2024 Pricing Survey

Lightspeed is conducting an anonymous pricing benchmarking survey. Usage-based pricing has become increasingly common in the past couple of years. This survey seeks to explore how startups view the trade-offs of usage-based economics and its effects on revenue models and customer preferences.

Upcoming PLG Workshop

Join us at our upcoming Product-Led Growth Workshop with PLG expert Hila Qu on August 30, 2023.

Looking to lease sublet space?

Share details about the space you are looking for or have available and we'll match you with relevant portfolio companies.
Jul 31, 2025
 | AT 
9:00 am
 (
PST
)

AI & Outcome-Based Pricing

Agentic Pricing: How AI Startups Can Capture Value with Outcome-Aligned Pricing

Hosts

No items found.
No items found.

Speakers

No items found.
No items found.

Event Recap & Takeaways

Speakers: Brian Kelly (Former SVP, GTM Strategy at Snowflake), Henry Ni (Lightspeed)

We sat down with Brian Kelly, former SVP of GTM at Snowflake to dig into how AI companies are rethinking pricing—from Snowflake’s early bets on consumption to the emerging world of outcome- and activity-based models. The conversation focused on what founders need to know as pricing becomes a core part of product strategy, not just a sales lever.

Key Themes

Timing Matters More Than Innovation

Avoid being the first to introduce a new pricing model to a customer. Early-stage startups should meet buyers where they are, not try to educate the market from scratch. Let larger companies like Salesforce or Snowflake pave the way by normalizing new pricing approaches. You can experiment with innovative models when selling to other startups, but be cautious about introducing unfamiliar structures to large, established enterprises.

Outcome-Based Pricing Comes with Risk - Make Sure It's the Right Move For You

Outcome-based pricing comes with risk. Attribution is challenging, and product improvements can have unintended consequences, either by reducing the customer’s need (through automation or efficiency gains) or increasing your costs (through higher usage). It’s important to factor these dynamics into your pricing model and ensure your forecasts include the impact of ongoing product innovation.

Sales Motions Must Evolve

As startups shift to consumption or outcome-based pricing, sales teams can’t just be comped on contract size, they need to be aligned around adoption and long-term usage. This means rethinking comp plans, retraining reps, and often reworking how sales and success teams are structured. In some cases, it may make sense to merge those functions entirely so there’s clear ownership from deal close through product adoption.

Pricing Is a Cross-Functional Effort

With variable revenue models, pricing isn’t just a sales decision, finance and product need to be equally involved. Product improvements can directly impact revenue, and finance needs to forecast based on real usage patterns. Founders should build cross-functional pricing committees early, with GTM, finance, and product all at the table to make smarter, faster decisions as things evolve.

Practical Takeaways

  • Start with activity-based pricing when possible to maintain better margin predictability
  • Use FTE savings as part of the value story, but not as your pricing metric
  • Keep your sales team’s natural motion in mind; don’t overcomplicate the buying process
  • Build flexibility into your billing systems; expect change at the customer level
  • Set up a cross-functional pricing group early to stay aligned across GTM, finance, and product

Standout Quotes

“If you’re the first one to explain a pricing model to procurement, you’re too early.” – Brian Kelly
“Sales 101 is talking about value, not price. Don’t obsess over the meter.” – Brian Kelly
“Expect change not just quarterly, but per customer.” – Ali Hussain
“When you need third-party data to justify your billing, things get risky.” – Brian Kelly
“If sellers are comped on usage, they’ll drive outcomes. Why hand that off to a separate team?” – Brian Kelly

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES

No items found.