I’ve read several articles and posts from pricing professionals arguing that Sam Altman was wrong to set ChatGPT Pro’s price at $200/month. These pricing folks are far too critical.
Here is what’s great about what Sam did. He did something. Nobody knows the perfect price. The AI market is changing rapidly. The perfect price (and package), if it exists, will change rapidly too. So he took action.
Sure, he could have spent several months doing market research. But the market could have changed by the time they implemented it. He could have concocted a complex pricing and packaging portfolio that would be obsolete quickly.
He DID SOMETHING. He did it quickly. He is learning from his marketplace. Nobody knows where AI is going, or even how best to price it, but Sam is testing. With his new price and package, he is probably winning many heavy users, which he will learn from.
ChatGPT reminds me of Amazon in its early days. Profit didn’t drive its decisions; penetration drove Amazon. The same seems true with ChatGPT. It can’t win the AI market if it doesn’t learn about it.
What lesson should you take from this post? DO SOMETHING. Don’t bet your company, but keep experimenting. You don’t know everything about your market. You will be shocked by what works and what doesn’t. But you never learn anything if you spend too much time debating in a conference room.
Share your comments on the LinkedIn post.
Now, go make an impact!
Tags: pricing, pricing foundations, pricing skills, pricing value, value, value-based pricing
