I think some sort of "startup" plan would not only be good for a sizable-percentage of your beta testers but also good for KISSmetrics. After all, if a company isn't profitable enough to justify $149/month on analytics but wants to improve their conversion ratios (and hence profits) they will likely go to, and stay with, a competitor.
I'm a subscriber to your blog and I love your work. I was late to the beta test run so I missed out. I've been waiting on the sidelines for the big launch and whilst I think the pricing is pretty decent and fair (after all, it is pretty close to our pricing at Trafficspaces - http://www.trafficspaces.com/plans/), I instinctively predicted this sort of backlash, especially because there was no free entry plan, however limited.
Having said that, I'm sure your decision was well thought out. After all, you are in the funnel optimization business.
A quick shout out to Neil Patel - a very smart chap.
We at KISSmetrics did not come to our pricing decision lightly. After over 6 months in beta, we looked at the data and identified our happiest, most engaged customers - the people who were asking questions, making suggestions, and generally getting the most value out of the product, and priced it in accordance with the amount of value they were getting.
We did have some very dedicated early-stage startup customers in our beta, and we have worked with them to make sure they can continue to use us. (It's amazing what asking nicely will get you!) We will be publicly announcing startup programs in the future, but we wanted to focus on our existing beta customers first - the product wouldn't be here without them.
(We also have no problem with it if several startups want to split a KISSmetrics account - 1MM events could easily support a dozen early-stage startups.)
Feel free to email, ask questions, rant - calvarez at kissmetrics.com