Anthropic Is Catching OpenAI Faster Than Anyone Expected

In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle break down Anthropic’s absurd revenue ramp, debate whether OpenAI’s ad forecast passes the sniff test, and talk through how teams are actually using Claude today.—SPONSORS:beehiiv is a modern newsletter platform built for creators who want to grow and monetize their audience without platform tax. With best-in-class deliverability, built-in automations, customization, and powerful analytics, beehiiv helps writers scale with full ownership of their audience. Trusted by serious newsletter operators, it’s designed for people who treat newsletters like a business. Try it free at https://www.beehiiv.com/kyle and use code KYLE30 for 30% off your first three months.Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/runLightfield is an AI-first CRM built for modern sales teams that want to manage deals without manual data entry or dashboards. By joining sales calls, reading emails, and maintaining full account context, Lightfield helps teams prioritize deals, automate follow-ups, and stay prepared for every interaction. It’s like having a sales coach, RevOps analyst, and EA in one. Start a 14-day free trial at https://www.lightfield.app and use code MOSTLYGROWTH to get 3 months free.—LINKS: Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.comCJ 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/—RELATED EPISODES:Why Your Free Users Don’t Convert (And How to Fix It)https://youtu.be/i5ZZiZEu8M4Why SaaS Growth Always Slows (And How the Best Avoid It)https://youtu.be/d-G5i6a1DmwGrindr’s $0 CAC Secret from the CFO Who Launched Disney+ | Vanna Krantzhttps://youtu.be/ijFIMmtpLNwChatGPT’s $44 Billion Ad Playhttps://youtu.be/PcZoKVdaGm0—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 ChatGPT vs. Claude4:25 Show intro4:49 Topic intro: Anthropic Q15:23 $30B run rate — $21B added in one quarter6:07 Anthropic revenue timeline7:38 Claude Code and Cowork driving growth9:08 Anthropic vs. OpenAI business models9:47 Sponsors — beehiiv | Tabs | Lightfield12:48 ChatGPT free-to-paid conversion15:37 $10M revenue per employee16:35 OpenAI ad model update17:02 OpenAI's $102B ad forecast19:23 ARPU comparison vs. Meta19:56 Ad model changes incentives22:31 Go to market teams adopting Claude23:10 Claude chat vs. cowork vs. code breakdown26:21 Survey: top use cases26:44 Go to market and prospecting use cases29:48 Is Claude replacing tools?31:33 Calendly rescheduling blunder32:56 Corporate concert blunder34:38 Credits#MostlyGrowthPodcast #AIStrategy #Anthropic #SaaS #ProductMonetization