The birds-eye view: Why billing needs a bird
The “seamless” billing stack is a lie.
We are told (by billing companies) that fintech is solved. We are told that money moves instantly, global tax is automated, and usage-based pricing is just a toggle in a dashboard. Go to any billing vendor - and see what I mean.
I am the Billing Bird.
I was the engineer patching API breaking changes at 3 a.m. I was a RevOps leader drowning in CSVs that don’t reconcile and “rules” that couldn’t be implemented. I was a founder realizing that the so-called “simple” pricing model was bleeding margin.
I live on the wire. I see the messy reality that press releases try to hide.
Who needs a billing bird?
The subscription is dying. The era of “set it and forget it” $20/seat SaaS is over.
The AI economy is messy. It’s hybrid. It’s consumption-based. It’s outcome-based. It’s erratic. Yet, the industry pretends everything is fine.
But then why does every “modern” billing tool eventually turn into a consulting contract?
I don’t buy the fluff.
I know that silence from a vendor usually means technical debt.
I know that “seamless integration” is marketing speak for “you build the connector.”
I know that margin is the only metric that matters when the hype cycle ends.
This one is for the Plumbers of Profit, the Keepers of the Ledger, and the Architects of Revenue: Stay on the wire.
— The Billing Bird