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Today I reviewed a pricing proposal for one of our products. We did the hard part - talking to more than a dozen users These conversations offered a lot of insights into who's using our product, what they're using it for, how they're using it in vivid details, what their willingness to pay looks like.

My colleague did a great job of aggregating and synthesizing all these raw data into higher-level artifacts like JTBDs, use cases, target audiences. But the problem is, it's still overwhelming. There's a lot of moving pieces in this puzzle.

My first thought was: "Okay, I need to simplify this, what frameworks should I use .... ?"

But then I paused. "No, something seems to be wrong with that as the starting point. I should resist the temptation to simplify things". Pricing is a complex problem. It's not supposed to be simple. It's not something that you just throw a framework at and be done.

I recalled your blog post. I took a few notes on that, but I didn't need to read the notes. Just recalling the principle "First Focus. Then Simplify" was enough.

So I asked myself: "Okay, what do we need to focus on?". By pursuing that line of reasoning and taking into account our product vision, mission and strategy, I gained clarity. From 6 different target audiences to 3. From 9 to 3 JTBDs.

The feeling when you feel the "shape" of your thinking seems right is hard to explain. The best I can describe it is like your thinking is approximating Context-Form Fit.

Things are still complex (as reality usually is), but I've identified key levers unique to our own situation that help me focus. Now I can start to simplify. What pricing frameworks should I apply, what's the pricing point, etc. Details still need to be worked out.

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