The competitive pricing problem is: how do I price relative to my competitors? The novel market pricing problem is harder: how do I price when I am the market?
Without competitive anchors, founders fall into two common traps. The underpricing trap: "I'll set a low price to attract early adopters and raise it later." The overpricing trap: "I'm solving a unique problem so I'll charge what I think it's worth and see what happens."
Both approaches work sometimes. Neither is a methodology.
The framework for pricing a novel product:
Find the analog problem. Your product is solving something in a new way, but your customer has been paying to solve the underlying problem in some other way — with manual labor, with a different tool, with an expensive consultant. Price your product at 30-50% of what they're currently spending to solve the problem. This anchors to real value without requiring a competitive comparison.
Use price sensitivity interviews before you set price. Ask 10-15 potential customers: "At what price would this be so inexpensive you'd question the quality? At what price would it be expensive but worth considering? At what price would it be too expensive regardless of value?" The clustering of answers tells you where pricing pressure points are.
Set a price higher than you're comfortable with. The instinct of every first-time founder is to underprice. The market will tell you if your price is too high through low conversion. It won't tell you if your price is too low. Go higher than feels right, watch the conversion data, and adjust from evidence.
Price to signal value, not affordability. Enterprise and professional software buyers correlate price with quality. A $19/month product signals "consumer quality." A $299/month product signals "serious tool." Make sure your price signal matches your product promise.