VEN-05 · Pricing without fantasy

Propose a price, and show the evidence. What do buyers pay today for the thing you would replace, what did they tell you about budget, and what happens to your margin at that price given what VEN-04 found?

Competitor and substitute pricing that is publicly published, captured with the date accessed — and an honest note where pricing is "contact us," because opacity is itself a market fact. Budget signals from the VEN-01 interviews, quoted rather than summarized. The VEN-04 cost stack, so price meets cost in the same document. Where the buyer is a school or public agency, the purchasing reality — budget cycles, purchase orders, who actually signs — is part of the price.

Cost-plus pricing with no reference to what anyone pays today. Treating "that seems reasonable" in an interview as willingness to pay; nobody has paid anything until money moves. Pricing below cost and calling it a growth strategy. Ignoring the buyer-user split — the person who benefits is often not the person with the budget. Quoting a competitor price with no date in a market that reprices quarterly.

A pricing memo: the substitute-price landscape with dates and sources, including what "contact us" hides; the willingness-to-pay evidence, quoted and labeled as weak or strong; the proposed price and structure (per unit, per seat, per month, tiered) with the reason for the structure; the resulting gross margin using VEN-04's cost stack; and the price at which the business stops working.

CT: distinguishing stated willingness from demonstrated payment. CR: choosing a price structure that fits how the buyer actually buys. CO: a peer plays the buyer and pushes back on price. CM: a memo a judge can interrogate. CZ: who is priced out, and whether that matters for this product.

A founder, sales lead, or someone who has actually set a price reviews the willingness-to-pay evidence. Standing instruction: reject "they said they'd pay" as evidence of demand. School-supervised.

R1: one price, one structure, one buyer. R2: every competitor price dated and cited. R3: comparator is what the buyer spends today, including doing nothing. R4: margin at the proposed price shown; the break point named. R5: memo survives a pricing question. R6: refuses to present interview politeness as revenue.

(a) Cost plus a round markup, with no evidence anyone would pay it. (b) A price built on undated competitor figures that were already stale.

Lane A immediately (business, marketing, or entrepreneurship capstone). Requires VEN-04 first. No verified credit claim.