3 builders who never spoke to each other
Map the buyer's budget before you pick a number
How the money gets approved shapes the price more than the value does. Find out who signs, what pot it comes from and what threshold triggers a second approver, then design the number and the packaging to slide through that process. Reconstructing the purchase from the buyer's side also tells you what return they need to see to justify it.
The method
- 01
Find out how the buyer's budget and purchasing process actually work, then shape the price and the business model to fit it.
- 02
Ask how their budget actually works during interviews, and set price, packaging and positioning to match what you learn.
- 03
Reconstruct the purchase from the buyer's side of the table: they set your price against the return they expected to get back, so identify the specific value that clears that figure.
What it returned
Their buying process is said to determine both pricing strategy and business model.
Sources
- How I Learned to Make MoneyAlex Hillman · dangerouslyawesome.com · What Would You Say You Do Here? · 2011-10-01
- The roadmap to Product/Market Fit (PMF)… maybeJason Cohen · longform.asmartbear.com · 3. Customer Fit: Find the ideal customers first. · 2023-12-24
- 💲 Why Is Charging $1 Infinitely Better Than Charging $0? - Trends.vcDru Riley · trends.vc · 🔧 Try This · 2025-05-19
the second source
Three plays a week, for the phase you are in
No roundup of links, no news. Three tactics more than one builder arrived at separately, with the numbers each one returned and the disagreements left in.
More in pricing
- Make them pay before the thing exists8 unconnected · contested
- Decide whether a free tier earns its keep7 unconnected · contested
- Put a cheap rung below the expensive offer7 unconnected · contested
- Undercutting alone is not a position7 unconnected · contested
- Turn the service into a product with a public price7 unconnected
- Charge for the result, not the hours6 unconnected · contested