Our 6-Step Guide to Pricing (With Case Studies)

You’ve built something valuable. Don’t sell it short. Here's how to price it at what it's worth.
                                                 by Chris Tottman, The Founders Corner
                                                                  Read the entire post HERE:
                                                                                  URL for this Post.

---

Table of Contents

• Why Pricing Is So Bloody Hard
• Step 1: Start With Customer Value, Not Cost
• Step 2: Map Value vs. Adoption
• Step 3: Segment Your Customers Properly
• Step 4: Choose Your Packaging Model
• Step 5: Set the Price (Intelligently)
• Step 6: Nail the Extras That Influence Price Perception
• Founder Stories: What We've Learned the Hard Way
• Your Pricing Maturity Checklist
• Final Thoughts: Pricing Is Never “Done”

Why Pricing Is So Bloody Hard

• Let’s not sugar-coat it—pricing is one of the hardest decisions you’ll make as a software founder.
• It touches everything: revenue, customer acquisition, retention, perceived value, even fundraising. Get it wrong, and you could underprice your solution into bankruptcy or overprice your way into zero traction.
• And yet, most early-stage founders treat pricing like an afterthought.
• I get it. It feels like a dark art. One part psychology, one part spreadsheets, and one part blind guessing. But here’s the good news: pricing isn’t magic—it’s a method. And this cheat sheet, shaped by the brilliant Andreas Panayiotou at Notion Capital, gives us a systematic way to get it right.
• In this post, we’ll go deep into the frameworks and field lessons that make for great pricing. This isn’t theoretical—it’s built from watching hundreds of SaaS teams learn the hard way.

Step 1: Start With Customer Value, Not Cost
The golden rule: Price is a reflection of value.
Your job as a founder is to understand how your product creates value—and price accordingly.
Here’s how to get started:
a) Analyse Usage Patterns
Use product analytics tools (Mixpanel, Amplitude, Pendo) to see:

• What features are used most often?
• Where do users spend time?
• What workflows repeat across your top accounts?

b) Talk to Customers
Sit with them. Ask:

• “What feature would you miss most if we took it away?”
• “How does this product save you time or money?”
• “What’s the ROI of using our product?”

One founder I worked with found out that a feature they thought was a minor add-on actually saved enterprise clients 10+ hours a week. It wasn’t priced accordingly. That insight led to a 40% price increase—without churn.
​Step 2: Map Value vs. Adoption
Now take every feature or module and map it on a 2x2 chart:

• Y-axis: Value to Customer
• X-axis: Customer Adoption

Then sort them:

This exercise will change how you see your product.
One startup I advised discovered that their invoice audit tool—used by just 20% of clients—was the most loved feature. It became a separate upsell and grew to 25% of ARR.
The goal is to price based on perceived value, not just utility.

Read the rest of this post here.

​