ezboard: Making Customers Pay

When Robert Labatt took over ezboard’s helm in 2004, he faced a quandary: How to turn the company’s essentially free information product into a paid product that would earn enough revenue to satisfy ezboard’s increasingly impatient investors? At the time, the largest hosted online discussion board company in the United States barely broke even. Among other things, Labatt had to develop a new revenue strategy for the company. The case explores Labatt’s options, focusing in particular on issues surrounding the introduction of an effective subscription model and pricing strategy. After providing the necessary background, it asks readers to determine what they would do if they were in Labatt’s shoes. This case has a video supplement SM142V exBoard: Making Custoners Pay, Robert Labatt, CEO.