SaaS Lifetime Deals: How to Price Using 37-Year Timeline

Every founder repeats the same warning: lifetime deals are unsustainable, a race to the bottom, a founder's nightmare. Simon Hoiberg looked at that conventional wisdom and ignored it.

For 2 years, his SaaS products were stuck. High acquisition costs and churn kept revenue flat.

Then he launched a lifetime deal. Revenue jumped 56% in months.

The campaign worked because the data proved that everything founders believe about lifetime deals is wrong.

When founders assume lifetime users stick forever, they ignore the data

Traditional thinking says lifetime users never leave. You took their money. Now you're stuck with them forever.

Simon's data tells a different story. Lifetime users churn for the same reasons subscribers churn: businesses close, needs change, they outgrow the solution.

When tracking cohorts, lifetime users actually churn faster than the average subscriber.

Why? Because of users like Jonathan.

Jonathan doesn't need the tool right now. But he has big dreams about starting a business someday. He sees a lifetime deal as an investment in his future.

Jonathan buys. Jonathan shelves it. Jonathan never becomes a user.

When you account for these users, the average lifetime user churns before subscribers. You're not stuck with them forever.

The 37-year timeline that changed everything

Simon launched Founders Stack 11 months ago. A bundled lifetime offer for 5 SaaS tools:

1. FeedHive - Social media marketing. A new business should be present on social.

2. Aidbase - AI chat and ticket support. Make sure your customers can reach you.

3. LinkDrip - Track and shorten your links. Understand what generates traffic.

4. TinyKiwi - Create visuals and graphics. Pick from 5,000+ professional templates.

5. SignupGate - Protect from unwanted signups. Simple API to prevent spam and abuse.

$799. One time. Forever.

230 people bought it. More than $160,000 in total revenue.

How long until this group becomes a net negative?

Try 37 years.

It will take 37 years before this group enters the danger zone. The timeline makes the risk negligible.

Why the math works when you price high and keep costs low

The 37-year timeline exists for two reasons: high pricing and tight cost control.

Price strategically

Simon's $799 price point ensures the average user won't become a losing investment before they churn. A $39 lifetime deal for an AI-heavy product? That's how you go bankrupt.

Control costs ruthlessly

Sell simple, specialized tools. Make them fully self-serve. Support should be minimal.

No demo calls. No sales meetings. No manual onboarding. No customer success agents.

Make onboarding exceptional. Create guides, tutorials, videos. Let users help themselves.

The subscriber impact that surprised everyone

The biggest fear: your entire subscriber base jumps ship and grabs the lifetime deal.

Simon lost 10 subscribers. Only 4.5% of Founders Stack buyers were current subscribers.

The twist? At least 15 new subscribers found them through Founders Stack. The lifetime deal netted 5 new subscribers.

The high price point creates distance. Many users on a $29/month plan don't need the full bundle. $799 (now $1,299) is substantial compared to $29/month.

The upfront capital advantage that changes everything

Traditional subscriptions trickle in. Lifetime deals give you capital now.

Thousands, sometimes hundreds of thousands or even millions, in immediate revenue. Pour that into marketing, paid ads, hiring.

And you get usage data. You learn what features matter, what positioning works, where users get stuck.

Server costs rarely exceed $10,000 a month for most SaaS products. Once you have capital, invest it. Let interest returns from having millions in banks cover ongoing costs.

The trust gap that reputation bridges

Deal sites have made it easy for bad actors to exploit lifetime deals. Some founders grab cash and close down 3 months later. Others undersell and actually go bankrupt.

Buyers have become skeptical.

The solution: build a strong reputation.

Be the public face. Be on social media, YouTube, in people's emails. Demonstrate you're responsible. That you'll deliver what you promised.

If you're invisible and unreachable, selling lifetime deals becomes nearly impossible.

Simon spent years building credibility before launching Founders Stack. When he offered a lifetime deal, people trusted it.

Most SaaS should consider adding a pay-once option. The upfront capital changes everything.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

This gets you a lot of PR and backlinks.

I think the recent example would be Coinbase going apolitical (or a mission-focused company) and even Basecamp for that matter.

2/

All you need is 1000s of unique hooks and something will go viral.

3/

When you use a loophole, DO NOT TALK ABOUT IT ON YOUR SOCIAL MEDIA OR TO YOUR FRIENDS.

I never realized manual penalties are a thing until one of my SEO friends told me they are. It makes sense. If you build a platform, you want everyone to play fair. That's why most loophole players never give away their site names so that they don't get clapped or penalized for it.

Rabbit Holes

1. Use ChatGPT to Learn Anything—Even Your Big Five Profile

2. How to Go Viral Without Knowing How to Go Viral

3. How I Work With My Assistant To Save 80 Hours Per Month

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