Rob Walling

The total person hours, though, and the cost of this is, it's tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of person hours. I mean, I would not be surprised if we're 500, 700 person hours in. So there's a big cost. So I had to think to myself, if I charge $99 for this, this is a complete, no, it doesn't work. And if we spend that much time, and I build something worth $99, I've failed.

The total person hours, though, and the cost of this is, it's tens of thousands of dollars and hundreds and hundreds of person hours. I mean, I would not be surprised if we're 500, 700 person hours in. So there's a big cost. So I had to think to myself, if I charge $99 for this, this is a complete, no, it doesn't work. And if we spend that much time, and I build something worth $99, I've failed.

I want to build something worth four figures. I want a $1,000, $2,000 course. That's the level of production and the level of detail and the level of, I think, expertise and value that I think I bring in this course. So we batted that around the whole time. We were like, I think this is a $1,200 course, probably $1,500. At a certain point we evaluated $2,000. Then we had to say...

I want to build something worth four figures. I want a $1,000, $2,000 course. That's the level of production and the level of detail and the level of, I think, expertise and value that I think I bring in this course. So we batted that around the whole time. We were like, I think this is a $1,200 course, probably $1,500. At a certain point we evaluated $2,000. Then we had to say...

What's the purchasing power? What's the buying power of an early stage founder? Do they want to spend $1,500 on a course? And this is where you have a customer you have to think of, your ICP, and you have your time investment, and you have your time and money investment, but also you have the value. Those are three related but different things, right?

What's the purchasing power? What's the buying power of an early stage founder? Do they want to spend $1,500 on a course? And this is where you have a customer you have to think of, your ICP, and you have your time investment, and you have your time and money investment, but also you have the value. Those are three related but different things, right?

We eventually arrived at, and we were on a call one time, and I said, I want to sell I think this is a $1,500, maybe $2,000 course, and I want to sell this $1,500 course for $499. That's what I want to do. And my team, well, other people had said that. I don't want to claim like I came up with the price. But we agreed. It was like, this just feels right.

We eventually arrived at, and we were on a call one time, and I said, I want to sell I think this is a $1,500, maybe $2,000 course, and I want to sell this $1,500 course for $499. That's what I want to do. And my team, well, other people had said that. I don't want to claim like I came up with the price. But we agreed. It was like, this just feels right.

That price point feels right based on what we're doing and the support we're giving and all that stuff. So... Yeah, it feels good. And to your point, this will not sell 30,000 copies like SAS Playbook or my next book. The economics are so different because SAS Playbook can get, you know, wet for 10 bucks on Kindle or 25 paperback. A lot fewer people will buy this.

That price point feels right based on what we're doing and the support we're giving and all that stuff. So... Yeah, it feels good. And to your point, this will not sell 30,000 copies like SAS Playbook or my next book. The economics are so different because SAS Playbook can get, you know, wet for 10 bucks on Kindle or 25 paperback. A lot fewer people will buy this.

But my hope is that the people who buy it get a lot more value out of it than they would if it were the SAS Launchpad book, you know, that I had written.

But my hope is that the people who buy it get a lot more value out of it than they would if it were the SAS Launchpad book, you know, that I had written.

One is we have spent north of half a million dollars producing free content. And that's YouTube, that's this podcast. Oh, I mean, actually, if I include this podcast, literally, it's got to be 700, 750 grand, you know, over the course of the years. And so there's a lot of free stuff that I put out. And I almost consider like a Kindle book at $10 is close to free.

One is we have spent north of half a million dollars producing free content. And that's YouTube, that's this podcast. Oh, I mean, actually, if I include this podcast, literally, it's got to be 700, 750 grand, you know, over the course of the years. And so there's a lot of free stuff that I put out. And I almost consider like a Kindle book at $10 is close to free.

It's not free, but you know, so how many of those, I'm just finishing my fifth book right now, right? So there's a lot of those. So there's that element of like, I don't want to make everything free. This is the backend for us. We do have to pay for the other stuff.

It's not free, but you know, so how many of those, I'm just finishing my fifth book right now, right? So there's a lot of those. So there's that element of like, I don't want to make everything free. This is the backend for us. We do have to pay for the other stuff.

But the other thing is when people have skin in the game, when they pay for something, they tend to value it and they tend to want to follow through. We, at one point, were going to try to comp people to go to like microconf local events or microconf remote events.

But the other thing is when people have skin in the game, when they pay for something, they tend to value it and they tend to want to follow through. We, at one point, were going to try to comp people to go to like microconf local events or microconf remote events.

And I was staunchly against comping tickets because I was like, they're either not going to show up or they're going to just blow it off. Well, it's free, so it's not worth anything. But when something is truly being charged, whatever the number is, 500 or 1,000 or 1,500, whatever we had decided to charge, I just think people will do it. We'll take action a lot more.

And I was staunchly against comping tickets because I was like, they're either not going to show up or they're going to just blow it off. Well, it's free, so it's not worth anything. But when something is truly being charged, whatever the number is, 500 or 1,000 or 1,500, whatever we had decided to charge, I just think people will do it. We'll take action a lot more.