https://the.fmsoup.org/t/on-the-path-to-freemium/3189?u=torsten
This explicitly addresses business users only. All others are left out.
The form seems to require either a community account (in that case it simply asks to confirm the email) or makes mandatory company name and phone, but you can submit an email that is tied to an email provider like gmail.com if you so choose).
Did you mean anything else when you said that it explicitly addresses business users AND was leaving out others?
I have read the text and the information applicants have to provide. This makes it pretty clear to me.
The current customer base is from the business community. It is also where the product shines. Freemium being one of the mechanism Claris can put in place to enlarge its customer base, I think it is a natural fit for them to put in place communication efforts that targets this specific audience.
Perhaps there could also be other communications aimed at other personas (pro devs, IT agencies, individuals, etc.). For now, it seems Claris believes a larger number of their audience members will recognize themselves under the business umbrella rather than some other designation. They cannot ask the reader to fill a survey to tailor the page they see (or they could, but feel like it would get lower conversion rates).
You remain unclear about who you designate as "all others". As for them being left out, even if the text does not speak directly to them, they can still fill the form, so I do not feel like anyone is being "left out". Anyone who want in can get in, simply fill the form.
Maybe they have or will have an outreach dedicated to the educational space for instance. You and I cannot know that from the page we are looking at. That said they have to choose who they communicate with, otherwise the page would be too generic: a tool that is for everyone ends up being for no one, the same way that a tool that does everything ends up doing nothing. Some may argue that the communication is not exclusive enough and be should aimed at SMBs or students, etc.
I guess my question is what is your proposition for something you feel more adequate?
Someone can type "Not applicable" for business name or anything they see fit. I already mentioned there is no validation against the domain name for the email.
Don't fill the form if you do not want to be notified. I do not care.
It is like you say the form discriminates against people who prefer to be notified by sms for making the email mandatory and against those who do not have a phone number because it is required to complete the form.
I maintain that anyone who wants to be notified can fill the form. Your wish for the form to be different and/or your unwillingness to provide some information does not alter one's ability to fill the form. "Can not" and "Do not want to" are 2 very different things.
I get that you do not like this page. It is feedback, but it is hard for me to see feedback as constructive when I do not see a proposition that clearly outlines what is being asked to change. Is it only about what field is mandatory or not? Your initial post seems to indicate otherwise. I would still be very curious to read the text for the page you feel is more inclusive while reaching a target audience.
Mea culpa, mea maxima culpa!
Oh well, if Claris wishes to target only businesses, they should have stated it in the left paragraph. I tried to see the fields shown on Torsten screen shot, clicked on Signed Up, and... no fields, I got a message thanking me for signing up !
I have confirmed that you have to fill in those fields. At least you have to fill in something in order to submit the form.