Thank you Darko for the research and I understand I should not complain about something I am getting for free, but I was rubbed the wrong way with the way you chose to distribute this—I was first asked for an email id, then sent an email with another link (I was expecting a PDF in the mail or at least a link to the content), this link then went to a page from where I could get another download link for the content, which turned out to be barely 1.5 pages.
I presume this was all done for analytics and for potentially harvesting email addresses to make a subscriber list.
Your privacy policy states—"We only ask for personal information when we truly need it to provide a service to you."
I am pretty sure there was no need to collect my email for linking me to a file that exists on your server for free distribution.
I am not trying to pick on you, but every time we have a post here on HN about FB or companies doing any sorts of analytics, we have lots of righteous indignation about how server-side analytics is enough and this and that. And yet, here you are, an individual (not a megacorp that needs to show quarterly growth) who effectively did something similar.
Anyway, after all this, I finally got a 2 page PDF with a small bulleted list with just the number of founders who vouched for every channel. The channel was just mentioned in a few words, so it wasn't always clear what the channel meant.
The PDF was so small I first thought you were only distributing the table of contents as a teaser.
Hey man, I just included the link so people can see I'm not BSing and that I really spent a lot of time doing research into this. I didn't expect people to sign up & analyze my report. I'll release an enhanced report tomorrow or so and update everyone who signed up. If you want just reply to the email where I sent the PDF and I'll send you the enhanced version.
This research is more oriented towards founders who are currently working on their startups/businesses. I plan to release further information on each of these acquisition channels and that's why I asked for an email. Plus, I think it's fair to ask for an email if you're distributing something that took 2 years to summarize.
> I understand I should not complain about something I am getting for free
It should be completely fair to complain, since it’s only free in terms of money, but you paid by giving up personal information (your email). A 1.5 page PDF might not be worth that price.
You are being too nice. Let's call a spade a spade: justiceforsaas is the sh*tty marketer we all hate. Deceptive, collects info for his personal gain and you get nothing in return. I flagged his comment.
Wow, just wow. I flagged your comment for a personal attack. I actually got around 7 people in the past 24 hours reply and say thanks, so at least add "I think" in front of your accusations.
I presume this was all done for analytics and for potentially harvesting email addresses to make a subscriber list.
Your privacy policy states—"We only ask for personal information when we truly need it to provide a service to you."
I am pretty sure there was no need to collect my email for linking me to a file that exists on your server for free distribution.
I am not trying to pick on you, but every time we have a post here on HN about FB or companies doing any sorts of analytics, we have lots of righteous indignation about how server-side analytics is enough and this and that. And yet, here you are, an individual (not a megacorp that needs to show quarterly growth) who effectively did something similar.
Anyway, after all this, I finally got a 2 page PDF with a small bulleted list with just the number of founders who vouched for every channel. The channel was just mentioned in a few words, so it wasn't always clear what the channel meant.
The PDF was so small I first thought you were only distributing the table of contents as a teaser.