Libsyn Directory

Tiered Pricing in the AI Era: What Actually Works (with Dan Balcauski)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

Release Date: 01/22/2026

Executive Coaching: How to Choose the Right Coach as a Tech Leader

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

For many developers and engineering leaders, executive coaching feels like something you turn to only when things go wrong. We’re trained to solve problems, push through obstacles, and rely on our own expertise. So when progress slows, the default reaction is often to work harder—not to step back and reassess. That’s exactly why executive coaching can be so valuable when used intentionally. At its best, coaching isn’t about fixing weaknesses. It’s about uncovering blind spots, challenging assumptions, and helping capable leaders see where their habits are limiting growth. When...

Balancing Building and Customer Feedback Without Getting Stuck

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

If you’ve ever shipped fast only to realize no one wanted what you built, you’ve felt the tension behind balancing building and feedback. As developers, we’re trained to execute against known requirements. As soon as you step into product ownership, consulting, or entrepreneurship, those guardrails disappear. Now you have to decide what to build, who it’s for, and why it matters—while still making forward progress. Get it wrong, and you either drown in feedback or disappear into code. Get it right, and you create steady momentum without wasting effort. This interview continues...

Customer Feedback for Developers: How to Listen Without Losing Your Vision

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

Customer feedback for developers is one of the fastest ways to improve a product—and one of the easiest ways to derail it. When you’re building something you care about, every comment feels important. The challenge is learning how to listen without letting feedback pull you in ten different directions. This episode explores how developers can use customer feedback to sharpen focus, avoid scope creep, and move faster—without losing the original vision that made the product worth building in the first place. About Tyler Dane Tyler Dane has dedicated his career to helping...

Daily Forward Momentum: A Simple System to Break Plateaus

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

If you’ve ever felt like you’re busy but not progressing, you’re not alone. The fix usually isn’t a bigger plan—it’s daily forward momentum. This episode kicks off a full season dedicated to getting unstuck by building a repeatable, low-friction way to move closer to your goals without burning out. The key shift: you’re rarely “stuck.” More often, you’ve plateaued—and plateaus are solvable with small, consistent action and smarter focus. Why Daily forward momentum matters Momentum is the difference between “I’m thinking about it” and “I’m shipping...

Building Better Foundations as a Long-Term Discipline

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

Building better foundations isn’t about chasing the newest framework, tool, or trend. Instead, it’s about reinforcing the fundamentals that consistently support good software, healthy teams, and sustainable businesses. This episode closes out the Building Better Foundations series by stepping back and asking a practical question: are we still doing the things that matter most? Foundations rarely feel urgent. Because they’re repetitive and often invisible, they’re easy to deprioritize when deadlines tighten. However, when quality drops, focus slips, or growth stalls, the root cause...

Go Web First: How to Use AI Safely and Choose Mobile at the Right Time (with Angelo Zanetti)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

If you’re building software in the AI era, speed is everywhere—and that’s exactly why discipline matters more than ever. In Part 2 of our interview with Angelo Zanetti, one strategy keeps coming up as the smartest path for founders and product teams: go web first. You validate demand faster, avoid app-store friction, and you get a clearer signal before you spend real money on the mobile “tax.” About Angelo Zanetti Angelo Zanetti is the co-founder and CEO of Elemental, a South African-based software development agency helping startups and scaleups worldwide bring...

Prove Your MVP: The Founder Playbook for a Strong First Launch (with Angelo Zanetti)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

If you’re building a new app or software product, your biggest risk usually isn’t “bad code.” It’s building the wrong thing, shipping it with a shaky first impression, and then wondering why growth never shows up. In this episode of Building Better Developers, Angelo Zanetti breaks it down into a simple founder goal: prove your MVP—prove the problem is real, prove the solution is worth paying for, and prove you can deliver value without burning your runway. About Angelo Zanetti Angelo Zanetti is the co-founder and CEO of Elemental, a South African-based software...

Tiered Pricing in the AI Era: What Actually Works (with Dan Balcauski)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

Tiered pricing is becoming the simplest way to sell AI-powered SaaS without turning your pricing page into a technical explanation. In my interview with Dan Balcauski, founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, we talked about why AI is forcing new pricing decisions earlier than ever—and why “good, better, best” packaging often works because it keeps buying decisions clear while helping companies manage real AI costs. The AI era is making pricing margin-aware again. Tiered pricing helps you protect margins without forcing buyers to learn your cost...

Minimal Viable Pricing: How to Stop Guessing and Start Learning (with Dan Balcauski)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

Minimal viable pricing is the fastest way to stop debating what your product should cost and start learning what customers will actually pay for. In my interview with Dan Balcauski, founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, we talked about how early-stage teams can set pricing that’s “good enough” to sell, validate value, and iterate—without getting stuck chasing the perfect number. Pricing can feel risky because it shapes perception, positioning, and revenue. But Dan’s message is practical: you don’t need perfect pricing to move forward—you need minimal viable...

Workflow Efficiency Metrics: ROI Without Micromanaging (Michael Toguchi)

Develpreneur: Become a Better Developer and Entrepreneur

If you want real improvement—not just more dashboards—workflow efficiency metrics have to start with something most teams avoid: visibility. In Part 2 of our interview with Michael Toguchi, we move from “big ideas” into the operational reality leaders face every day: shadow tools, duplicate systems, fuzzy ROI, and the pricing pressure that shows up when AI makes work faster. This conversation is a reality check for ops leaders, engineering leaders, and consultants trying to scale without drowning in tool sprawl—or measuring productivity in ways that break trust. Workflow...

More Episodes

The AI era is making pricing margin-aware again. Tiered pricing helps you protect margins without forcing buyers to learn your cost structure.

About Dan Balcauski

Dan Balcauski is the founder and Chief Pricing Officer at Product Tranquility, where he helps high-volume B2B SaaS CEOs define pricing and packaging for new products. He is a TopTal certified Top 3% Product Management Professional and helps teach Kellogg Executive Education course on Product Strategy. Over the last 15 years, Dan has managed products across the full lifecycle—from concept incubation to launch, platform transitions, maintenance, and end of life—across consumer and B2B companies ranging from startups to publicly traded enterprises. He previously served as Head of Product at LawnStarter and was a Principal Product Strategist at SolarWinds.

Why Tiered Pricing Is Winning in the AI Era

For years, SaaS companies could price mostly around value because marginal costs were relatively stable. AI changes the math. Dan points out that companies are now cutting meaningful monthly checks to model providers, and leadership teams can’t pretend cost-to-serve is irrelevant anymore.

That’s a big reason tiered pricing is showing up everywhere right now. It gives teams a way to:

Keep the offer simple for buyers

Put premium capabilities where they belong

Create a natural upgrade path that aligns with value and cost

Most importantly, tiered pricing keeps you out of the weeds. The customer conversation stays focused on outcomes, not infrastructure.

What Makes Tiered Pricing Actually Work

Dan’s point isn’t “just shove AI into the top tier.” Tiered pricing works when plan differences are easy to understand and tied to value drivers customers already recognize.

Here are three practical patterns from the discussion that hold up well in the AI era.

1) Put AI in higher tiers when it boosts a user’s output

If an AI feature makes a person more effective—faster drafting, better triage, higher quality responses—tiering can be straightforward. The buyer already understands why a “Better” or “Best” plan costs more: it changes the capability of the team.

This is also why seat-based pricing can still make sense for many AI-enhanced tools. If the value driver is still “help my team do better work,” then users/seats remain an intuitive anchor.

If AI increases team productivity, tiered pricing can stay aligned to seats—because seats still map to value.

2) Use add-ons when AI changes the value driver

Sometimes AI doesn’t just “help” the user—it replaces work entirely. When that happens, forcing it into the same tier structure can distort value and create confusion.

Dan points to Intercom as a strong example of handling this well:

The core support platform stays priced per user (agents), because the value driver is agent effectiveness.

Their AI agent (“Fin AI”) is priced separately because the agent isn’t involved—the value is the number of issues the AI resolves. That’s why per-resolution pricing makes sense.

3) Don’t make buyers learn token math

Dan’s strongest warning is about token pricing. Customers don’t want to learn what tokens are, and sales teams don’t want to explain them—especially when you’re selling a business outcome like faster support or better customer experience.

Token-based pricing also shifts the conversation away from value and toward your vendor bill. As Dan puts it, customers don’t care about your infrastructure costs, and pushing that complexity into the buying motion adds friction.

If your tiered pricing requires a footnote explaining tokens, you’re adding sand in the gears.

A Tiered Pricing Checklist for AI Features

Here’s a simple way to apply this immediately:

Good: Core workflow value, minimal AI (or AI where costs are predictable)

Better: AI that boosts team output (speed, quality, throughput)

Best: AI that drives outcomes at scale (automation, deflection, resolution)

Add-on: Use when AI has a different value driver than the base product (example: per-resolution)

Stay Connected: Join the Developreneur Community

We invite you to join our community and share your coding journey with us. Whether you’re a seasoned developer or just starting, there’s always room to learn and grow together. Contact us at info@develpreneur.com with your questions, feedback, or suggestions for future episodes. Together, let’s continue exploring the exciting world of software development.