Every founder hits this wall eventually. You've built something new, maybe something that doesn't have obvious competitors, and now you need to attach a number to it. Too high and customers vanish. Too low and you leave money on the table while signaling that your product isn't valuable. The anxiety is real because pricing feels like a guess with permanent consequences.

Here's the good news: pricing isn't a one-time decision you need to get perfect. It's a discovery process, and the best founders treat it like any other experiment. You form hypotheses, test them with real customers, and iterate toward the truth. Let's walk through how to find your price when you're starting from zero.

Your product might have twenty features, but customers rarely value all of them equally. Usually, one or two things drive most of the perceived value. Your job is to find those things before you set a price. The best way to do this isn't asking customers what they'd pay—people are notoriously bad at predicting their own behavior. Instead, ask about the problem you're solving.

Start with conversations. Ask potential customers: What happens if this problem doesn't get solved? How much time do you spend dealing with it now? What have you tried before, and what did that cost? These questions reveal the real stakes. If someone spends ten hours a week on a task you automate, the value isn't your software—it's those ten hours back. That's your pricing foundation.

Another powerful technique is the Van Westendorp Price Sensitivity Meter. Ask four questions: At what price would this be so cheap you'd question its quality? At what price is this a bargain? At what price does it start feeling expensive? At what price is it too expensive to consider? Where these answers cluster tells you your acceptable price range and reveals how customers perceive your product's positioning.

Takeaway

Never ask customers what they'd pay—ask what the problem costs them. The gap between their current pain and your solution is where your price lives.

Testing prices feels dangerous because you worry about looking inconsistent or unfair. But there are ways to experiment that feel natural to customers. The key is creating legitimate variation rather than appearing arbitrary. Different packages, limited-time offers, and customer segments all give you cover to test multiple price points simultaneously.

Try offering three tiers, even if you secretly want everyone on the middle one. This isn't manipulation—it's giving customers reference points. The expensive tier makes the middle feel reasonable. The cheap tier captures price-sensitive customers you'd otherwise lose. Watch where people land. If everyone chooses the cheapest option, your pricing is too high across the board. If everyone picks the most expensive, you've probably underpriced everything.

For early adopters specifically, consider founding member pricing. Tell your first customers they're getting a special rate because they're taking a chance on something new. This lets you charge less initially without anchoring your long-term pricing. You can also A/B test landing pages with different prices, though be transparent if asked—say you're still determining final pricing.

Takeaway

Create structured variation through tiers, limited offers, or founding member pricing. This lets you test multiple price points without appearing inconsistent or unfair to any single customer.

Customers don't evaluate your price in isolation—they compare it to something. Your job is to influence what they compare it to. This is anchor setting, and it's one of the most powerful pricing tools you have. Get the anchor wrong, and even a fair price feels outrageous. Get it right, and customers feel like they're getting a deal.

Think about what your customer would do if your product didn't exist. Would they hire someone? Use a clunky spreadsheet? Suffer through the problem manually? That alternative is your natural anchor. If a freelancer charges $500 to do what your $50/month software does, lead with that comparison. Your pricing page should make the mental math obvious and favorable.

Sometimes you need to reframe the category entirely. A productivity app might seem expensive compared to other apps, but cheap compared to a personal assistant. A consulting service might seem pricey until you position it against the cost of making the wrong decision alone. Choose anchors that make your price feel proportional to the value delivered, not just competitive with similar products.

Takeaway

Customers always compare your price to something—make sure they're comparing it to the most favorable alternative by explicitly stating what they'd spend otherwise.

Pricing is a skill you develop through iteration, not a puzzle you solve once. Start by understanding what customers truly value, test multiple price points through structured variation, and always control the comparison point. Every conversation and every sale gives you data to refine your approach.

Your first price won't be perfect, and that's fine. What matters is building a system for learning. Raise prices on new customers, watch churn rates, and listen to objections. The market will teach you what your product is worth—your job is to keep asking the right questions.