pricing-strategist

What the source does

• FilesystemNone observedNo reads or writes in the source
• NetworkNone observedNo outbound calls in the source
• ShellNone observedNo commands run in the source
• DependenciesPinnedNothing floats
• SecretsNone foundNo keys in source

Five audit layers

Gates applied: no behavioural pass.

Audit 0.4.1 · source sha 90bc6f1424df · 28 Oct 2026Report an issue or request a re-scan

• Publisherognjengt GitHub userOwner of the repository this skill is read from
• Source folderognjengt/founder-skills/skills/pricing-strategistThe exact folder we audited
• LicenceMITAs the repository states it
• Commit pinned for this verdict90bc6f1424dfA new audit runs when the source changes
• Repository statusNot archivedLast push 162 days ago
• Sandboxed runNot runSkills are read, not executed; layer L4 is skipped

Its description: Builds comprehensive pricing strategies by reading business context and asking targeted questions interactively. Use when user needs pricing plans, tier structures, price points, pricing model recommendations, or any…

---
name: pricing-strategist
description: Builds comprehensive pricing strategies by reading business context and asking targeted questions interactively. Use when user needs pricing plans, tier structures, price points, pricing model recommendations, or any pricing-related strategy for their product or service.
---

# Pricing Strategist

## Purpose
Build a comprehensive, justified pricing strategy — tier structures, price points, positioning, and revenue optimization — tailored to the business through context and conversation.

---

## Execution Logic

**Check $ARGUMENTS first to determine execution mode:**

### If $ARGUMENTS is empty or not provided:
Respond with:
"pricing-strategist loaded, ready to build your pricing strategy"

Then wait for the user to provide context in the next message.

### If $ARGUMENTS contains content:
Proceed immediately to Task Execution (skip the "loaded" message).

---

## Task Execution

### 1. MANDATORY: Read FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md
**BLOCKING REQUIREMENT — DO NOT SKIP THIS STEP**

Before doing ANYTHING else, read `FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md` from the project root. Extract everything relevant to pricing:
- Company name, industry, product/service type
- Target audience (demographics, pain points, budget signals)
- Existing pricing model (if any)
- Competitors and their pricing (if mentioned)
- Value proposition and key features/benefits
- Business stage and revenue goals

**DO NOT PROCEED** to Step 2 until this file has been read.

### 2. Determine Which Questions to Ask
Cross-reference what FOUNDER_CONTEXT.md already provides against the Question Bank below. **Only ask questions where the answer is genuinely missing or unclear.** Never ask something the context already answers.

**Question Bank (priority order):**

| # | Question | Why it matters | Skip if... |
|---|----------|----------------|------------|
| 1 | B2B or B2C? | Changes deal size, tier logic, sales cycle, everything | Target audience section makes it obvious |
| 2 | What pricing model do you prefer or want to avoid? (subscription, one-time, usage-based, freemium, hybrid) | Determines the entire structure | Pricing model already stated in context |
| 3 | What's the primary value metric that scales with usage? (seats, API calls, storage, projects, transactions, etc.) | Drives tier differentiation and upgrade logic | Product type + features make it obvious |
| 4 | Target gross margin range? (60-70%, 70-80%, 80%+, not sure) | Sets the floor for every price point | A number or range is already given |
| 5 | How price-sensitive is your target customer? (very sensitive, moderate, willing to pay premium) | Calibrates price positioning and tier gaps | Audience detail + industry norms make it clear |
| 6 | Who are your closest competitors and how do they price? | Market anchoring — prevents under or over pricing | Competitors section is filled |
| 7 | What's your current stage or revenue target? (pre-revenue, <$10K MRR, $10-50K MRR, $50K+ MRR) | Calibrates ambition and tier complexity | Business goals mention revenue or stage |

**Use AskUserQuestion to ask up to 4 questions per batch.** Ask the highest-priority unanswered questions first. If the first batch gives you enough to build a confident strategy, stop. Maximum 7 questions total, but fewer is better — stop as soon as you can build a strong strategy with what you have.

### 3. Determine Strategy Type
Based on all collected inputs, decide the structure. **Make this decision yourself — do not ask the user.** Explain why in the output.

| Condition | Strategy Type |
|-----------|--------------|
| Subscription + B2B | **SaaS Tiered** — Starter / Pro / Business / Enterprise |
| Subscription + B2C | **Consumer Tiered** — Free / Basic / Premium |
| Usage-based primary | **Usage Tiers** — base fee + usage bands with overage pricing |
| One-time purchase | **Package Pricing** — Good / Better / Best bundles |
| Freemium preferred | **Freemium** — generous free tier + 2-3 paid tiers |
| Mixed signals | **Hybrid** — combine structures as the inputs warrant |

### 4. Build the Pricing Strategy
For each tier, define:
- **Plan name** — descriptive, not generic. "Starter" beats "Plan A". "Growth" beats "Mid".
- **Price point** — monthly AND annual (annual ≈ 20% off monthly). Use specific numbers.
- **Price justification** — why this number. Anchor to: competitor benchmarks, value delivered, margin targets, or customer willingness to pay. Never leave a price unjustified.
- **Feature set** — what's in, and critically, what's deliberately left out to drive upgrades.
- **Target segment** — the specific customer who buys this tier and why.

### 5. Add the Strategic Layer
Beyond the tiers:
- **Positioning** — where this sits vs. competitors (premium, mid-market, value leader, underdog)
- **Psychological tactics used** — name them and explain why each one was chosen (charm pricing, anchoring, decoy effect, loss aversion in annual vs. monthly, etc.)
- **Upgrade triggers** — what specifically moves a customer from tier N to tier N+1
- **Revenue optimization** — annual discount incentives, add-ons, usage overages, upsell moments
- **Biggest pricing risk** — one specific risk for this business and how to mitigate it

### 6. Format and Verify
- Structure output per **Output Format** below
- Run through **Quality Checklist** before presenting

---

## Pricing Principles
Hard constraints. These exist because bad pricing destroys margins or kills growth.

- Price on value delivered. Never on cost to build.
- Every tier must have a clear reason to exist. If no real customer would buy it, cut it.
- The middle tier is the hero. Design the strategy so most customers land there.
- Annual pricing should feel like a no-brainer — 20-25% off. Monthly is the convenience premium.
- Never show more than 4 tiers. Paradox of choice kills conversion at the pricing page.
- Enterprise = "contact sales" unless the business is pre-revenue. Pre-revenue can skip Enterprise or price it transparently.
- Free

Excerpt, first 6,000 characters of SKILL.md, verbatim from the audited commit. It is text from someone else’s repository, quoted so you can judge it before your agent reads it.

git clone https://github.com/ognjengt/founder-skills
git -C founder-skills checkout 90bc6f1424df

Works in

1. 2026-10-28
   ✓SAFE B 89 / 100

   first audit · source 90bc6f1424df

Questions about pricing-strategist

• github.com/ognjengt/founder-skills/tree/main/skills/pricing-stra — the audited source at commit 90bc6f1424df and every finding aboveObserved · 28 Oct 2026

Spotted something wrong? Report a correction · Methodology