The benefit is practice—you get feedback and can straighten out flaws in the product, service, and processes.

At some point, the company needs to define the "freebie" and set clear boundaries for paid services.

From the first "free" customers, they learn what is in high demand and what is rather a "nice-to-have."

Focus the free offering on the "nice-to-haves" and keep the high-demand offerings behind a paywall.

Then comes the next challenge: learning to stay firm with those boundaries, as potential customers will try again and again to get more for free.