Tradeoffs of flat-rate AI licenses

CJ and Kyle debate simplicity for buyers versus seller incentives and potential disincentives to optimize usage.

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In this episode of Mostly Growth, CJ Gustafson, Kyle Poyar, and Ben Hillman go deep on pricing—how it’s discovered, negotiated, and perceived in the real world. The conversation spans Salesforce’s rapid-fire evolution of AI pricing models, unpacking the tradeoffs between consumption-based pricing, flat-rate enterprise licenses, and bundling AI to drive expansion and simplify buying decisions. The hosts also examine what Salesforce’s acquisition of Qualified signals for the AI SDR market, competition, and private equity, before zooming out to practical lessons on multi-year contracts, renewal dynamics, and when longer commitments actually pay off for buyers and sellers. Throughout, everyday analogies—from daycare costs to grocery store loss leaders and Instacart price variation—ground abstract pricing strategy in lived experience, making the case that pricing is less about theory and more about psychology, cash flow timing, and incentives.

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LINKS:

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ 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/

https://www.forrester.com/blogs/ai-agents-become-economic-actors-salesforce-rewrites-the-rules-of-pricing/

https://www.macrotrends.net/stocks/charts/CRM/salesforce/revenue

https://seekingalpha.com/news/4532724-salesforce-to-acquire-qualified

https://www.mostlymetrics.com/p/your-guide-to-negotiating-multi-year-deals