# What It Really Cost

> Every euro. Every hour. What this project has consumed — and why I keep going.

Chapter 22 of The Open Book — Alexander Reisch / Booster
Canonical: https://alexreisch.com/story/what-it-really-cost
Published: 2026-03-23

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)

## The Time

## What Came Out of It

What is all of this worth? I will skip the speculation — the market will show it. What already counts today: this system has a 95% margin, because AI delivers and I do not. It has recurring revenue. It has a data edge that grows with every diagnosis. And it scales without my time — bot plus Telegram means zero 1:1 calls.

## Running Costs

What the system costs me every month — without ads:

€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.

*The question is not whether it was worth it. The question is: what would the alternative have been? Another year of cold calls? Another coaching program? Another tool? I built the tool instead. And now it has to do just one thing: prove that it does not only work — but that it earns. That is what the next act is about.*

> **What this means for you:** Show your numbers. Not the polished ones — the real ones. Transparency is a competitive advantage almost nobody uses, because almost everybody is afraid. Ask yourself: what would happen if your customers knew what is really going on — and trusted you precisely because of it?