In this episode of Mostly Growth, the number one podcast in product monetization, CJ and Kyle sit down with Keith Peiris, cofounder of Lightfield, to unpack AI-native CRM, pricing, and go-to-market experiments. From shutting down a 25M-user product to betting on CRM’s future, they explore build vs. buy, AI hype cycles, and what monetization looks like in the AI era.

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SPONSORS:

Lightfield is an AI-first CRM built for modern sales teams that want to manage deals without manual data entry or dashboards. By joining sales calls, reading emails, and maintaining full account context, Lightfield helps teams prioritize deals, automate follow-ups, and stay prepared for every interaction. It’s like having a sales coach, RevOps analyst, and EA in one. Start a 14-day free trial at https://www.lightfield.app and use code MOSTLYGROWTH to get 3 months free.

beehiiv is a modern newsletter platform built for creators who want to grow and monetize their audience without platform tax. With best-in-class deliverability, built-in automations, customization, and powerful analytics, beehiiv helps writers scale with full ownership of their audience. Trusted by serious newsletter operators, it’s designed for people who treat newsletters like a business. Try it free at https://www.beehiiv.com/kyle and use code KYLE30 for 30% off your first three months.

Tabs is an AI-native revenue platform that unifies billing, collections, and revenue recognition for companies running usage-based or complex contracts. By bringing together ERP, CRM, and real product usage data into a single system of record, Tabs eliminates manual reconciliations and speeds up close and cash collection. Companies like Cortex, Statsig, and Cursor trust Tabs to scale revenue efficiently. Learn more at https://www.tabs.com/run

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LINKS: 

Lightfield: https://lightfield.app/

Keith on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/keithpeiris

Mostly Metrics: https://www.mostlymetrics.com

CJ on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/cj-gustafson-13140948/

Growth Unhinged: https://www.growthunhinged.com/

Kyle on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/kyle-poyar/

Steve on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/steven-cerasoli-269792180/

TIMESTAMPS:

0:00 Intro banter — OpenAI buys TBPN

1:46 Show intro

2:21 Challenges with the acquisition

6:04 Claude code and the build vs. buy pendulum

7:02 Cost of building approaches zero

9:01 Sponsors — Lightfield | beehiiv | Tabs

11:58 Killing Tome to build Lightfield

15:52 Pivot story: board and team reaction

17:33 Why AI CRM hasn't had its moment yet

19:59 CRM as a world model of your business

22:23 Go to market strategy: starting with YC

25:24 Call recorder as a distribution wedge

26:51 Why Lightfield chose seat-based pricing

28:54 Long term greedy pricing strategy

31:18 Business blunders

31:37 Microsoft Copilot terms of use

32:00 Seven-Eleven merch store

32:31 Whale hunting blunder

33:48 Things we tried: Apple AI receptionist

34:41 Things we tried: the milkman

35:39 Lightfield lead scorer demo

36:25 What do you pay for?

37:04 Credits

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