One build a day, with the bill attached.
A daily clip about building with AI agents. Every one names a person or a source, shows a real screen, and says what it cost us to make.
2026-09-17FO-0002, one captioned clip, transcript to render, measured per stepUSD 0.000788
Today's entry
The cost sheet of the newest clip, read from its own sidecar. Our figures, per step, measured and not estimated.
| Step | Cost, USD |
|---|---|
| Audio extractlocal ffmpeg, no cloud call | 0.000000 |
| Transcriptbilled on the full 48.0 s source, word timings on | 0.000675 |
| Script and hook154 tokens in and out, EUR 0.67 per million | 0.000113 |
| Narrationfree tier voice, English-US Male-Calm | 0.000000 |
| Render and captionsASS captions from the word timings, loudnorm audio | 0.000000 |
| Total, one clip | USD 0.000788 |
Cloud steps run on startup credits. The credit balance itself is never published, only the per unit price we are charged.
Three rules
- 01
Real screens, not stock.
The picture is the terminal, the diff or the page the claim comes from. No AI avatars, no faces, no stock footage of people typing.
- 02
Every number opens on its source.
If we cannot open the page the number is on, we do not say the number.
- 03
The bill is public.
What one video costs us, per step, measured from the pipeline itself and not estimated.
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One email a week: what we built, what it cost, what broke.
Plus the cost sheet: every step of one finished video, with the real per step price from our own pipeline.
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Latest entries
| Date | Entry | Platform |
|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-21 | Sample row: the agent wrote the check before it read the spec, and the diff shows it.sample rowSample creator | example.com |
| 2026-09-20 | Sample row: one prompt, one terminal, and the part that failed first.sample rowSample creator | example.com |
| Total | 2 entries, every one on a named source |
What we cover
- 01
Building with agents.
What an agent actually did on screen, and what it got wrong first.
- 02
Automation that runs a business.
n8n, MCP, real workflows, our own included.
- 03
The cheap stack.
What the whole pipeline costs, per step, in dollars.
- 04
Founder lessons, sourced.
One named person, one claim, one link, every week.
About
Two people and a lot of agents. We build software remotely, we use AI agents all day, and this channel is the working notes: what we shipped, what it cost, what we would not do again. Our own products show up as case studies, never as ads.
Seen a video worth repurposing? Send it to hello@founderoutput.com.
How this is made