Column · pricing first version
A price asks: at this number, will a stranger part with money for this? Every answer is informative. A yes tells you the floor is at or below your number. A no tells you either the value is unclear or the price is above it — and the two are distinguishable by what people say when they decline.
For a first version, the goal is the first transaction, not the best transaction. One real payment from a stranger is worth more than a hundred expressions of interest, because it is the only signal that cannot be given politely.
A low first price is not a permanent decision. It is a measurement with a short horizon.
Free removes the signal. Free users tell you what they would like; paying users tell you what they will give up something for. Those are different populations and only one of them funds the next version.
Raise when the work behind delivery stops surprising you — when you can predict the effort, the questions and the failure modes. At that point the price is compensating for certainty rather than for novelty.
Do not price by competitor. Their price reflects their costs, their history and their customers, none of which are yours. And do not price by effort: effort is your problem, not the buyer's.
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