I've done exactly one legit "SaaS startup" type venture around 2012-2015

Yup yup yup. Big reason for avoiding free users is avoiding those requests. This is the kind of thing no startup puts in their year one budget and (alongside supplier cashflow issues) is why those projections don't work for

A collected a few crazy support requests here: https://successfulsoftware.net/2010/11/21/problem-exists-bet...

> As many have learned, the people actually paying you money are usually pretty reasonable. It's the people who haven't paid you a cent who have all these crazy demands. Real question: I wonder if this phenom has been part of a case study for MBAs. It makes sense to me. If you are paying customer, you have already convinced yourself it is a valuable product. Deeper: Is it every worth trying to convert the "crazies" using sales strategies? Example: Well, if you sign-up for our enterprise package, we promise your needs in X months.

Unfortunately the IBMs of the world have taught a lot of entrepreneurs a very valuable lesson: Companies only pay attention to you as a customer when they think the checkbook is coming out, or going away. Big companies have different reasons, but the behavior is similar. The people who understand this start making everything sound like a quid pro quo situation even if it's not very sensible. The more clever and slightly pessimistic entrepreneur might go so far as suggest the problematic customer talk to one of their competitors. But that sort of biological warfare really should be covered by the Geneva Convention.

It’s hard, but my best advice for Saas builders who get crazy feature requests from non-customers is simple: Don’t reply. You have to judge which requests are “crazy” of course, which isn’t always easy. “If you could just do this one thing, I would gladly pay for a subscription” has to be weighed with how much work it would be, and whether you think it would apply to other potential or existing customers. But a reply explaining your rationale for politely saying “no” simply gives the potential customer a reason to stay engaged, often leading to indignation when the inevitably feel dissatisfied with your reasoning. After all, they don’t care about your other customers, they just want their problem solved. Many, many prospective customer inquiries don’t deserve answers, and you’ll find yourself buried in unproductive back-and-forth if you don’t do the simplest thing of ignoring them.