[softwaredoug]

Discounts? I'd go the opposite direction...

Expect pain.

Enterprise sales means annoying security questionaries, contract negotiations, and lots of hands-on conversations. If anything the acquisition cost is very high and there's a reason the enterprise pricing is not listed online anywhere for many companies.

[ezekg]

This. You'll want to charge at least $1k/mo for enterprise. They take a lot of back and forth. Mostly due to security and compliance questionnaires. But once it's done, it's generally gravy. Always do Net30 or Net45.

Peek my company's pricing if you want to see how I've priced things. It's worked well for me. Link in bio.

[snowwrestler]

I don’t understand this comment. $49/seat for 5,000 seats is $245,000. That’s a lot more than the “$1k/mo” you’re suggesting.

[ezekg]

I misread the OP. I thought it was $49/mo, not $49/mo/user.

[ttul]

Sure there is pain, but 5,000 seats all at once is usually worth it. The thing to avoid like the plague is RFPs. They will kill your startup faster than anything. Your customers should be early adopters and early markets do not do RFPs.

[moneywoes]

Can you elaborate on this please?

Why it a death sentence to sell to organizations with RFPS

Is it cause of other people putting bids? What if I want to sell to government agencies as a bootstrapped business

Thanks so much

[gnicholas]

IME it's because you end up spending tons of time on the proposal, with no guarantee of revenue. And then you're in their process, and they'll have their procurement folks hammer you on price. They'll know that after investing all that time in the RFP process, you won't want to give up on the revenue, and they'll take advantage of that.

Big picture: it just frames things the wrong way — if they want to buy from you, then they're buying from YOU. If you get pulled into an RFP, then you're selling to THEM.

That doesn't mean RFPs are always bad, just that they can be terrible for startups that are too small, and not prepared for the process.

[Atlas22]

Have sold to a lot of governments and large contractors. I wouldn't say its a death sentence, just different business model than most startups. Government and large orgs that send out RFPs are essentially asking for a product/service to be made and maintained specifically for them. Unless your essentially in the consulting business, its rarely worthwhile for a normal startup as it eats A LOT of time for a single customer. Government can be very lucrative if you can find the right niche but its always exceedingly painful and one of the governments favorite pastimes is completely 180ing requirements right after you complete them.

[gervwyk]

Problem here to not underestimate is that if you are not experienced in RFPs you will spend 10x to 20x the time than someone that has experience int these processes, and then there is a real risk that you optimistically misinterpreted some qualification criteria that disqualifies you in the process. So if you have done this before, do it. If have to do it for the first time, you want to consult someone who has walked the path.

[samsolomon]

This is why companies that sell enterprise saas have separate support contracts. That or they have affiliate consultancies that offer support.

[woleium]

So charge a flat fee and a rate card to deal with all the extra stuff. Enterprises are used to purchasing service along with a product