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Junestrand: Seat-based AI pricing is unsustainable due to LLM costs

Max Junestrand · Legora CEO, Max Junestrand: $7M ARR in a Day | Harvey vs Legora: Is a Legal AI Winner Takes All? · 20VC with Harry Stebbings · Jan 26, 2026 · at 30:07

Max Junestrand is the co-founder and CEO of legal AI startup Legora. He discusses why traditional seat-based software pricing models break down when applied to AI products with heavy usage costs.

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“I actually don't think it's the right pricing model. I think it should be consumption based. Because you can have individual users racking up such big LLM costs that it basically becomes unsustainable on a per user basis.”

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