Rob Walling

Or I used to be a help desk person, so I know what FTP is and basic computer troubleshooting. And you just kind of find out what else they know, and you can start passing other things off to them that are hopefully within their comfort zone. I don't look for a unicorn of like, I need a customer support slash marketer slash developer. It's like, come on. That doesn't exist except for Derek Reimer.

Or I used to be a help desk person, so I know what FTP is and basic computer troubleshooting. And you just kind of find out what else they know, and you can start passing other things off to them that are hopefully within their comfort zone. I don't look for a unicorn of like, I need a customer support slash marketer slash developer. It's like, come on. That doesn't exist except for Derek Reimer.

Yeah. But realistically, if you find someone good, they usually are good at other things too. And if you are a limited team, you know, you don't want to hire someone for each role if you can possibly have someone serve as two. So thanks for that question, Ryan. I hope it was helpful. My next question comes from Mark Kohlbrug. He's the founder of Betalist and Startup.jobs and WIP.co.

Yeah. But realistically, if you find someone good, they usually are good at other things too. And if you are a limited team, you know, you don't want to hire someone for each role if you can possibly have someone serve as two. So thanks for that question, Ryan. I hope it was helpful. My next question comes from Mark Kohlbrug. He's the founder of Betalist and Startup.jobs and WIP.co.

And this question comes to us from Twitter, ex-Twitter. I actually asked this question back in June. I said, you know, what are some like more advanced, intermediate and advanced questions? And he responded with, how can I do price discovery for a product where customers know what the others are paying? In my case, it's a community product. but the same applies to certain markets.

And this question comes to us from Twitter, ex-Twitter. I actually asked this question back in June. I said, you know, what are some like more advanced, intermediate and advanced questions? And he responded with, how can I do price discovery for a product where customers know what the others are paying? In my case, it's a community product. but the same applies to certain markets.

And I made a clarification. I said, to clarify, do you mean how to raise lower test pricing when new customers know what your existing customers are paying? And he said, yes, specifically how to test different pricing models once you already have a customer base. Laura Roeder, have you tested pricing?

And I made a clarification. I said, to clarify, do you mean how to raise lower test pricing when new customers know what your existing customers are paying? And he said, yes, specifically how to test different pricing models once you already have a customer base. Laura Roeder, have you tested pricing?

I echo all of that. I have tested, in quotes, because the only company, the only SaaS company I ever have seen that actually split tested pricing was Zapier. And I'm sure someone else has done it, HubSpot maybe. I mean, there's a few, but as a rule, like bootstrappers, you don't test pricing. You take your best guess and you make the switch and then you roll it back if it doesn't work.

I echo all of that. I have tested, in quotes, because the only company, the only SaaS company I ever have seen that actually split tested pricing was Zapier. And I'm sure someone else has done it, HubSpot maybe. I mean, there's a few, but as a rule, like bootstrappers, you don't test pricing. You take your best guess and you make the switch and then you roll it back if it doesn't work.

And I have had to do that and it's not great, but you don't even mess with existing customers at that point. You just change the pricing page and you say, fingers crossed that this is going to work. And you stare longingly at your numbers for the next seven to 14 days and you're like gritting your teeth like, did I just ruin my whole funnel? Because it's terrifying.

And I have had to do that and it's not great, but you don't even mess with existing customers at that point. You just change the pricing page and you say, fingers crossed that this is going to work. And you stare longingly at your numbers for the next seven to 14 days and you're like gritting your teeth like, did I just ruin my whole funnel? Because it's terrifying.

And if it works, you're like, okay, now let's talk about grandfathering versus not. Do we raise on existing? Let's give it a couple months to iron out. Let's look at our churn, you know, that type of thing. And if it doesn't work and you know early on, then yeah, you just, you roll it back. That's the only testing that I've ever done.

And if it works, you're like, okay, now let's talk about grandfathering versus not. Do we raise on existing? Let's give it a couple months to iron out. Let's look at our churn, you know, that type of thing. And if it doesn't work and you know early on, then yeah, you just, you roll it back. That's the only testing that I've ever done.

So from the time we started Drip until we sold it, I think it was three and a half years ago, And we had three or four different versions of our pricing. Because I remember there was like the V1 billing engine and then the V2, V3, V4. And one of them switched the pricing model. So it switched from like new subscribers per month. We originally, that was our value metric.

So from the time we started Drip until we sold it, I think it was three and a half years ago, And we had three or four different versions of our pricing. Because I remember there was like the V1 billing engine and then the V2, V3, V4. And one of them switched the pricing model. So it switched from like new subscribers per month. We originally, that was our value metric.

And then we switched to just subscribers in your account per month once we became an ESP. And then after that, the next two, I think we're just increasing prices basically. Or like, you know, it was reducing the number of subscribers, keeping the price points the same. So effectively increasing pricing. And I do remember being nervous each time we did it.

And then we switched to just subscribers in your account per month once we became an ESP. And then after that, the next two, I think we're just increasing prices basically. Or like, you know, it was reducing the number of subscribers, keeping the price points the same. So effectively increasing pricing. And I do remember being nervous each time we did it.

I viewed them as a test, but we just did it. And I think pricing, there's so much to gut feel. And like, this is where like hard decisions with incomplete information. I mean, I know that like Patrick Campbell at ProfitWell talks about, if you've ever seen him do a talk on pricing, it's like, and we do this survey and you get these lines that like- I'm very skeptical.

I viewed them as a test, but we just did it. And I think pricing, there's so much to gut feel. And like, this is where like hard decisions with incomplete information. I mean, I know that like Patrick Campbell at ProfitWell talks about, if you've ever seen him do a talk on pricing, it's like, and we do this survey and you get these lines that like- I'm very skeptical.