What It Really Cost
I'm about to show you something most founders never show: what it actually costs to build a product from zero. Every euro. Every hour. No bullshit.
The Investment (Nov 2025 — March 2026)
| Meta Ads (Testing + Pixel Training) | ~€3,000 |
| Claude AI (2 Subscriptions, 5 months) | ~€930 |
| Vercel Pro (5 months) | ~€90 |
| Supabase Pro (5 months) | ~€115 |
| ActiveCampaign (5 months) | ~€130 |
| Skool Pro (4 months, then Hobby) | ~€370 |
| Stripe Custom Domain | ~€50 |
| ManyChat Pro (3 months) | ~€39 |
| Pipeboard Pro (Meta Ads MCP) | ~€76 |
| Domains + Hosting | ~€100 |
| VIP Engine (Main Branch) | ~€130 |
| Misc (Bunny, Buffer, etc.) | ~€30 |
| TOTAL | ~€5,060 |
The Time
| Booster Workbook v1-v3 (Feb-Apr 2025) | ~200h |
| House sale (website, strategy, showings) | ~80h |
| Chatbot + System (Mar 2026) | ~184h |
| Content, Ads, Strategy | ~50h |
| TOTAL | ~514h |
What Came Out of It
| Commits | 351+ |
| Source Files | 57+ |
| Lines of Code | 12,000+ |
| Diagnosis Sessions | 45+ |
| Journal Chapters | 15 |
| Products Live | 5 |
| Automated Crons | 5 |
| Revenue | €0 |
The Valuation
What is all of this worth? Three scenarios:
| Now (Pre-Revenue) | €0 (IP + Tech only) |
| Break-even (Month 6) | €150k — €250k |
| Traction (Month 12) | €800k — €1.2M |
| Scale (Month 18) | €2.5M — €4M |
Why such high multiples? Because this isn't a normal coaching business:
- 95% margin — AI delivers, not me
- Recurring revenue — Ongoing €497/mo
- Tech moat — 40 skills, custom prompt, data asset
- Scales without my time — Bot + Telegram = zero 1:1 calls
Running Costs
What the system costs me every month — without ads:
| Vercel Pro | $20 |
| Supabase Pro | $25 |
| ActiveCampaign | $29 |
| Stripe Custom Domain | €10 |
| ManyChat Pro | €13 |
| Skool Hobby | $9 |
| Bunny Stream | ~€1 |
| TOTAL without Ads | ~€110/mo |
€110 a month. That's less than a gym membership + Netflix + Spotify combined. For a complete business system.
What I Learned
Transparency is a competitive advantage. Most founders hide their numbers — afraid someone will see how little revenue they make. But the opposite happens: when you show everything, people trust you. Because you clearly have nothing to hide.
€0 revenue on €5,060 invested looks like failure. But only if you're looking at the wrong timeframe. Amazon took 9 years to become profitable. I'm at week 6.