What I have learned building and rescuing software
Plain-English posts for founders who are about to spend money on software: what an app costs, which technology to pick, what is new in AI, and which events and funding programs are worth knowing about. Where a post reports something that happened outside Foundreco, it links to the source.
How much does an AI feature cost to run in an app?
Building an AI feature is one cost and running it is another. Here are the token prices Anthropic lists for Sonnet 5.5 and Opus 5.5, and a clearly labeled example of how to turn them into a monthly estimate.
Read itHow much does app maintenance cost after launch?
Maintenance is three different bills that usually arrive under one name. One of them is compulsory, one is small, and one is not maintenance at all. Knowing which is which is most of the saving.
Read itFixed price or time and materials: which one protects a founder?
The usual advice says an MVP should be hourly because the scope will move. The scope will move. That is exactly why the founder should not be the one carrying the estimate.
Read itWhy AI-built apps break the moment you deploy them
It ran perfectly in the builder preview and fell over the day you shipped it. That is not bad luck, and it is not your fault. Five failures show up again and again, and the preview is designed to hide every one of them.
Read itHow long does it actually take to build an MVP?
About 14 days for an MVP, once the scope is locked. The honest part is everything around that number: what has to happen before the clock starts, and the five things that reliably make it slip.
Read itSix clauses to look for in a software development contract
Every one of these exists because a founder told me exactly how they had been burned. Read them before you sign with anyone, including me, and ask for the contract before any money moves.
Read itNothing in that category yet.
Reading is cheaper than building the wrong thing
If a piece here answered half your question, send me the other half. Three sentences is enough, and you get an honest verdict within 24 hours.