Your first customer is worth more than they pay

Some companies spend millions acquiring customers.

For PagoCRM's first one, we set a price that didn't cover even half of what it was worth.

And I'd do it again.

Here's how I think about it.

When you have a new product and no customers, you have a very specific problem: nobody wants to go first. Everyone asks the same thing, even if they don't say it: "Who else uses it?"

And as long as the answer is "nobody", it doesn't matter how good the demo is.

What you're really buying

PagoCRM's first customer was a non-profit club. We offered a fee well below our price, and we paid for the setup.

Any spreadsheet would tell you we were buying a customer. And yes. That's exactly what we were doing.

But we weren't buying revenue. We were buying three things you can't get any other way:

• The truth. A real club, with real members and real money, teaches you in a month what a year of testing won't.
• A sentence. "A club already uses it" opens doors no presentation can.
• Confidence in ourselves. Knowing it works outside your own walls changes how you explain it to the next ones.

Your first customer isn't revenue. It's the proof you pay for so the next ones believe you.

Discount with your eyes open

There's a risk here, and it's worth seeing before you do it.

A very large discount can end up setting your price. The first customer becomes the yardstick, and every new customer asks why they pay more.

What helps me avoid it:

• Be clear about the real price before discounting. A discount only means something if there's a price to discount from.
• Put it in writing. The normal price and the discount, visible, with the reason. That way nobody mistakes the discount for the rate.
• Choose carefully. Not just anyone. Someone with the real problem, who will use it and tell you what doesn't work.

Why it's an investment, not an expense

Foxnice started in 2014 with €300 and no investors. We've never had a customer acquisition budget. What we have is client work that pays the bills, and part of that goes into products.

From there, that discount was real money. Not a marketing line item, but a deliberate bet.

But compared with the cost of building blind for months with nobody using it, it's the cheapest thing you can do. A real customer showing you what's missing and what's surplus is worth more than any market study.

If you're starting a product and nobody wants to go first, don't lower the price for everyone.

Find one. A good one. And pay them, if you have to, to let you learn with them.

P.S. If you ever see someone offering an absurd price for their new product, it isn't always desperation. Sometimes it's strategy. And sometimes it's both.