We at KISSmetrics did not come to our pricing decision lightly. After over 6 months in beta, we looked at the data and identified our happiest, most engaged customers - the people who were asking questions, making suggestions, and generally getting the most value out of the product, and priced it in accordance with the amount of value they were getting.
We did have some very dedicated early-stage startup customers in our beta, and we have worked with them to make sure they can continue to use us. (It's amazing what asking nicely will get you!) We will be publicly announcing startup programs in the future, but we wanted to focus on our existing beta customers first - the product wouldn't be here without them.
(We also have no problem with it if several startups want to split a KISSmetrics account - 1MM events could easily support a dozen early-stage startups.)
Feel free to email, ask questions, rant - calvarez at kissmetrics.com