In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, Kyle and CJ break down why usage-based pricing is taking off—and how it breaks the traditional SaaS playbook. They cover what’s driving the shift, what breaks (sales comp, forecasting, renewals, metrics), and how to get investors and customers comfortable. Plus, how Snowflake reframed the model and common mistakes to avoid.
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SPONSORS:
Tropic is an intelligent spend management solution that consolidates your spend data and processes into one unified offering, enabling insights and decisive action. From spotting hidden optimization opportunities to automating painful procurement workflows and giving you the best market data to turn vendor negotiations in your favor, Tropic combines smart insights with real human expertise to keep you ahead of the curve. Visit https://www.tropicapp.io/mostlymetrics to learn how.
HockeyStack is an AI platform for modern go-to-market teams that unifies sales, marketing, and customer data into a single system of action. With AI agents that prospect accounts, support reps, improve forecasting, and automate what’s already working, HockeyStack helps teams move faster without guessing. Trusted by companies like RingCentral, Outreach, ActiveCampaign, and Fortune 100 teams—learn more at https://www.hockeystack.com
RightRev is an automated revenue recognition platform built for modern pricing models like usage-based pricing, bundles, and mid-cycle upgrades. RightRev lets companies scale monetization without slowing down close or compliance. For RevRec that keeps growth moving,
visit https://www.rightrev.com
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LINKS:
Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com
CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/
Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/
Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/
Slacker Stuff: https://www.slackerstuff.com/
Ben on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/slackerstuff/
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The IPO Playbook: Expert Advice from Lee Kirkpatrick, Twilio’s Former CFO
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TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 Preview and Intro
5:33 Usage based pricing is taking off
5:54 Why investors now love usage based
7:20 AI native and pricing pattern match
10:37 Sponsors — Tropic | HockeyStack | RightRev
14:18 Usage based is how you run a company
15:31 Sales commissions
16:35 Revenue recognition
18:55 Renewal conversations
20:42 Onboarding
22:43 Sales rep culture shift
23:30 Forecasting
23:54 Getting investors comfortable
24:28 Snowflake's forecasting approach
29:52 Portfolio of bets framing
30:30 Getting customers comfortable
30:48 What a "credit" actually means
31:43 Help customers business case their usage
33:12 Renewal terms transparency
34:29 Takeaways
35:27 Business blunders — Ramp vs. OpenAI
38:19 Credits
#MostlyGrowthPodcast #UsageBasedPricing #SaaS #ProductMonetization #AIStartups