created so many great interviews that I keep telling myself that I'll eventually get around to watching as many as I can yet only watch a limited selection here and there. Perhaps this will force me to watch more in the first week or pay the price but I hope I don't stop watching.
My plan was to create the premium service. Only apply it to older shows and let people pay whatever they want -- even nothing. Then tell the interviewees. And after all that, announce it.
I worked on that plan for weeks, but then we goofed and the HN audience caught it quickly so I had to react.
Yet another alternative: Pay for access to the live interview (which might mean you get the opportunity to suggest a question that gets asked). Make the archived videos free after, say, a week.
This way Andrew can keep the basic skype interview on the site for free and charge for the DVDs that contain all of this exclusive bonus content. You could even bypass the DVD and just put the improved videos behind the paywall which gives viewers an incentive to actually pay.
DVDs are easy to make and you can take orders before shipping. If you only get 10 orders, burn 'em, mail 'em, and shut down the service as a failure.
Of course "how old" and "how much" are very important questions ;)
You should be careful not to make transparency push too hard into vanity or navel-gazing. Multiple comment threads about your site are a real turn off, just like I don't give a fuck about Jason Calacanis or whether bloggers should pay attention to TED.
Is $25 a month the right price? I have no idea. But I appreciate the straightforward nature of asking for a subscription. There are some good suggestions on your site as well, such as charging per interview in iTunes.
If you haven't thought about it already, it might be interesting for you to partner up with sites like StartupToDo.com as well, or something like that.
I've already watched most of your videos, so I don't know if I'm the right target audience for what you're selling right now.
There is something I would pay more than $25 a month for though, but it would probably require more than just your work to make it happen - If I heard about a private mailing list that contained tips, advice, anecdotes, whatever that came from people like you, patio11, Jason Cohen, maybe maxklein (I'm undecided at the moment ;)), etc and I knew that the information sent out to that list wouldn't get made public for at least a month, I'd probably sprain my elbow trying to get my credit card out fast enough to start giving you my info.
Maybe that's a model for you as well - private memberships get early access to interviews, not archive access. I mean, these things contain actionable information; I would think their greatest value would be right when they're made.
Anyways, I'm sure you'll hit the right formula eventually. Nobody likes it when something that used to be free starts costing money; but if the product is good enough they'll get over it.
I mean, it's got to provide actionable information for it to be worthwhile, but these guys have been giving actionable information away for free all this time anyways.
I'll gladly pay for your stuff, but I don't know that I really want subscribe to a service. What about charging for a podcast like product that rolled your transcript, interview, and bonus content into a single purchase? Throw it on iTunes and I'd give a few bucks per interview.
If I'm ever feeling de-motivated I listen to a Mixergy interview and the story alone can make me focus on whatever it is I'm doing and see things in a broader context.
I'm picturing something like Seth Godin's alternative MBA course. VC's and entrepreneurs constantly complain that MBA programs aren't useful, partly because they are taught by non-entrepreneurs. You have an opportunity to create some incredible content from people with the most relevant experiences.
Feel free to be really creative with premium content.
You've obviously put a lot of thought into this change. Go for it, I wish you success.
But getting into charging for content is a whole new game. Do you think you'd get some of the past interviewees if they'd known you were going to charge for access to the interview? Where's their cut? And others wouldn't have wanted to appear at all if their precious time was just going to a tiny paid audience.
You say you're not happy with the view rates on older interviews. I consider this a problem with your site's design, which is really not much more than a blog. Go and look at TED's site, they have an excellent idea where the front page shows highlights from the past. Implementing something similar might work really well for you.
I also think you're overestimating the ability or willingness of people here (your obvious audience) to pay anything at all. People here are trying to be "ramen profitable" and $25 is a lot of ramen. For every blowhard blustering (presumably making use of the satellite internet on their G) about how $25 is nothing and anyone who can't afford that should probably just give up, I guarantee you there's a hundred who can not just drop $25/m on a whim to watch some inspirational videos.
I just think it's a bad idea. But like I said, hey, it's your site, and congratulations on your success so far.