Dynamic Pricing Strategist

Founder pricing

by Jakeschincariol · MIT license · ★ 322 on GitHub

Finds the price buyers will actually pay. Reads the consumer panel's four price answers per buyer into a Van Westendorp price-sensitivity range (too cheap, a bargain, getting expensive, too expensive), sets it against what competitors…

---
name: founder-pricing
description: >-
  Finds the price buyers will actually pay. Reads the consumer panel's four price
  answers per buyer into a Van Westendorp price-sensitivity range (too cheap, a
  bargain, getting expensive, too expensive), sets it against what competitors
  really charge and against the CFO's margin, and recommends a price, a price
  ladder (good / better / best) and an opening offer to test. Use when the user
  says "how much should I charge", "price this", "is $X too expensive", "pricing
  strategy", "what price", or after the consumer panel.
argument-hint: "[current price]"
---

# founder-pricing

Price is the fastest lever on the margin and the one founders guess most. This
skill sets it from three things you can check: what buyers said, what competitors
charge, and what the business needs to earn.

Overview

Price is the fastest lever on the margin and the one founders guess most. This skill sets it from three things you can check: what buyers said, what competitors charge, and what the business needs to earn.

Manual install (npx, ZIP)

Claude Codenpx skills add Jakeschincariol/founder-skill --skill founder-pricing -g -a claude-code

Claude Code (degit)npx degit Jakeschincariol/founder-skill/skills/founder-pricing#main ~/.claude/skills/founder-pricing

Claude.ai / desktopZip the folder and upload it under Settings → Capabilities → Skills.

Codex, Cursor, other agentsPoint them at SKILL.md. The other files are plain text.

Connects with Agent Alley MCP · agentalley.io/mcp

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founder-pricing

Tool in this folder:

python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/van_westendorp.py" founder/panel/answers --price 6.50 --out founder/pricing-curve.md

Step 1: what buyers said

If /founder-consumer ran, every buyer answered four price questions. Run the tool on founder/panel/answers (or a CSV with the columns too_cheap, cheap, expensive, too_expensive from real surveys, which beat simulated answers every time). It reports:

point	meaning
PMC	below this, too many think it is too cheap to be good
OPP	the price with the least resistance either way
IPP	where as many call it a bargain as call it expensive
PME	above this, too many will not buy at all

PMC to PME is the acceptable range. If the panel has not run, say so and offer to run /founder-consumer --quick first. Do not invent a range.

Step 2: what competitors charge

From founder/competitors.md (or look them up now, from their own public price pages, with links): the price of the nearest substitutes for the same job. Note what each price includes, so you compare like with like. A matcha latte is compared with other matcha lattes and with the coffee it replaces, not with a tea bag.

Step 3: what the business needs

From founder/numbers.json: the variable cost per unit and the break-even. Run the CFO's tool at two or three candidate prices to see the margin and break-even at each:

python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../founder-cfo/unit_economics.py" founder/numbers.json --price 7.00

Step 4: decide

Write founder/pricing.md:

The price, and why: where it sits in the acceptable range, against the competitors, and the margin it gives (from the tool, not a guess).
The ladder, if the business can have one: a good / better / best (size, bundle, subscription, membership) with a reason to step up each rung.
The opening offer: an intro price or bonus for launch that does not train buyers to wait for discounts, with an end date.
What to test with real buyers: two prices inside the range and how to test them (two landing pages, a pre-sale at each, A/B on the menu board).
The panel's verbatim price objections (top three), so marketing can answer them.

Rules

Price answers from simulated buyers pick what to test. They are not proof.
Never price below variable cost to "buy" customers without saying so, and how long the CFO says the business can afford it.
No fake anchors: no "was $X" price that was never charged.

Output

founder/pricing-curve.md, founder/pricing.md. If the price changed, update founder/numbers.json and re-run /founder-cfo. Next: /founder-offer.

1	---
2	name: founder-pricing
3	description: >-
4	Finds the price buyers will actually pay. Reads the consumer panel's four price
5	answers per buyer into a Van Westendorp price-sensitivity range (too cheap, a
6	bargain, getting expensive, too expensive), sets it against what competitors
7	really charge and against the CFO's margin, and recommends a price, a price
8	ladder (good / better / best) and an opening offer to test. Use when the user
9	says "how much should I charge", "price this", "is $X too expensive", "pricing
10	strategy", "what price", or after the consumer panel.
11	argument-hint: "[current price]"
12	---
13
14	# founder-pricing
15
16	Price is the fastest lever on the margin and the one founders guess most. This
17	skill sets it from three things you can check: what buyers said, what competitors
18	charge, and what the business needs to earn.
19
20	Tool in this folder:
21
22	```bash
23	python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/van_westendorp.py" founder/panel/answers --price 6.50 --out founder/pricing-curve.md
24	```
25
26	## Step 1: what buyers said
27
28	If `/founder-consumer` ran, every buyer answered four price questions. Run the
29	tool on `founder/panel/answers` (or a CSV with the columns `too_cheap, cheap,
30	expensive, too_expensive` from real surveys, which beat simulated answers every
31	time). It reports:
32
33	\| point \| meaning \|
34	\| --- \| --- \|
35	\| PMC \| below this, too many think it is too cheap to be good \|
36	\| OPP \| the price with the least resistance either way \|
37	\| IPP \| where as many call it a bargain as call it expensive \|
38	\| PME \| above this, too many will not buy at all \|
39
40	PMC to PME is the acceptable range. If the panel has not run, say so and offer to
41	run `/founder-consumer --quick` first. Do not invent a range.
42
43	## Step 2: what competitors charge
44
45	From `founder/competitors.md` (or look them up now, from their own public price
46	pages, with links): the price of the nearest substitutes for the same job. Note
47	what each price includes, so you compare like with like. A matcha latte is
48	compared with other matcha lattes and with the coffee it replaces, not with a tea
49	bag.
50
51	## Step 3: what the business needs
52
53	From `founder/numbers.json`: the variable cost per unit and the break-even. Run the
54	CFO's tool at two or three candidate prices to see the margin and break-even at
55	each:
56
57	```bash
58	python3 "${CLAUDE_SKILL_DIR}/../founder-cfo/unit_economics.py" founder/numbers.json --price 7.00
59	```
60
61	## Step 4: decide
62
63	Write `founder/pricing.md`:
64
65	1. The price, and why: where it sits in the acceptable range, against the
66	competitors, and the margin it gives (from the tool, not a guess).
67	2. The ladder, if the business can have one: a good / better / best (size,
68	bundle, subscription, membership) with a reason to step up each rung.
69	3. The opening offer: an intro price or bonus for launch that does not train
70	buyers to wait for discounts, with an end date.
71	4. What to test with real buyers: two prices inside the range and how to test
72	them (two landing pages, a pre-sale at each, A/B on the menu board).
73	5. The panel's verbatim price objections (top three), so marketing can answer them.
74
75	## Rules
76
77	- Price answers from simulated buyers pick what to test. They are not proof.
78	- Never price below variable cost to "buy" customers without saying so, and how
79	long the CFO says the business can afford it.
80	- No fake anchors: no "was $X" price that was never charged.
81
82	## Output
83
84	`founder/pricing-curve.md`, `founder/pricing.md`. If the price changed, update
85	`founder/numbers.json` and re-run `/founder-cfo`. Next: `/founder-offer`.
86