The Usage-Based Pricing Playbook

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.—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.comRightRev 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—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:The IPO Playbook: Expert Advice from Lee Kirkpatrick, Twilio’s Former CFOhttps://youtu.be/PTKAUD7PSWUSaaS Is Back… Or Is It?https://youtu.be/-Ua6ukTJihw—TIMESTAMPS:0:00 Preview and Intro5:33 Usage based pricing is taking off5:54 Why investors now love usage based7:20 AI native and pricing pattern match10:37 Sponsors — Tropic | HockeyStack | RightRev14:18 Usage based is how you run a company15:31 Sales commissions16:35 Revenue recognition18:55 Renewal conversations20:42 Onboarding22:43 Sales rep culture shift23:30 Forecasting23:54 Getting investors comfortable24:28 Snowflake's forecasting approach29:52 Portfolio of bets framing30:30 Getting customers comfortable30:48 What a "credit" actually means31:43 Help customers business case their usage33:12 Renewal terms transparency34:29 Takeaways35:27 Business blunders — Ramp vs. OpenAI38:19 Credits#MostlyGrowthPodcast #UsageBasedPricing #SaaS #ProductMonetization #AIStartups