# COSTPRICE > COSTPRICE is an embedded 0→1 growth engine for Seed-stage founders. We work at cost price — no markup, no agency margin — because our incentive is to drive more growth stories and build a larger cohort. We have grown 8 companies across PLG, GTM, and Category Creation motions over 7 years. We are now forming a cohort of 21 companies. COSTPRICE is not an agency. We embed as a founder's complete growth team for 12–18 months: strategy, execution, channel ownership, and handover. We pick the right growth motion (PLG, Sales-led GTM, or Category Creation), build the infrastructure, and run it end-to-end. ## What We Do - **Growth Motion Diagnosis**: We answer the PLG vs. GTM vs. Category Creation question with a three-question diagnostic before spending a dollar on execution. - **Strategy & Foundation (Months 1–2)**: ICP definition, competitive audit, positioning, channel prioritisation, 12-month execution calendar, messaging framework, analytics setup. Charged upfront. - **Execution & Iteration (Months 3–6)**: ABM sequences, content engine, SEO architecture, paid media, events, community seeding, weekly feedback loops, MQL tracking. - **Scale & Compound (Months 7–12)**: Channel doubling, AI-assisted content scale, pipeline velocity improvement, brand authority build, sales enablement, partner channel exploration. - **Handover or Extend (Months 12–18)**: Full playbook handover, in-house team training, vendor contracts transferred, or extension on same terms. ## Pricing - Setup & strategy (months 1–2): $10,000 upfront - Execution, monthly advance (months 3+): $4,000/month - Total 12-month engagement: $50,000 - Zero markup on ad spend. No retainer inflation. - Comparison: VP Marketing costs $180–220k/year. A full-service agency runs $180k+/year with 15–20% spend markup. COSTPRICE is your entire growth team for $50k. ## Who We Work With - Seed to Series A founders with product-market fit - At least 3 customers who would be very disappointed if the product shut down - ICP clear enough to describe in one sentence - Founders who want to focus on the product and trust a team to own distribution ## Who We Do Not Work With - Pre-PMF companies (marketing cannot fix PMF) - Founders who want to control every marketing decision - Companies looking for short-term lead generation only ## The Cohort COSTPRICE operates in cohorts. The current cohort has 21 spots. 2 are filled. 19 remain. Applications are reviewed personally and responded to within 5 business days. ## Our Track Record - 8 companies grown from 0 to 1 - 7 years running the playbook - Notable companies: Zenduty, Plane, Distill, Damngud, Kruzr, Crystal Group, Stackform, Meridio, Fieldr - At Zenduty: grew from ~$100k ARR to $1.1M ARR using PLG — trigger-based email, DevRel, SEO to 1.2M monthly impressions at position 14.2 average. Trial-to-paid conversion 4x. ## Thinking (Blog) COSTPRICE publishes long-form frameworks for founders navigating 0-to-1 growth. Written by operators, not content marketers. Each article is also available as clean markdown at the /md endpoint. - [There are only three ways to grow a business. Most founders chase just one.](https://costprice.in/thinking/three-levers-every-business-growth) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/three-levers-every-business-growth/md - [Startups don't take off. Founders make them take off.](https://costprice.in/thinking/startups-dont-take-off-founders-make-them) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/startups-dont-take-off-founders-make-them/md - [Give them a reason or give them nothing](https://costprice.in/thinking/give-them-a-reason-or-give-them-nothing) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/give-them-a-reason-or-give-them-nothing/md - [Stop picking channels. Start designing for them.](https://costprice.in/thinking/stop-picking-channels-design-for-them) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/stop-picking-channels-design-for-them/md - [You can do everything right and still produce nothing worth reading](https://costprice.in/thinking/technique-without-substance-kills-your-message) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/technique-without-substance-kills-your-message/md - [Copy cannot create desire. Only channel it.](https://costprice.in/thinking/copy-cannot-create-desire-only-channel-it) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/copy-cannot-create-desire-only-channel-it/md - [Your story is a distribution channel. Most founders never use it.](https://costprice.in/thinking/founder-story-distribution-channel) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/founder-story-distribution-channel/md - [Fall in love with your clients, not your product](https://costprice.in/thinking/fall-in-love-with-clients-not-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/fall-in-love-with-clients-not-product/md - [Repelling the wrong customer is half the work of marketing](https://costprice.in/thinking/repelling-wrong-customers-is-half-your-marketing) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/repelling-wrong-customers-is-half-your-marketing/md - [You cannot market your way to a must-have product](https://costprice.in/thinking/cannot-market-your-way-to-must-have) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/cannot-market-your-way-to-must-have/md - [Your buyer starts shopping before they know your name](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-trigger-events-before-active-search) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-trigger-events-before-active-search/md - [Name the shift before you name the product](https://costprice.in/thinking/name-the-shift-before-the-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/name-the-shift-before-the-product/md - [Your pitch doesn't fail. Your context does.](https://costprice.in/thinking/set-context-before-you-pitch) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/set-context-before-you-pitch/md - [Build your marketing on what never changes](https://costprice.in/thinking/build-marketing-on-what-never-changes) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/build-marketing-on-what-never-changes/md - [Start every signup on paid. Let them downgrade later.](https://costprice.in/thinking/start-every-signup-on-paid) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/start-every-signup-on-paid/md - [The headline is the advertisement. Everything else is the footnote.](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-the-advertisement) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-the-advertisement/md - [Your pitch starts one step too late](https://costprice.in/thinking/your-pitch-starts-one-step-too-late) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/your-pitch-starts-one-step-too-late/md - [Every business has exactly three levers. Most founders pull none of them.](https://costprice.in/thinking/three-levers-every-business-already-has) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/three-levers-every-business-already-has/md - [Your buyer decided before you ever found them](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-decided-before-you-found-them) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-decided-before-you-found-them/md - [Your buyer's journey started before you existed](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-journey-starts-before-you-existed) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-journey-starts-before-you-existed/md - [When you write the headline, you have spent eighty cents of your dollar](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-your-dollar) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-your-dollar/md - [Product-market fit is necessary. It is not sufficient.](https://costprice.in/thinking/message-market-fit-the-missing-milestone) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/message-market-fit-the-missing-milestone/md - [Your attribution software is the most expensive lie in your go-to-market](https://costprice.in/thinking/attribution-mirage-demand-creation-vs-capture) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/attribution-mirage-demand-creation-vs-capture/md - [Your buyers are not comparing you to your competitors](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyers-compare-you-to-status-quo) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyers-compare-you-to-status-quo/md - [You cannot create urgency by describing a product](https://costprice.in/thinking/urgency-comes-from-naming-the-shift) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/urgency-comes-from-naming-the-shift/md - [Start with the world changing, not with your product](https://costprice.in/thinking/start-with-the-world-not-your-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/start-with-the-world-not-your-product/md - [Funnels will always run dry. Only loops survive.](https://costprice.in/thinking/funnels-run-dry-only-loops-survive) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/funnels-run-dry-only-loops-survive/md - [Platitudes leave no mark. Specific claims close the sale.](https://costprice.in/thinking/specific-claims-close-the-sale) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/specific-claims-close-the-sale/md - [There are only three ways to grow. You're probably using one.](https://costprice.in/thinking/three-ways-to-grow-use-all) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/three-ways-to-grow-use-all/md - [The pitch fails before you open your mouth](https://costprice.in/thinking/pitch-fails-before-you-open-your-mouth) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/pitch-fails-before-you-open-your-mouth/md - [Most founders confuse activity with activation. They are not the same thing.](https://costprice.in/thinking/activity-is-not-activation-growth-foundation) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/activity-is-not-activation-growth-foundation/md - [Every vague claim is a sale you hand away](https://costprice.in/thinking/every-vague-claim-costs-a-sale) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/every-vague-claim-costs-a-sale/md - [Activation is not a milestone. It's a system most founders haven't built.](https://costprice.in/thinking/activation-system-not-milestone-founders) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/activation-system-not-milestone-founders/md - [Sameness is the default. Most founders never notice it.](https://costprice.in/thinking/sameness-is-the-default-escape-it) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/sameness-is-the-default-escape-it/md - [Five times as many people read your headline. Write accordingly.](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-every-dollar) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-every-dollar/md - [Marketing is about values, not features](https://costprice.in/thinking/marketing-is-about-values-not-features) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/marketing-is-about-values-not-features/md - [The headline is where your marketing dollar is made or wasted](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-where-your-marketing-dollar-is-made) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-where-your-marketing-dollar-is-made/md - [The most trusted advisor in the room never has to sell](https://costprice.in/thinking/most-trusted-advisor-never-has-to-sell) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/most-trusted-advisor-never-has-to-sell/md - [Your pitch is starting in the wrong place](https://costprice.in/thinking/lead-with-the-shift-not-the-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/lead-with-the-shift-not-the-product/md - [Your most qualified sales lead is already inside your product](https://costprice.in/thinking/most-qualified-lead-already-in-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/most-qualified-lead-already-in-product/md - [When you write your headline, you have spent eighty cents of your dollar](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-your-dollar) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-eighty-cents-of-your-dollar/md - [Your biggest competitor is the one you never see in a deal](https://costprice.in/thinking/your-biggest-competitor-never-in-deals) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/your-biggest-competitor-never-in-deals/md - [Growth is not a funnel problem](https://costprice.in/thinking/growth-is-not-a-funnel-problem) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/growth-is-not-a-funnel-problem/md - [You can't automate your way to your first hundred users](https://costprice.in/thinking/the-work-that-doesnt-scale) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/the-work-that-doesnt-scale/md - [Your buyers weren't looking until something made them look.](https://costprice.in/thinking/trigger-events-why-buyers-show-up) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/trigger-events-why-buyers-show-up/md - [Don't open with the problem. Name the shift that made it inevitable.](https://costprice.in/thinking/name-the-shift-not-the-problem) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/name-the-shift-not-the-problem/md - [There are only three ways to grow any business](https://costprice.in/thinking/three-ways-to-grow-any-business) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/three-ways-to-grow-any-business/md - [When you have written your headline, you have spent eighty cents](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-where-eighty-cents-of-dollar-go) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-is-where-eighty-cents-of-dollar-go/md - [Start with the change, not the pitch](https://costprice.in/thinking/start-with-change-not-pitch) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/start-with-change-not-pitch/md - [Your biggest competitor is not who you think it is](https://costprice.in/thinking/biggest-competitor-not-who-you-think) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/biggest-competitor-not-who-you-think/md - [Before you write a word, ask how much they already know](https://costprice.in/thinking/before-you-write-ask-how-much-they-know) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/before-you-write-ask-how-much-they-know/md - [The headline is eighty cents of every marketing dollar you will ever spend](https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-eighty-cents-every-marketing-dollar) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/headline-eighty-cents-every-marketing-dollar/md - [Your buyer wasn't looking until something happened](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-wasnt-looking-until-something-happened) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-wasnt-looking-until-something-happened/md - [Pipeline is not demand. It is captured attention.](https://costprice.in/thinking/pipeline-is-not-demand) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/pipeline-is-not-demand/md - [Your first competitor is not a product](https://costprice.in/thinking/first-competitor-is-not-a-product) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/first-competitor-is-not-a-product/md - [Your buyer decides before they ever fill out a form](https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-decides-before-the-form-fill) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/buyer-decides-before-the-form-fill/md - [Your buyer decided before you ever showed up](https://costprice.in/thinking/your-buyer-decided-before-you-showed-up) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/your-buyer-decided-before-you-showed-up/md - [Your real competitor is not who you think it is](https://costprice.in/thinking/your-real-competitor-is-not-who-you-think) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/your-real-competitor-is-not-who-you-think/md - [A funnel runs dry. A growth loop compounds.](https://costprice.in/thinking/funnel-runs-dry-growth-loop-compounds) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/funnel-runs-dry-growth-loop-compounds/md - [The funnel is costing you more than you think](https://costprice.in/thinking/funnels-run-out-loops-compound) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/funnels-run-out-loops-compound/md - [Your Investor Story Is Costing You Customers](https://costprice.in/thinking/investor-story-costing-you-customers) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/investor-story-costing-you-customers/md - [Serve fewer people better. Watch what happens next.](https://costprice.in/thinking/serve-fewer-people-better) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/serve-fewer-people-better/md - [The smallest viable audience is not a compromise](https://costprice.in/thinking/focus-for-better-not-for-more) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/focus-for-better-not-for-more/md - [One AI agent. The research, the insights, the keywords, the writing, the editing. Everything your content team used to do.](https://costprice.in/thinking/ai-agent-content-team) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/ai-agent-content-team/md - [The AI agent that rewrites your content for every platform — and actually knows the difference between LinkedIn and Reddit.](https://costprice.in/thinking/ai-agent-content-distribution) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/ai-agent-content-distribution/md - [B2B SaaS pitch deck mistakes that kill your Series A before you walk in the room.](https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-investor-pitch-deck-mistakes) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-investor-pitch-deck-mistakes/md - [B2B SaaS cold email outreach that gets replies: the framework behind a 34 percent response rate.](https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-email-outreach-that-gets-replies) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-email-outreach-that-gets-replies/md - [SaaS churn reduction: why most retention fixes make the problem worse.](https://costprice.in/thinking/saas-churn-reduction-strategies) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/saas-churn-reduction-strategies/md - [The founder-led sales playbook: how to close your first 50 B2B SaaS customers without a sales team.](https://costprice.in/thinking/saas-sales-playbook-seed-stage) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/saas-sales-playbook-seed-stage/md - [B2B SaaS pricing strategy at Seed stage: why founders price too low and what it costs them.](https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-pricing-strategy-seed-stage) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-pricing-strategy-seed-stage/md - [Product-market fit: the real definition, how to measure it, and what most founders do wrong once they have it.](https://costprice.in/thinking/product-market-fit) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/product-market-fit/md - [B2B SaaS go-to-market strategy: the only framework that actually survives your first 100 customers.](https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-gtm-strategy) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/b2b-saas-gtm-strategy/md - [Your onboarding is losing you more than your churn rate shows.](https://costprice.in/thinking/onboarding-activation-gap) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/onboarding-activation-gap/md - [Your ICP is not a company size. It's a moment.](https://costprice.in/thinking/icp-is-a-moment) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/icp-is-a-moment/md - [Community-led growth: the channel nobody can copy. And most founders can't execute.](https://costprice.in/thinking/community-led-growth) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/community-led-growth/md - [Stop measuring impressions. The only metrics that matter at 0-to-1.](https://costprice.in/thinking/metrics-that-matter) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/metrics-that-matter/md - [ABM is not for everyone. Here's exactly when it makes sense. And when it's a waste of budget.](https://costprice.in/thinking/abm-when-it-works) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/abm-when-it-works/md - [Your first 10 customers are a lie. Here's what they're actually telling you.](https://costprice.in/thinking/first-10-customers) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/first-10-customers/md - [The channel selection matrix: how to pick the two channels that will build your first $1M ARR.](https://costprice.in/thinking/channel-selection-matrix) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/channel-selection-matrix/md - [Why hiring a CMO at Series A is often the biggest growth mistake you'll make.](https://costprice.in/thinking/cmo-series-a-mistake) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/cmo-series-a-mistake/md - [Category creation is not a marketing strategy. It's a market strategy.](https://costprice.in/thinking/category-creation) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/category-creation/md - [PLG or GTM? The question your Seed deck doesn't answer. But your 18 months will.](https://costprice.in/thinking/plg-or-gtm) Markdown: https://costprice.in/thinking/plg-or-gtm/md ## Pages - Home: https://costprice.in - Process: https://costprice.in/process - Apply: https://costprice.in/apply - Thinking: https://costprice.in/thinking - Full content (all pages + all articles): https://costprice.in/llms-full.txt ## Contact - Email: builder@costprice.in - Apply: https://costprice.in/apply - Website: https://costprice.in