Don’t Leave Money On The Table

“The more you learn, the more you earn” – Warren Buffett

In this true story, we hide the names to protect the players and don’t tell you the venue, either.

In 2014 (A), we ran three market Y value equations (not shown).  All showed that Project X was under-priced.  We find validation of these projections in 2021, as used X versions sell for more than their original $1M price (also not shown).  X sold amply, with 300 units in the market by 2021, and if C’s assumptions were correct, it made a profit, too (D).  Joy in Mudville!  But wait a minute.

Had X’s producers studied Y’s Demand Frontier (B), they might have noticed its negative slope of -1.24.  That means that at the limiting slope, had X’s price been raised to $1.34M, it would have made more revenue, despite the sales drop.  Also, with fewer units, recurring costs fall (C).

The overall effect in D is that selling Project X too cheaply costs Y both revenue and profit.

Hypernomics notes it’s easy to think that if a project makes a profit, it is doing well. But if we learn about all the market forces at work, often we’ll find well isn’t well enough.  Don’t leave money on the table because you didn’t study your market thoroughly.

#hypernomics #innovation #markets #marketanalysis #pricing #analytics