Definition
Freemium
A pricing model where a product is offered free at a basic tier with paid upgrades. Common for top-of-funnel acquisition but a leading cause of high churn in crowded AI tool markets.
From the episode “Will VC Destroy Your Startup?”Hear it on the podcast1 episode
Learn the language of AI-native founders
Every week: the new terms, tools, and workflows founders are using, straight from the podcast.
Related terms in Growth, Sales & Marketing
Founder-Led GTMA go-to-market strategy in which the founder is the primary public voice — doing podcasts, long-form content, and community building rather than delegating outbound to a sales team. Especially effective when domain credibility and authentic expertise are the primary differentiators.Founder-Led MarketingWhen founders publicly build credibility through content and personal brand.Founder-led salesWhen the CEO is personally responsible for the bulk of revenue generation, common in early-stage companies before sales infrastructure is built.Free tier / Plus / ProClyde's pricing ladder, upgrading users through product usage.Funnel HealthThe quality and conversion rate of users moving through awareness, activation, and retention. A key metric founders should prove before returning to investors — demonstrate the funnel works, then raise from traction rather than hypothesis.GEO (Generative Engine Optimization)Structuring content and semantic infrastructure so a brand becomes the answer AI systems surface. Galahad's product in this category is Grail.Go-to-market engineerA newer role applying AI and automation to traditional go-to-market work. Same job description as a GTM pro, plus the tooling.GSCGoogle Search Console, the tool for monitoring indexing, impressions, and clicks, including manual page indexing.