A Smart Bear · Jason Cohen
articleprincipleSometimes never compete on price
6 April 2025Profit
Source excerpt
About A Smart BearThe difference between "low prices" as a race to the bottom or as a success story (like Amazon, Costco, IKEA, Vanguard) is in leveraging intentional weaknesses.
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Apollo layer
What a founder can learn
Founder takeaway
Don’t compete on price by simply charging less. Make low prices a deliberate strategy supported by intentional tradeoffs—decide what your company will not offer or optimize so it can sustain a structural cost advantage.
Why it matters
Discounting without structural tradeoffs erodes margins and invites an unwinnable race to the bottom. A clearly designed low-price model can instead reinforce positioning and preserve the economics needed to endure.
Put it to work
Ask: What customer-valued outcome will we preserve, and what specific features, services, or operating choices are we willing to weaken or remove to make lower prices sustainable?
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