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Every consultant you know wants to pretend that their pricing model is the most sophisticated mathematical formula known to mankind.

The one that finally cracked the code to perfectly balance our ability to make money, as well as to deliver value to our clients.

But as I talk to more and more Data & AI consultants, I can tell you with authority: almost everyone is overthinking it.

The two typical edges of the spectrum are:

And my take is that neither hits the mark.

You want a pricing model that’s robust enough to understand all the factors that financially make your work viable (what tools you need, how much employees need to get paid, how much margin you need to make) along with an accurate understanding of how long delivering what you promised will take.

So, in the end, the formula to keep in mind is actually stupidly simple:

You’ll notice that not included in that equation is whatever your clients want to pay, and that’s because:

(*and I can’t stress this enough*) WE DO NOT PRICE OUR WORK BASED ON WHAT OUR CLIENTS WILL PAY.

Look, the reality is that while you have to think of a million factors like the ones I mentioned to price your services, your clients only have to think of one: what they pay.

And in that area, they are not your friends (yes, no matter what they say).

When we build pricing models, our number one priority is to figure out what it’ll cost to actually deliver the work, and whether the clients will pay that rate or not, is not as much our problem as you likely think it is.

When you’re thinking of building your pricing structure, what you need to consider is 4 factors:

The main thing is that the answers to those questions need to come from you, and not your clients.

Your responsibility is not to your client, it’s to yourself, your company and your team.

And above all else, remember this: IT IS OK TO NEGOTIATE. IT IS NOT OK TO LET YOUR CLIENTS MANDATE HOW AND WHY YOU GET PAID.

Charge what you’re worth.

(And if you want help to get there, let’s talk about it.)

As you navigate that balance I was explaining earlier, what typically happens is that you end up undercharging.

This is because, above all else, priority number one is to win the work - not to maximize the amount of money we make.

Which means that as you have conversations with leads and other prospective clients, the main question you’re likely asking yourself is basically the same one Goldilocks asked herself as she was stealing those bears’ soup:

When you define the answer, keep in mind that whatever you come up with is actually downstream of the pricing model you’re using, and in that camp, you almost always have 1 of 3 options these days:

The key is that as you pick between the three, you have to avoid picking in terms of your fears and to understand what you’re going to struggle against if you pick each.

The “right” answer depends on a million factors, from what stage your consultancy are, to how skilled you are in what you do, to how strong your relationships are with your clients.

But the most important piece is that you just need to pick one, and you need to commit to it.

Consulting is all about relationships, but when it comes to pricing, it’s easy to forget as a founder that your company’s health comes first, and your friends come second, and Brad found this out the hard way: through a thousand cuts.

He’d just left a decades-long tech executive career to launch his own AI consultancy when an old friend came calling for help. Being a good friend, Brad did what felt natural: giving him the “friends-and-family” rate.

You already know what came next.

A mess of a proposal that the client took over entirely. A poorly estimated scope. Racing to keep the cost of delivering the work (and maintaining the relationship) reasonable.

And a big lesson about selling with your head, and not your heart. One that he joined me to tell you in this week’s episode of This is Fine, the only show where the best consultants on the planet walk you through the biggest mistakes of their careers:

Check out the full video above, leave a comment to let me know what you think, and subscribe to my YouTube channel for more episodes just like this one!

Also, let me know if you’d like to jump on the hot seat and tell the entire world the story of your most embarrassing career mistakes - it’s very cathartic and educational!

This past Thursday, I completed one of my biggest dreams since I launched my company by hosting a live episode of my game show for the wonderful folks at Mind & Machine DFW - a local AI-focused networking group.

If you’re sitting there wondering why exactly I have a game show, let me explain:

When I started my game show, all I wanted was a fun way to talk about the workshops I built to help other consultancies sell, deliver, and scale. A year later, that ridiculous idea has taken a life of its own and grown into something I could’ve never imagined:

I made them wear party hats. I made them spin in literal circles. I made them reveal their hottest AI takes. I made them play AI bingo.

And yes, they still want to talk to me after.

This special episode was a celebration not only of Mind & Machine’s 1-year anniversary, but also of the amazing results I was able to achieve through season 1 of my game show:

12 episodes (including the live one above), both online and in-person live audiences, 45 contestants, and an insane amount of laughs and insights from some of the smartest AI minds in the consulting world and beyond.

If you’re curious, check out one of the best episodes from this past season above.

Also, stay tuned: In a few weeks, I’ll be announcing more details about the next season of the show (premiering in late summer). If you want to play unhinged games with me and some of your best friends while you tell the world the story of your career as a Data & AI nerd, I’m already looking for new victims contestants, so reply to this email to let me know if you’d like to participate!

You know, I spend all this time trying to teach my fellow Data & AI consultants how to build sustainable pricing models that allow you to grow or whatever.

But I’m going to be honest with you, my work is like child’s play when it compares to whatever it is FIFA does to price their World Cup.

I mean, just look at this insanity:

We have to spend insane amounts of time considering all those factors I talked about earlier, and they just charge almost unconscionable amounts of money for even the most common versions of their products.

Goes to show that no matter how good you are at something, the one thing that matters above all else is scarcity.

Monetize that well enough (and bribe a few governments and football associations along the way), and you too can charge like 10000% margin on your projects 🫠

Given that this week we talked about pricing at length, next week I’ll be covering another big topic that we Data & AI consultants need to talk a lot more about: how to define what a good client is.

In that newsletter, I’ll do my best to convince you that no matter how mature your consultancy is, not every client is worth putting up with, and that sometimes the best solution is to fire your client the same way they might fire you.

So get ready to chat about the two-way street that is client relationships next time.

If you’ve enjoyed the topics I talked about today and want to learn more about my work - let’s chat!

I specialize in helping founders of boutique Data & AI consultancies that have brute-forced their growth and feel like they need an external perspective to get unstuck.

So if you’re stuck yourself, I’m here to help!

Get in touch to learn more about how I enable Data & AI consultancies to sell, deliver and scale more effectively through my workshops. If you haven’t already, visit my:

And let’s chat more about where you’re struggling with your consultancy!

Otherwise, thank you so much for reading, and see you next week!

P.S.: A reminder that if you enjoyed this newsletter, you should click the ad below because running a newsletter every week ain’t cheap, and my bank doesn’t like it when I pay my mortgage with funny jokes 🤣

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