I'm of the same opinion as you, and have infact built projects with zero signup requirement. racketmeter.com being one of them.
So, I understand your POV. But with an AI product like this, where every trial has a cost associated, people who are not compelled to signup, might not be a good fit. I'm certainly missing out on potential users, but being a bootstrapped founder, it's a call that I had to take.
But I do take your comment sincerely, and will try to think of creative ways to show people what it feels like to use the product and see the aha moment in first 20 seconds.
Asking people to sign up is an obstacle.
It’s in your interests to not require that.
People might be willing to give you 20 seconds to have a quick look.
And if you hook them in 20 seconds they might give you 20 seconds more.
And if your software is compelling you might get 20 more seconds from them to try it out.
When a user gives you 20 seconds attention, that’s a gift and it might be all you get.
But many new software sites use that gift to throw a “sign up” form at the user.
That 20 second gift should be rewarded with a unique experience that the user enjoys so much that they are compelled to gift you more time.
I'm of the same opinion as you, and have infact built projects with zero signup requirement. racketmeter.com being one of them. So, I understand your POV. But with an AI product like this, where every trial has a cost associated, people who are not compelled to signup, might not be a good fit. I'm certainly missing out on potential users, but being a bootstrapped founder, it's a call that I had to take. But I do take your comment sincerely, and will try to think of creative ways to show people what it feels like to use the product and see the aha moment in first 20 seconds.