The problem is that these sites start out as a small, useful service and then some VC with dollar signs in their eyes throws a few million dollars at them. The clothes make the primate, and suddenly what was three guys in a back room living on instant noodles feels obliged to "act like the million-dollar company that they are."
I imagine you in a grocery store somewhere, railing against free samples. "You never should've given me a piece of sausage if you were going to start charging for them."
That is possibly the worst analogy I've ever read on HN.
Only if you speak Dutch.
Not comparable since supermarket in-store free samples are tiny servings of a product you can purchase in the same establishment.
Supermarkets wouldn't allow, much less encourage, anyone to consume large numbers of free samples instead of buying the actual for-sale product.
You're wrong. It would be awful to live somewhere where you get to choose which companies are allowed to start.