Price It Before You Build It with Garrick van Buren

What we talked about.

In this episode of the Sunny Ray Show, host Sunny Ray talks with Garrick van Buren of Pricing from the Start about why price should be the first question a founder answers, not the last. Garrick explains how founders lean on their gut, build alone in a garage or co-working space, and postpone commercial questions by chasing seed rounds and accelerators. He describes how the jobs to be done framework, as interpreted by Bob Mesa, helped him quantify the gap between a customer's current state and imagined future state, then turn that gap into a pricing model. The conversation covers business value anchors such as saving or making money, a rule of thumb for claiming a share of the upside, and why talking to customers is the step founders resist most. Garrick also shares a client story about leaving a million dollars on the table, his hope that product tools will one day carry dollar values on features, and a personal lesson that slow is smooth and smooth is fast. He closes with a theory that pricing should scale with the customer's revenue.

Founders build first and price last. Garrick van Buren explains why finding buyers and their committed dollars before building changes everything.

The questions, and the answers.

Why should price come first?

Price tells you everything else. It tells you what to build, who to talk to, and what to focus on. Without it, you're flying blind. Many founders build something they think is really cool but that has a weak connection to the market, and price is how you find that out early.

What did your first company teach you about how founders decide?

We go by our guts a lot, but we're just one person, so we have few data points against that instinct. It's easy to hide in a basement or co-working space and build what your gut says. That can be fulfilling, but a profitable, sustainable business is a different question than a hobby project.

What pricing mistakes did you see repeat in mentoring and accelerators?

Founders put pricing off until the end. They don't know who their likely customers are or how to have a pricing conversation, so they chase a seed round and accelerators instead. That postpones commercialization and adds pressure, because investors see the product as an asset that should grow 10 to 20 times.

When did you realize pricing is a value question and not a guessing game?

When I learned the jobs to be done framework, in Bob Mesa's version: the thing customers struggle with, where improvement helps their situation. I realized the gap between current state and imagined future state can be quantified. With my customer research background, I could turn that before and after gap into a pricing model.

How do you actually ask customers about price and land on a number?

Asking point blank what it's worth doesn't work well, so you get at it sideways. Talk about business value like saving money, making money, quality, time savings, or retention. My rule of thumb is that you can claim 10 to 30 percent of revenue upside, or about 5 to 15 percent of savings.

What does Pricing from the Start do differently from a typical pricing project?

We first articulate what you and your customers are trying to do. Then we talk to your best, worst, newest, oldest, happiest, and grumpiest customers, and sometimes sit in on sales calls. Every stakeholder on the buyer side has a budget. For one founder we built a five tab spreadsheet quantifying each stakeholder's value.

Which step do founders resist most, and why?

Talking to customers. Founders don't know who to talk to, how to reach them, or what conversation to have, and they're anxious about discussing money. So they buy ads on Google, LinkedIn, or Facebook instead. It avoids uncomfortable conversations, while the bank account burns quickly.

What does it look like in five years if founders price before they build?

Honestly, a lot more failure up front. But if we can put a dollar sign on a feature that a customer is committed to, we get clarity on what to build, how to prioritize, and how much time to spend. That aligns our limited time and resources with the greatest commercial upside.