Your Product’s Pricing is Probably the Problem

It’s either too expensive, too cheap, or just doesn’t communicate the proper value

I’ve been building and launching products and startups for more than 20 years. In that time I’ve become somewhat of an expert on pricing, mostly due to the experience I’ve gained recovering from my own pricing mistakes.

A lot of startups don’t think about pricing much before they launch a new product to market. They do a lot of guessing, and to be fair, a lot of pricing is guesswork — it’s a soupy mix of math, science and psychology. Rarely is there a right answer beyond “sell it for more than it costs to make it,” but even that rigid rule becomes flexible when market share is a critical factor in the early days.

While we’re at it, let’s talk about inflation — for just a second, because I know you’re probably as sick of the topic as I am. Macro market effects like inflation can influence pricing in sneaky ways.

As inflation remains persistent, I’m getting two similar-sounding but very different questions:

• Is our product priced too high?
• Is our product priced too low?

Anyone who has ever been in the position of selling something has asked either or both of those questions at one…