I wasn't, unfortunately. This was self-funded. The idea was to give it away for a period of time ("3 months free! Buy today, pay later!!!!1! OMG!!") in order to crack the chicken-and-egg problem of content vs visitors.
It's the "we had to give it a way for free" part that you should rethink. People like us are way to quick to price low/free because that's what we'd pay for the service. Not at all what your target customers are willing to pay however.
How were you making money?