OpenView · Starting Up

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it Once you decide to put a price on the page, this is the practical playbook for structuring it so it actually converts. Kyle Poyar spent years as a pricing consultant before writing this, and he treats the pricing section as your best salesperson: how many tiers, what each tier is for, and where anchoring and social proof genuinely help. It is concrete enough to act on even for a first draft you will change later.

Seven Tips to Optimize Your SaaS Pricing Page

From OpenView by Kyle Poyar 8 min read

Give each tier a clear job (who it is for and roughly what share of customers should land there) instead of just listing more features as the price climbs.
Lead every plan with the outcome a founder gets, not a raw feature list, and reinforce why each tier exists.
Anchoring, a highlighted popular plan, and social proof near the price reduce hesitation, but use them to clarify the real choice, not to trick anyone.

Open openviewpartners.com →

Answers Should I show pricing on my landing page before I've figured out what to charge?

✍️ Essay

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it This is the clearest statement of the argument you need before you touch either lever: retention is not one metric among many, it is the base that every other metric stands on. Balfour's line says it plainly, every improvement you make to retention also improves virality, LTV, and payback period, so it is the foundation of all growth. If retention is genuinely broken, fixing the funnel just pours more people into a container that cannot hold them.

Retention Is the King of Growth (Brian Balfour, 500 Startups talk)

From OpenView by Brian Balfour

Retention compounds every other number: better retention lifts virality, lifetime value, and payback period all at once, which no single funnel fix can do.
When both look weak, weak retention is usually the deeper problem, because a leaky product caps the return on any acquisition or conversion you win.
Retention is an output of good activation, so the practical first move is often making users reach value fast, not chasing more top-of-funnel.

Open openviewpartners.com →

Answers Should I optimize my conversion funnel or my retention first when both look weak? How soon after signup should I even worry about retention versus just getting more users in the door?

📄 Article

✓ Link checked Free Intermediate

Why we picked it If you started cheap to win early deals, this covers the follow-up problem: how to raise prices on existing accounts without triggering mass churn. Kyle Poyar of OpenView lays out the concrete signals that it is time to raise, and the mechanics (grandfathering, stair-stepping steep increases, transparent notice) that keep customers. It is a tactical checklist, so use it as a starting point and size the moves to your own base.

SaaS Pricing Guide: When & How to Raise Prices Without Losing Customers

From OpenView by Kyle Poyar ~12 min read

Signals it is time to raise: no pushback on price, customers say you are surprisingly cheap, and pricing has not moved in years.
Grandfather loyal customers or give a grace period, and stair-step increases above 50 percent instead of all at once.
Lead the announcement with the added value, not the cost, and give enough notice for people to plan.

Open openviewpartners.com →

Answers How do I price my product so it's actually profitable from the first customer, not just cheap enough to win the deal?