Video · ~35 min video + transcript

Startup Pricing 101

Kevin Hale (Y Combinator) · ycombinator.com Free Beginner

Kevin Hale's YC lecture is the clearest introduction to pricing first principles and the mistakes founders repeat. The pricing-thermometer framework (cost, price, value) is worth the watch alone.

  • The most common pricing mistake is charging far too little
  • Price sits between your cost and the value delivered, anchor to value
  • Small price increases often have an outsized impact on your ability to grow
Open on ycombinator.com ↗

It answers 7 questions

  1. How do I decide how much to charge for my product?
  2. How many pricing tiers should I have and how should I package them?
  3. Am I charging too little for my product?
  4. How do I raise prices without losing my existing customers?
  5. How do I price my product when I am selling it myself and have no comparable competitors?
  6. How do I price my very first product when I have no idea what to charge?
  7. Should I offer a free trial, a paid pilot, or a discount to close my first customers?

Read with it

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  2. The most concrete guide to actually measuring what customers will pay, including survey methods and tier design. It turns... lennysnewsletter.com Article · long-form guide The Ultimate Guide to Willingness to Pay Lenny Rachitsky & Patrick Campbell
  3. The single best thing ever written on customer conversations. It teaches you to ask about the customer's life and past... momtestbook.com Book · ~130 pages The Mom Test Rob Fitzpatrick
  4. This is the classic counterweight to the first-timer instinct to price low out of nervousness. McKenzie's core argument is that... Kalzumeus Software Essay · About a 10 minute read You Can Probably Stand To Charge More Patrick McKenzie (patio11)
  5. Tom Blomfield's practical framework for pricing when you sell to businesses, including why to charge from the start and how to... Y Combinator Startup Library Video How to Price for B2B (Tom Blomfield, Y Combinator) Tom Blomfield
  6. The permission slip to recruit users by hand, do things manually, and deliver 'insanely great' experiences to your first few... paulgraham.com Essay · ~15 min read Do Things That Don't Scale Paul Graham
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