GiLab is one of the saddest stories in SaaS I can think of. They had an enormous opportunity years ago thanks to their relatively good product, open source nature, and free private repos (before github started offering that), but they squandered it by focusing heavily on "enterprise" and pricing themselves in a ridiculous way that made it non-sensical for startups and small companies. Their CI product alone was the best in the business for a while but they priced it such that it made no sense for most people. A real shame. It's sad to think of what could have been with better management.
Their pricing has always been a challenge, but I think the biggest issue is that they went way too wide early on in an effort to capture the market. Their product pool was a mile wide but only an inch deep. People quickly realized many of the features they were promised were very rough around the edges or a limited POC. Their UX is pretty unintuitive as well, IMO.
The company is fascinating. The "everything is open" nature of how they build the business is an incredible value for people that want to see how the sausage is made...but it hasn't ultimately lead to a better product.
