CTO Scott Hirsch Learned That Free Wasn’t the Best Price for His Software

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CTO Scott Hirsch Learned That Free Wasn’t the Best Price for His Software

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My guest for Episode #154 of the My Favorite Mistake podcast is Scott Hirsch, the co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at the HR platform Talent Marketplace. With work experience combining business administration and computer science, Scott's passions lie in enabling business processes through the innovative use of technology.

In today's episode, Scott shares his “favorite mistake” story about setting the beta version of their platform as free. They launched the platform for free and “got almost no response.” Once they put a fee to it, clients started coming in, as Scott tells us. How did they decide their initial pricing was a mistake?

We also talk about questions and topics including:

  • “Freemium model”??
  • Which way would we rather be wrong?
  • Hiring challenges right now?
  • The search for talent in a tight market?
  • Does the data bring particular insights?
  • Increase in remote work?

Scroll down to find:

  • Video of the episode
  • Quotes
  • How to subscribe
  • Full transcript

Find Scott or his company on social media:

Watch the Episode:

Quotes:

"What we actually found there was that pricing the platform in a way that we would be taken seriously was extremely important."
"It's just an acknowledgement that we're going to be wrong and just which way do we want to be wrong? Which mistake would you rather have or which mistake would you rather make?"
"One of the big common mistakes that we see is people will get bogged down in their product development and not be able to launch on time or with the features that they really truly need, because they don't necessarily understand what that minimum viable product is."

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Automated Transcript (Likely Contains Mistakes)

About

Mark Graban is an internationally-recognized consultant, author, and professional speaker who has worked in healthcare, manufacturing, and startups. His latest book is Measures of Success: React Less, Lead Better, Improve More. He is author of the Shingo Award-winning books Lean Hospitals and Healthcare Kaizen, as well as The Executive Guide to Healthcare Kaizen. He also published the anthology Practicing Lean that benefits the Louise H. Batz Patient Safety Foundation, where Mark is a board member. Mark is also a Senior Advisor to the technology company KaiNexus. He is also a Senior Advisor and Director of Strategic Marketing with the healthcare advisory firm, Value Capture.