Your trajectory looks like the same Trough of Sorrow most startups go through[0]. But nothing in this post tells me that your ARR isn't just a lagging indicator. Of course Freemium isn't going to immediately up your ARR, you said it yourself, "We're also likely to grow ARR slower over the next coming quarters." You better be sure your current ARR isn't a lagging indicator from the virality and adoption built during your freemium period, otherwise you're in for future adoption pain.

Cynically, I think this is post-hoc justification for tightening the belt on the business since a Series B will be much harder to secure these days. With a bonus of content marketing.

[0] https://medium.com/@BoundeHQ/what-is-the-trough-of-sorrow-an...