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Growing the Minds of Financial Leaders

Hourly Billing is Nuts: With Jonathan Stark

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Jonathan Stark is the author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts and host of the Ditching Hourly podcast. He has spent two decades helping independent consultants escape the trap of trading time for money. In this conversation, Jonathan breaks down why hourly billing structurally undermines knowledge workers and shares the mindset shifts and practical tools—value pricing, fixed-fee proposals, and access retainers—that can transform a professional services practice.

Interview Highlights

  1. Jonathan’s mission to rid the world of hourly billing? Are we getting close?
  2. Is Rita Gunther right about AI’s impact on the legal billable hour?
  3. Jonathan’s story from billing by the hour to a first-year success of value pricing.
  4. The reason we can’t partner with clients while we bill them hourly.
  5. Value pricing and fixed bids on steroids.
  6. The path from hourly billing to value pricing.
  7. Jonathan’s 10 questions to jumpstart a conversation with prospects.
  8. The reason we hit the brakes on startups.
  9. Jonathan’s advice to buyers of services billed by the hour.
Hourly Billing Is Nuts: Essays On The Insanity Of Trading Time For Money
$8.99

Jonathan Stark's passionate arguments and real-world examples will force you to question everything you thought you knew about pricing. Whether you're a freelancer, consultant, or agency owner, this book will transform your perspective on your work and its value.

Hourly Billing Is Nuts: Essays On The Insanity Of Trading Time For Money
Browse Book
04/18/2026 02:07 am GMT
If you bill by the hour, you are incentivized to be slow. The faster you get, the less you make. That’s backwards — and it’s the core reason hourly billing is nuts for knowledge workers.

— Jonathan Stark, author of Hourly Billing Is Nuts

A Ditching Hourly Self-Assessment

0 of 8 completed Click each item as you complete it
I can articulate a specific, narrow client niche and the problem I solve for them
I have a discovery/diagnostic process before any proposal is written
I ask prospects about the cost of their problem before discussing my fees
My proposals are outcome-based rather than deliverable- or hour-based
I offer at least two or three pricing options when presenting to a prospect
I have at least one named, productized service offering with a fixed price
My retainers are priced for access and availability — not for prepaid hours
I track and articulate the dollar impact of my work to clients regularly

Important Links

Books Mentioned

  1. Lord of the Rings
  2. Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  3. Value-Based Fees
  4. The Secret of Selling Anything
  5. How to Measure Anything
  6. Discworld Series by Terry Pratchett

Your Next Listen

Since you enjoyed our conversation with Jonathan Stark, you’ll enjoy three of Mark’s handpicked selections similar to this show.

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Markus Husemann-Kopetzky

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