ASK HN: Does Minimal Viable Product Mean Minimal Viable Price?

4 points by systematical 13y ago ↗ HN

Hello all. I'm a developer and a serial bootstrapper. I have yet another idea for a software service that I am getting ready to begin development on. This time I've read the excellent "The Startup Owner's Manual" by Steve Blank and am working on determining what the MVP of my service is by slowing stripping out the features I think it can float without. As I am stripping out features, I am reducing initial cost to the customer.

I'm having difficulty on setting the initial price though. Go to low and I reduce its profitability. Go to high and I might not know if its viable or just priced too high. I'm struggling to find a medium ground I suppose. One idea I'm toying with is offering the service at the price I want to offer it at, but making coupon codes readily available while I'm testing out the MVP.

This is a service for businesses, SEOs specifically if that helps at all. Thoughts?

3 comments

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tadfisher 13y ago ↗

The proper price of your product is the value it represents to the users of said product. Find the number that accurately reflects this value; use the evidence you gather as part of your marketing approach. "Going too high" is not a problem if it saves your customers money on comparable services.

orangethirty 13y ago ↗

Price is not tied to features but to perception of value. Meaning that a plastic spatula (one feature) has a lower perceived value than a golden spatula (one feature, too). But its made out of gold. The perceived value is higher.

Pricing depends on a lot of things. Start by looking at what your closest competitor charges.

chrupi 13y ago ↗

I had a discussion on the same topic with a colleague entrepreneur launching B2B MVP in about 3 weeks. After many options the best one we came up with was to launch the MVP, not listing the price but showing Contact Sales button instead. This way you can test price levels with as many customers you want or need. In the end you will find the sweet spot and eventually put the price publicly on the site.