Pricing's Hidden Power in the AI Boom

In a conversation that seems particularly prescient given the rapidly evolving AI landscape, Paid CEO Manny Medina offers a roadmap for how AI companies should approach one of their most critical yet overlooked challenges: pricing. As someone who experienced these challenges firsthand at his previous venture Outreach, Manny brings contrarian insights about the disconnect between value creation and value capture in today's agentic AI market.

The discussion reveals the surprising truth that while AI companies are revolutionizing industries, many are leaving significant revenue on the table through outdated pricing approaches that fail to align with the true value they deliver.

Key Points:

• Narrow AI agents are "printing money" by targeting specific problems in underserved markets rather than attempting to build broad platforms. Companies focusing on replacing specific business processes rather than entire job functions are seeing stronger adoption.

• A maturity curve exists in AI pricing models, progressing from simplistic activity-based models (paying per token/credit) to more sophisticated approaches like workflow-based, outcome-based, and agent-based pricing that better reflect the value created.

• Most AI companies are currently stuck in "vibe revenue" – trial contracts driven by corporate AI mandates that will soon face renewal tests, separating genuine value creators from the rest.

• Cost management remains a critical blind spot with many founders unable to accurately track which customers and activities are profitable, leading to margin compression even as they create significant value.

Expert Analysis: The Coming Reckoning in AI Monetization

The most insightful takeaway from Medina's perspective is his prediction about the approaching "renewal land" – the moment when initial AI contracts come up for renewal and companies must prove their actual value. This represents a crucial inflection point that will separate sustainable AI businesses from temporary beneficiaries of the AI hype cycle.

This matters tremendously because it suggests we're about to witness a fundamental shift in how AI is sold and valued. Companies that can't demonstrate measurable outcomes will struggle, while those that align their pricing with genuine value creation will thrive. The winners will be those who move beyond simplistic consumption-based pricing to models that capture a fair share of the economic value they generate.

Beyond the Video: Examples and Recommendations

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