Usage-based billing in AI products uses tokens, credits, or outcomes as the unit of consumption, each shifting risk differently between customer and vendor. Tokens, the cost unit of AI, are counted pe…
Marketers using commoditized AI tools like Claude produce indistinguishable content, so the only way to differentiate is to build a custom system underneath the AI. The author argues that treating AI …
**Summary:** The article argues that the era of flat-rate, subsidized AI pricing is ending because inference costs have not fallen as expected, while demand has surged due to new capabilities. Hardwar…
The article argues that AI product pricing should be treated as a dynamic "product surface" rather than a static financial exercise, because customers interact with pricing frequently and it helps sel…
The article argues that "Contracted Annual Recurring Revenue" (CARR) is a misleading metric used by startups to inflate their financial figures, often reporting revenue from multi-year contracts with …
Based on the article, the author, who previously led billing at a global streaming company, argues that billing complexity compounds invisibly over time as new features are added, forcing engineering …
The article argues that Product-Led Growth (PLG) is no longer sufficient, as AI shifts software consumption from human users to autonomous agents and workflows, necessitating a new model called AI-Led…
In 2025, companies made over 1,800 pricing changes, driven by AI's disruption of traditional cost structures and unpredictable usage patterns, yet most failed to update their underlying billing system…
The article argues that building billing systems remains fundamentally difficult despite advances in AI, because the core challenge is not coding but defining what a "correct" system looks like across…
The article explains that software vendors like Figma are creating "stranded assets" by allocating AI usage credits to individual user IDs rather than pooling them for the entire organization. This pr…
The article argues that early-stage marketing must begin with identifying a clear "enemy"—such as an outdated model or misconception—rather than waiting for funding or a marketing hire. It advises fou…
The article argues that operational debt—accumulated through years of ad-hoc business exceptions, undocumented contract terms, and cross-departmental workarounds—is far more damaging than tech debt. U…