Medium — weeks Pre-Revenue

Do I validate pricing before building or after?

You could build first and figure out pricing later. Or you could test willingness to pay before writing a line of code. Pre-selling feels like lying if the product doesn't exist. Building without validation feels like gambling.

1–1 people SaaS, Service Business, Marketplace, Creator / Media Medium — weeks

The Pattern

Based on 327 decisions

73%

Positive outcome

7.0

Avg score

327

Decisions

64 positive 24 negative 239 pending

10 scale 305 optimise 12 experiment

What founders did

high confidence

Monetisation Case Studies

Curated library

Solo Founder: Pivot from non-revenue SaaS to validated idea (2026)

After spending three months building a SaaS product that generated no revenue, a founder made the strategic decision to abandon it and pivot towards a new idea identified through market …

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.8

Startup: Evaluate pivot to GUI App + subscription model (2024)

An early-stage SaaS startup is grappling with a fundamental business model decision: whether to continue with a 'GitHub repo + deployment fee' model, which might appeal to developers, or pivot …

SaaS Building — Pre-launch Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.9

Founder: Pivot from an unvalidated SaaS idea to a new, validated one (2026)

After spending three months building a SaaS product that generated no revenue, a founder made the critical decision to abandon the current product and pivot to a new idea based …

Positive outcome Shifted to validated ideas, avoiding further wasted development …

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.8

SaaS Founder: Evaluate business model pivot from deployment fee to subscription GUI app (2026)

A SaaS founder is at a crossroads, considering whether to transition their business model from a GitHub repository with a deployment fee to a GUI application with a subscription. This …

SaaS £0–5k/month Experiment — Promising but unvalidated

5.9

Startup (unnamed): Launch product on Product Hunt

A startup decided to officially launch its product on Product Hunt, a platform popular for showcasing new tech products. This is a deliberate channel strategy for gaining early visibility, attracting …

SaaS £0–5k/month Optimise — Working but needs refinement

6.7

Salesforce: Per-seat subscription pricing model (1999)

Instead of large upfront licence fees (the Siebel/Oracle model), Salesforce charged $50/user/month. This was radically lower entry cost but required sustained retention. Enterprise buyers were unfamiliar with subscriptions for business …

Positive outcome Net revenue retention: 120%+; became industry standard

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

7.8

Stripe: Transparent, flat-rate pricing at 2.9% + 30c (2011)

Instead of complex tiered pricing with interchange-plus rates, Stripe offered simple flat-rate pricing. This was slightly more expensive for high-volume merchants but radically simpler. No contracts, no negotiation, no hidden …

Positive outcome Millions of businesses onboarded; simple pricing became industry …

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

7.8

Spotify: Launch freemium model with ad-supported free tier (2008)

Spotify launched with a free ad-supported tier alongside premium subscriptions. Labels were hostile — they feared free access would cannibalise sales. The bet was that free users would convert to …

Positive outcome 615M users; 36% free-to-paid conversion

SaaS Launched — Pre-Revenue Optimise — Working but needs refinement

6.6

As founders contribute their monetisation decisions, you'll see what people at your exact stage are doing too.