When Was the Last Time You Marveled at the World?

Entrepreneur Office Hours - Issue #253

Earlier this week, I was driving down the highway and talking with my brother on the phone when the call dropped. A couple frustrating minutes later, we were able to reconnect, and, of course, the first thing we did when we resumed out conversation was complain about the dropped call.

“Sorry about that,” I said. “For some reason, my stupid phone has been dropping calls a lot recently.”

“No, no, no,” he responded. “It was probably my phone. My carrier sucks.”

We went back and forth like this for a few more exchanges — complaining about phones, service providers, etcetera — before I had a sudden realization of how ridiculous we were being.

To add a bit of context, my brother lives in Seoul, South Korea. I’m in Durham, North Carolina. In other words, that tiny moment of inconvenience we were complaining about would have seemed like magic only a short time ago in the context of human history. I was literally speeding along in a metal box at 70 miles per hour — faster than any living object has ever traveled for basically the entirety of world history until not very long ago — while having a perfectly clear and realtime conversation with someone literally on the other side of the planet.

It’s freaking amazing, right? And yet, my brother and I had the audacity to be annoyed by a slight inconvenience. How absurd is that?

More importantly, I’m sharing this story because I think it’s sometimes easy to forget how incredible the world around us is. We can basically get anywhere on the planet in less time than it takes to binge watch a season of our favorite TV show. And we can even do the binge-watching while traveling. We can video chat with anyone, anytime from the palm of our hand. We can create and post a video that gets seen by millions of people in the time it takes to read this newsletter.

How cool is all of that?

The answer: it’s really damn cool.

So whatever you’re currently worried about or annoyed with, take a moment to stop, look around, and marvel. We really do live in an amazing world, and we don’t always spend enough time appreciating just how incredible it is.

-Aaron

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This week’s new articles…

The Smartest Investment Entrepreneurs Can Make

Even though they never get credit for it, entrepreneurs are investors in their own companies, and they need to be smart about deploying their resources.

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How to Prevent VCs From Destroying Your Company

Investor cash can turn a small startup into a huge success, but it can also destroy startups whose founders aren’t careful.

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Office Hours Q&A

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QUESTION:

Aaron, I’m hitting a bit of a wall trying to figure out pricing for my startup’s product. On one hand, I want to be competitive and attract customers, but on the other, I don’t want to sell ourselves short or give the impression that we’re undervaluing our offering. Any thoughts on how to strike the right balance when it comes to setting prices for a new product?"

Appreciate your insights,

Franklin

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Lots of entrepreneurs fall into the trap of obsessing over getting pricing “right” from the start. The reality, though, is that you don’t have to nail it perfectly right away. Your goal should be to set an initial price that’s close enough, and then be ready to learn and adjust quickly based on real-world feedback.

Here are a few things to keep in mind as you take those first swings:

1. Understand Your Costs and Margins: Start with the basics. Know your costs and make sure you’re covering them with enough margin to support the business. You’d be surprised how many founders skip this step because they’re too focused on what competitors are charging. But if your price doesn’t support your survival, it’s a non-starter.

2. Consider Your Value Proposition: Price is a signal of value, so think about what you’re offering and how it compares to others in your space. If you’re offering something unique or high-quality, it’s okay to charge more. The important part is that the price matches the value you’re delivering to your customers.

3. Know Your Customer’s Willingness to Pay: Pricing should also be grounded in what your customers can and will pay. Do a little research, talk to potential customers, and gather as much information as you can about their expectations and budgets. Even rough data can help guide you.

Once you’ve got an initial price, the key is to get your product in front of people and start gathering data as quickly as possible. Watch how customers respond and be open to tweaking the price as you learn more. Early on, pricing is more about optimizing than perfecting, so take those educated swings and let customer feedback lead the way.

And remember, you can always adjust later, meaning whatever you choose isn’t going to be your price forever. Your goal, in the early stage, isn’t to get pricing right. It’s to collect the data you’ll need to optimize pricing over time.

Got startup questions of your own? Reply to this email with whatever you want to know, and I’ll do my best to answer!

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