In a recent video from the "AI, SaaS & Agentic Pricing with Monetizely" YouTube channel, pricing expert Ajit from Monetizely breaks down the critical question of pricing ownership in growing SaaS companies. The video titled "Who Should Own Pricing In Your Company" explores how pricing responsibility should shift as organizations scale, moving from sales-led decisions to more strategic oversight.
The Sales Team's Initial Pricing Influence
When companies are in their early stages, the sales team naturally gravitates toward owning pricing decisions. As Ajit explains: "Very often in a B2B enterprise company, it's really the sales team that is the closest to pricing decisions… Smaller companies don't tend to have very scalable pricing strategies because they're experimenting a lot, so it is very natural that the sales team gets a lot of influence on pricing."
This makes perfect sense for startups. Sales representatives are on the frontlines, having real-time conversations with prospects, and they need the flexibility to close deals when the company is still defining its market position.
The Scaling Inflection Point
However, as a company grows, this arrangement becomes problematic. Ajit identifies a key inflection point: "When a bar is crossed and the company starts to scale, that is a point at which the sales team isn't really the right team to make pricing decisions."
Why? Because sales teams have inherently different priorities than what a scaling company needs. He candidly points out that sales representatives "are going to be in the moment they have to close their quarter and they're going to do whatever it takes to close the quarter." This short-term focus can undermine strategic pricing goals, especially as companies take on VC funding and prioritize scaling efficiently.
Strategic Pricing Requirements for Growing Companies
As companies scale, pricing becomes a strategic lever that needs to balance multiple objectives:
- Segment monetization: "The goal really with pricing is to scale faster. So scale means to make sure that you can monetize all of your customer segments well."
- Value capture and sales velocity: "You make sure you capture the right amount of value at the right sales velocity."
Ajit illustrates this with a case study: "Zoom did this when the pandemic happened. This is a case study in our book where they had to rationalize a lot of their pricing and packaging to improve sales velocity."
These considerations require long-term strategic thinking that sales teams typically aren't structured to provide.
The Right Pricing Owners
So who should own pricing after reaching approximately $1-2 million in ARR? Ajit suggests several possibilities:
"At that point, the right team would be marketing because marketing had that market segment view or perhaps even product if this is a less technical and more market oriented product organization. Many times in younger companies, it will be the CEO themselves or the COO and later on it will become more of a marketing discipline or a product discipline."
The key is having a strategic function with long-range thinking capability oversee pricing decisions while still incorporating sales input.
The Cross-Functional Reality of Pricing
One of the most challenging aspects of pricing is that virtually every department has a stake and an opinion:
"Since pricing is a topic that touches so many people, it touches sales, finance is going to have a point of view about it, customer success will have a point of view because they're dealing with pricing complaints or at least pricing suggestions, you're renewing. So CSMs definitely have a point of view. Professional services have a point of view because there's a lot of services happening maybe to implement the product. So almost everyone has a point of view on pricing."
The Ultimate Decision Maker
With so many stakeholders involved, Ajit emphasizes the need for a final decision-maker: "So really you need a tiebreaker and a final decision maker."
His conclusion is clear: "Regardless of whoever owns pricing as a function in the company, at the end of the day, the CEO has to make the last call because it is such an important decision for the company."
The CEO should deputize someone in a strategic function to oversee pricing, but can't completely delegate this critical responsibility: "The CEO should deputize somebody in a strategic function, but realize that this is not something that they can leave in the back burner and auto optimize. They have to make the final decision, final call."
Key Takeaways for SaaS Leaders
If your company is approaching or has surpassed the $1-2 million ARR threshold, it's time to reconsider how pricing decisions are made:
- Evaluate whether sales-led pricing is creating strategic issues
- Consider transitioning pricing ownership to marketing or product
- Ensure multi-departmental input while maintaining clear decision-making authority
- As CEO, recognize that pricing requires your direct involvement regardless of who formally owns it
Pricing isn't just about what number appears on your pricing page—it's a strategic lever that directly impacts your company's ability to scale efficiently. Getting the ownership right is a critical step toward sustainable growth.