The current zeitgeist suggests the un-forecast-able token costs of the foundational LLM models is squeezing B2B software margins. Over the past month, I surveyed B2B SaaS leaders across industries and stages. After analyzing the data, it does appear margins are being squeezed. The LLM models however, are not necessarily the culprit.  Instead the data suggests […]

Back in What it’s Worth, I introduced Percentage of Annual Revenues (%AR) as a tool for identifying expansion opportunities within a cohort of customers.  The theory is:  But I wanted some way to put it into practice, to quickly calculate and visualize %AR for my own business. So, earlier this week I built a small tool just […]

Most SaaS products are sold as self-service software – because it’s the most scalable business model. But this inherently creates a massive customer value gap around training, support, and potentially we’ll-do-it-for-you professional service. These aren’t the only gaps.  The Value Expansion Matrix contains 9 boxes (& 14 questions) distributed across the ‘Who’, ‘What’, and ‘When’ of end-to-end customer value. Applying the […]

Slate Auto’s attempt to bring an affordable electric pickup to market is a live experiment in price-by-subtraction…The result is a product that forces a fundamental question about what buyers actually value versus what they’ve simply been conditioned to expect. Stripping away paint, navigation systems, and ambient lighting to hit a price point is not cost-cutting […]

Thanks to all the readers requesting a discussion on pricing pages.Across dozens of B2B SaaS and professional services pricing engagements, not one client has asked for help on their pricing page.They ask for help with pricing architecture, customer segmentation, value articulation, tier structure, renewal strategy, or compensation plan impacts.Not only do executives skip asking for […]

“Price before Product, Period.” – Madhavan Ramanujam, author of Monetizing Innovation “You’re trying to kill this project!” They were visibly frustrated with me. Uncharacteristically so. We were both inside a corporate venture studio. They were leading a venture. I was assessing if it had enough traction to continue. Or not. While the full-time, three-person team, […]

1. When to Revise Pricing Talking to a prospective client earlier this year, they had a horizontal product serving a dozen distinct verticals. The pricing metric for financial services and healthcare verticals were ‘assets under management’ and ‘beds’ respectively.  Pricing on the remaining verticals were still seat-based and they wanted help migrating to something vertical-specific, and […]

1. Who, Specifically, Is Your Bullseye Customer? Last week a CEO called me about commercializing an internal tool their services company built to accelerate their own operations. The tool was providing them substantial internal value – would someone pay for it. Unlike many teams in a similar spot – they don’t need to commercialize. They […]