Assertion Partly supported AI assessment confidence: 88% certainty 4/5 debate potential 1/5

Peterson: In 1999, GoldMine sold as $300 retail shrink-wrap without maintenance

Paul Peterson · Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play? · Apr 27, 2021 · at 7:02

Paul Peterson, General Manager of GoldMine, explains the company's distribution model in the late 1990s before recurring maintenance fees were introduced.

0:00 / 0:15exact quote · 15.5s

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“No, there was no maintenance, and it was all shrink wrap, and it was retail. CDWs and CompUSAs, I mean you know, people that are, you know, disappeared from the same office depots max, it was all retail, and then the retail price was probably about 300 bucks.”

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The claim, plainly

In 1999, GoldMine sold exclusively through retail channels as shrink-wrapped software for around $300 per unit with zero recurring maintenance fees.

a quote alone can be ambiguous, so this restates it with the references and context of the conversation around it resolved. AI-written; the tape below the player is the source.

Assessment

The claim bundles multiple assertions regarding GoldMine's business model circa 1999. The assertions regarding the software format (boxed/shrink-wrapped CD-ROMs), pricing (approximately $195 to $300 for single-user perpetual licenses), and the lack of mandatory recurring maintenance fees (traditional perpetual licensing model rather than subscription SaaS) are accurate. However, the assertion that GoldMine was sold exclusively ('all') through retail channels (such as CompUSA, Office Depot, and CDW) is inaccurate; contemporary reports and company history confirm that GoldMine relied heavily on an extensive network of over 2,000 Value-Added Resellers (VARs), IT consultants, and network integrators as its primary B2B distribution channel.

Reviews in publications like Personal Computer World (1998) and tech catalogs listed GoldMine single-user perpetual licenses around $195 to $295 (£195 ex-VAT).
GoldMine operated under a perpetual software license without mandatory recurring maintenance fees, offering separate optional support contracts and paid upgrades.
Reporting from Computer Business Review (1999) and the Los Angeles Times (1998) documents that GoldMine relied extensively on a network of over 2,000 VARs and IT consultants alongside retail/catalog distribution.

Checked against

[1] emsps.com [2] picclick.ca [3] scribd.com [4] archive.org [5] archive.org [6] crmswitch.com [7] itqlick.com [8] quora.com

"GoldMine Software" "retail" channels OR "shrink-wrapped" 1998 OR 1999 OR 2000 "GoldMine" sold through "reseller" OR "VAR" OR "retail" "1999" OR "1998" "GoldMine 5.0" "single-user" OR "single user" price OR list OR cost "GoldMine 4.0" OR "GoldMine 5.0" price "$295" OR "$299" OR "$300" "GoldMine 4.0" review PC Magazine OR InfoWorld price 1998 OR 1999 "GoldMine" software price 1998 OR 1999 OR 2000 "retail" OR "shrink-wrapped" OR "maintenance" "GoldMine" software "shrink-wrapped" "retail" 1999 OR 1998 OR 2000 "GoldMine 4.0" "single-user" OR "single user" "price" OR "costs" OR "priced"

assessed as of 2026-09-02

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Mentioned

CDW CompUSA GoldMine Office Depot

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Disclosure

Peterson: GoldMine charges $1,900 for three users plus 20% annual maintenance

“We typically start out with a three user bundle, which is about 1900 dollars. And that includes a year of support and three users. And then in year two, like subscription, you buy the product again. And often with an uplift, they're adding seven percent every …”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 5:33 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Peterson: GoldMine generated roughly $20 million in sales in 1999

“They were probably twenty million.”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 6:55 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Peterson: GoldMine has about 5,000 customers currently paying annual maintenance fees

“It's about 5000. And we probably, we estimate we probably have one or two who don't, or 2000 who don't pay the fee.”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 8:23 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Peterson: Legacy CRM GoldMine still adds about 100 new customers per quarter

“So it's about a hundred new names a quarter.”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 10:17 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Assertion Not checkable as stated

Peterson: About 75% of GoldMine's revenue comes from recurring maintenance contracts

“Yeah, it's about 75% recurring.”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 11:18 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Assertion Supported

Peterson: GoldMine founder John Ferrara sold out and now runs Nimble

“The founder sold out and he's running another product called Nimble right now.”

Paul Peterson Apr 27, 2021 ▶ 2:21 Original On-Prem CRM GoldMine Still Does $3.6m in Maintenance Revenue, SaaS Play?

Peterson: In 1999, GoldMine sold as $300 retail shrink-wrap without maintenance

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