In this episode, we discuss: Is usage-based pricing the answer? We are joined by Mark Stiving, Founder of Impact Pricing.

We chat about:

• What exactly is usage-based pricing?
• How do we correlate pricing metrics with how customers are using the product?
• What are the criteria and considerations when choosing the value metric?
• How do you choose between true usage-based pricing and tiered usage-based pricing?
• How do we work around the pricing mechanisms that our clients or vendors are giving us?
• Is there more of a move towards straight usage or is tiered pricing here to stay?
• How do we expand our customers?
• Who should be responsible for pricing and packaging within the company?

References:

Mark on LinkedIN

Mark’s podcast, Impact Pricing

Biography:

Mark Stiving, Pricing Educator, Coach, Podcast Host & 2x Author. He has driven business initiatives worth hundreds of millions of dollars. He is sought after for his superpower of finding invincible profits in every company he works with.

He is an award-winning international speaker known for helping audiences find hidden value and more profit, immediately.

Mark started and successfully sold three powerful companies in the tech sector.

His forthcoming book is "Invincible Profits: How to Lead a Value Revolution and Dominate Your Market"

Summary:

• Usage-based pricing with a focus on personalization and avoiding seat-based pricing. 0:05
• Bethany shares her recent haircut experience with Brandon, including the surprise of finding a large amount of hair after cutting it.
• Speaker discusses usage-based pricing, highlighting its potential cleverness and limitations.
• Pricing strategies for SaaS companies, including usage-based pricing and subscription packages. 4:02
• Brandon: Value metric should be clear, easy to understand, and tie to usage (e.g., transcription files, contacts in HubSpot)
• Speaker 1: Finding a single value metric to scale can be challenging, as customers may not understand usage outside of vendor-supplied calculators
• Speaker 1 discusses challenges in customer success with usage-based pricing, including unhappy customers who want to downgrade and the potential for unused value.
• Speaker 1 and Brandon discuss the importance of commissioning based on usage and actual money being seen, with a focus on driving the right behavior and predictability.
• Speaker 1: Great product + late professionalization = risk (bankruptcy)
• Speaker 1: Sales reps should focus on signing contracts, not just...

In this episode, we discuss: Is it possible to pivot to profitability? We are joined by Libby Penn, she is the COO of Improbable.

We chat about the following:

• What's the COO's role in the pivot to profitability
• What are the right bets to make in a business?
• How should we balance profitability and growth?
• What is the importance of well-documented data?
• What is realistic in terms of profitability?
• Who is responsible for capturing data?

References:

LinkedIn

Thinking in Bets by Annie Duke

Biography:

Libby Penn has experience in various business development and operations roles across a number of high-growth technology businesses on SaaS and enterprise models, B2B and B2C, in both the UK and the US. This has given her an in-depth insight into the complexities that come with the role as COO.

Summary:

• Gender roles and microaggressions in the workplace. 0:05
• Bethany Ayres discusses the challenges of being a woman in leadership positions, including societal expectations and performative ally ship.
• Bethany launches a series of free webinars to support first-time female executives and aspiring executives, focusing on topics such as taking a seat at the table and choosing the right life partner.
• Brandon and Bethany discuss the challenges of navigating gender roles and microaggressions in their personal and professional lives.
• Bethany shares an example of a leadership team meeting where a male colleague's swearing and apologies towards her created an uncomfortable work environment.
• Pivoting to profitability for a B2B SaaS company. 4:55
• Bethany: Analyzes company's strategy, identifies unprofitable areas for cuts.
• Bethany: Looks at lease and office expirations, considers cost-cutting measures.
• Bethany and Brandon discuss strategies for improving profitability, including renegotiating cloud contracts, focusing on profitable channels, and optimizing GTM motions.
• They also discuss the importance of tracking data properly to make informed decisions about spend and identify areas for improvement.
• Brandon and Bethany discuss partner strategy, testing, and doubling down on successful partnerships.
• They emphasize the importance of hiring quality people who are well-respected within the partner company.
• Pivoting to profitability, focusing on market strategy, operations efficiency, and automation. 12:42
• Brandon and Bethany discuss the importance of qualitative analysis to validate data-driven insights for profitability.
• Brandon and Bethany discuss the importance of operational efficiency and automation in a company's shift to profitability.
• Balancing growth and profitability for startups. 15:55
• Libby highlights the importance of balancing risk and innovation in investments.
• Libby emphasizes product development as key to profitability, while Bethany focuses on balancing growth and profitability.
• Data analysis, product development, and customer focus in tech companies.

In this episode, we discuss: The life-ruining power of routines. We are joined by Markham Heid, he is a Journalist with TIME and New York Times.

We chat about the following:

• How do we optimise our lives without falling into the trap of routine?
• Do we need routine and structure to be productive?
• Are you busy because it’s necessary?
• What’s the right balance between routine and creative space?
• How can companies get involved in breaking routine and encouraging creativity?

References:

LinkedIn

Article - The life-ruining power of routines

Website

Biography:

Markham has worked as a staff writer at both a major metropolitan newspaper and a national magazine, but for the past 12 years he’s worked as an independent (freelance) journalist.

Markham has written about England's Jurassic Coast for Travel & Leisure, covered workplace culture for an HR quarterly mag, and explored Germany's transition away from nuclear energy for Vox. But most of his writing has been in the health and science space.

Between 2014 and 2018, he wrote a weekly health column for TIME.com, which was called You Asked. Since 2018, Markham has done something similar for Medium, where he’s followed by ~350k subscribers. He’s still a frequent contributor at TIME, and he also writes regularly for the New York Times. His work has received awards from both the Society of Professional Journalists and the Maryland, Delaware, and D.C. Press Association.

He’s originally from Detroit, but right now he lives in southeast Germany with his wife and two kids.

Summary:

• The negative impact of routines and habits on personal optimization. 0:05
• Bethany aims to increase income by securing one more board seat.
• Markham Hyde argues in Financial Times article that routines lead to suffering, not personal optimization.
• Routines, productivity, and spontaneity in adulthood. 3:15
• Brandon: Routine-oriented, wants to package boring tasks for productivity.
• Bethany: Automate, eliminate tasks to free mental load, not create routine.
• Bethany and Brandon have different approaches to exercise and structure in their lives.
• Brandon has lived in different countries and jobs, categorizing his life by chunks of time, while now as an adult with a family, he questions whether that's possible anymore.
• Routine, spontaneity, and finding balance in life and work. 8:21
• Bethany suggests finding balance between structure and unstructured time to pursue interests and passions.
• Moderation is key to happiness, rather than being too rigid or spontaneous.
• Bethany suggests creating a routine to overcome fear and find inspiration (0:11:02)
• Bethany and Brandon discuss the balance between routine and spontaneity in business contexts (0:12:41)
• Innovation weeks in companies, with a focus on structure and culture. 14:04
• Innovation week at a...