Spotify
By having a relatively comprehensive free tier, Spotify seeks to convert users to premium accounts through mild friction brought on by ad interruptions and until recently, limited music control. When compounded over a long time, these mild, short-term interruptions add up and motivate the user to switch to a premium account for the seamless listening experience that comes with it.
Figma
Figma flips the script by placing the friction on team expansion, leading to almost no issues for free personal account users (in fact, it seems like personal accounts are fully capable based on Figma’s site). By requiring users and teams to have a paid account for unlimited collaboration and collaborative tools, Figma focuses on monetizing growth and maximizing LTV from there.
NYTimes
NYT gives readers a glimpse of their articles as well as some of the content, but tends to hit them with a paywall right when their interest is piqued. By carefully monitoring and manipulating free access features and paywall placement, NYT seeks to convert casual browsers into paid customers through providing unlimited access to articles as well as other features, like their popular games and historical archives.
Comparison
Across all three businesses, the differences lay in where the friction is and how much freedom to provide the user. If there is too little friction, they will get little to no conversion; however, if there is too much friction, the users will never stay. In addition, placing the friction to emphasize different factors (i.e. individual usage vs team growth) leads to each business maximizing LTV by a method that complements its business model.
