Most companies make pricing an after thought.

Most companies also are never able to use pricing as the superpower it actually is.  

I have had the privilege of overseeing revenue management for over $6 billion in revenue across a diverse range of industries during the past decade. Throughout this experience, I've gained a deep understanding of the critical role that pricing plays in business success. 

I'm passionate about sharing my expertise and insights to help organizations harness the power of pricing strategies to improve profitability and overall performance.

Karan Sood

I can't teach you pricing in a day or week, or a month. 
There is a reason I no longer offer a monthly membership. 

None of the things that matter in pricing can be learnt in days or weeks. 

It took me: 
- 5 years to move off cost based pricing

- 10 years to learn building reputation with sales

- 15 to likely learn that  I am not even in the pricing business

- 17+ to learn what truly generates growth in pricing people

These things were learnt over the years, not in weeks or months. A lot came not from any text book, or linkedin post, but from test and learn and working with other professionals. 
 

A lot came through working with execs, learning how to really speak their language, going on hundreds of sales calls..


There is a reason I am bullish about PricingTribe and the way we run it. For all the above reason I know in the age of AI where content is dime a dozen, a place for connection with peers will be sought after. 


We discuss deeply, frequently and more broadly. We are way beyond what we would discuss and say in public. 


That's why I think PricingTribe will be the marquee place for all pricing professionals ! If you haven't check it out, you should. 

Apply on website: pricingtribe.com

#PricingTribe.

Join the best private community for all pricing professionals ! Apply on website !

Building pricing credibility is hard. 

And I mean deep credibility where people will rely your POV consistently, where people will move meetings for your POV or wait for you to come back from vacation to get your POV or just shelf a decision because you are busy. That level of credibility is hard hard hard stuff. It comes at a cost too. 


It takes years to build. Years, not months, not weeks, not days. And, you could work on it for years, and have it derailed in one quarter or worse in one meeting. I've been there, likely you too.


I have been thinking of a hierarchy of things I think pricing professionals need to master to build that credibility. Consider it a working draft. 


You could apply this framework at any level, but it does lend itself to mid to senior professionals more. 

It starts at the bottom with commercial understanding, you need to know the business better than most people. This goes a long way in establishing yourself as a business knowledge powerhouse. That builds credibility, that comes from having your ear in several functions with healthy relationships with business or area heads. 


Measure your impact your majesty ! Big or small ! These small wins go unnoticed but when put together could build a lot of trust. Document it, track it, revise it and blow it up on the slide occasionally. 


Systems: Everytime I missed a growth opty in my career it was because my systems or processes were not in place. I was too ad-hoc of a margin slinger while someone with less skill had better systems and went ahead. Systems will eat adhoc processed for breakfast anyday. Build your systems sir !!!! 


You need consistency in how you present to the exec. You have to nail the format, the message in the way they like, understand and approve decisions. If you bring a different date every time, side eye is all you'll get from them. (I am kinda proud of this non AI reference I made, please tell me you read this far). 


And, lasting credibility will come with clear ownership of decisions. Where you own, the win and the loss. And are the sole owner of pricing decisions. This is a big reason I am not a fan of pricing committee's. Pricing has one owner, who can present find to the exec committee or product or whosoever. You add too many cooks, you'll spoil the broth mama said...


Will expand on this soon in #PricingTribe...


PS: It's 6:30 AM and don't let down by the Beatles playing in the background. The version where they play their last concert together in a 42 mins set on a rooftop. Not sure why I told you this, but felt like it ! Beatles are my favourite.

Apply for our membership: pricingtribe.com

You were warned. 
Back in 2023 I posted this note on why Spotify was massively under monetized and it was leaving money by not changing price fast enough with value. 


The post went viral and I was roasted by everyone media people, marketing people, execs, coaches, teachers and janitors and even 2023 AI experts !! 


90 comments and mostly people disagreed that Spotify had any pricing power,  because replacement was easy. There was no differentiation. 

There was no value add like Netflix which constantly adds new value.


Fast forward 3 years, and Spotify has increased price every year 2024, 2025 and now 2026. The old 9.99 is 12.99. The change is probably most of its annual profit by now. 


Those same people who commented, now pay 30% higher while their value extraction from the platform has rarely changed. 


Not sure why I am bringing this up. Maybe because it goes to say why pricing power is underestimated and not well understood. 

#PricingTribe community ! We are live !

Pricing people control your discounts.

Every now and then I press cancel buttton on my subscriptions, even ones I use a lot.

I did it 3 times this morning. 

Here is what I got in return:

- 40% lifetime discount
- 30% for 1 year 
- free next 3 months

None I would have cancelled in reality.

Not my fault if you can’t track my usage and value .

Thank you for the free money.

Price increases rarely fail because of the price.
Last week’s 1Password pricing episode is a good reminder of that.


They didn't change price for 10 years and then raised them by 33%, the backlash was swift and cruel. 


Within days:

- Reddit threads exploded with complaints
- Users posted cancellation notices
- Competitors started advertising against the increase
- Discounts started appearing to calm the backlash


So here are the TLDR learnings: 

- Don’t wait 10 years to change price
- Segmentation matters more than most teams realize
- Features <> value communication (excels fans)
- Every word in price communication matters
- Always prepare for backlash

I wrote all about it in today's newsletter ! 

https://lnkd.in/ghj-JeKw

Price increases rarely fail because of the price, they fail because of the execution around the price.

What's the hardest part of executing a price change ?

To be successful automate yourself out of a job. 
That's a kind of north star metric that drives more success.

PricingTribe invited Megan Smith who has ran deal desk for Hubspot, Dropbox and Linkedin for a Deal Desk: Design and Setup workshop. 


Here were the key takeaways for you: 


- Setup processes and automate yourself out of a job. That should be your core objective. 

- Deal desks work because humans require human touch on deals. It can be through negotiation on discounts, terms, builds etc. 

- Deal Desk should have clear authority: “up to X discount / down to Y margin", anything outside is an escalation path. 

- Create an “easy way vs hard way” path for sales. Easy way is fast with higher success, hard way is escalations, and is slow and doesn't guarantee success. 

- Reward reps who bring complete context (faster SLA, advocacy).

- Measure what matters: time-to-close (DD deals), win rate (directional), ACV/margin impact, and attach rate (low overall, high on big deals


Here is a valuable clip from that #PricingTribe workshop. 


Posting for the : 7:45 Algo gods. While listening to "Sound of the silence: Live in central Park" where paul simon got 600K people to come in. I don't even have that many impressions all month...let me know if you read so far !!

Pricing lesson for everyone ! 
Strait of Hormuz closed: 30% of oil gets choked

Less oil = Expensive Oil (Especially Asia)

Expensive Oil = More expensive manufacturing

More expensive Manufacturing = Higher cost

Expensive Oil= Equally expensive freight 

Higher Cost + Higher Freight = Higher Prices

Higher Prices = Less Demand

Less Demand = Less Profit

Less profit = Slowdown in economy

For pricing professionals this will be a time of re-thinking strategies again.

Jay Odedra is the real deal ! #PricingTribe Go work for Jay.

Pricing, Packaging and Monetization Leader

One of the things I love most about working here is the level of collaboration and the trust to make real impact. We’re hiring a Director of Pricing Strategy to help set our direction in a fast‑growing industry — if this sounds like you (or someone you know), check out the role below 👇

Campbell, California, United States (Remote)

If you just starting your pricing career, this is great starting role !! Work for Valerie and James !! Great team and managers !

I’m hiring for a Junior Pricing Analyst.

I’m looking for someone who is organized, detail-oriented, analytically curious, and strong at keeping work moving across teams.
This is not just a spreadsheet role. It’s a chance to build experience across pricing, systems, dashboards, process management, and cross-functional execution.

Core strengths I’m looking for:
Loves clean process, deadlines, and operational follow-through
Comfortable managing workflows and keeping tools like Asana accurate and up to date
Strong basic Excel skills: XLOOKUP, pivot tables, formulas
Able to work carefully in systems and manage things like price book setups without creating downstream issues
Has the judgment to spot something unusual in the data and raise the right questions
Understands key pricing fundamentals like gross margin, discounting, net price, win rate, churn, and elasticity

Helpful experience:
Power BI, Tableau, or Looker
SQL exposure
HubSpot reporting
CPQ/CRM tools such as Salesforce, NetSuite, Dynamics, HubSpot, or quoting platforms
Pricing admin workflows such as discount approvals, contracting, and price book maintenance

In this role, you would:
Own Asana board hygiene and workflow tracking
Maintain pricing dashboards and reporting routines
Set up new products in our CPQ tool
Partner across Sales Ops, Finance, Product, Legal, Billing, Marketing, Sales, and Systems Administration
Conduct product market research
Support key pricing and administrative processes

This role is ideal for someone early in their career who wants to learn fast, contribute immediately, and build real pricing and commercial operations experience.

Know someone strong? Tag them or send them my way. https://lnkd.in/gphnVdfB

Why did Clay grandfather everyone ? 

I don't think clay understands the future drawback of two tier system.

Commercial leader with 20+ years driving revenue growth, market adoption, and customer value across EMEA. I turn commercial strategy into execution — building strong customer relationships, leading high-stakes negotiations, and shaping offers that win in competitive markets.

My distinctive point: I use pricing as a strategic commercial lever—not an isolated function—to sharpen value propositions, accelerate growth, and boost profitability across portfolios.

I’ve led complex cross-EMEA commercial organizations, negotiated major hospital and tender deals, shaped go-to-market strategy, and supported M&A, divestitures, and product launches. 
I work seamlessly with Sales, Marketing, KAM, and Market Access teams to build customer-centric solutions that scale.

In short, I’m at my best when transforming commercial performance, elevating deal quality, and enabling teams to win.

Highlights:
- Led EMEA commercial teams and large cross-functional programs
- Negotiated high-value deals with hospitals, payers & procurement bodies
- Delivered pricing & value strategy turnarounds with double-digit margin gains
- Strong communicator, fluent in 5 languages, thriving in matrix/global environments
- Mentor & coach to startups and commercial teams

I bring energy, clarity, and a growth mindset to every challenge. Let’s connect if you’re focused on elevating commercial performance and unlocking new value.

taplio

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Karan Sood

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The Battle

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Raphael Prync

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