Pilot: AfterAir 0.1.0 beta
Offer
Three free episode packs for three different US hosts (or one host × three episodes). No payment. In return: (1) 15 minutes of feedback (call or written), (2) an introduction to one other host if they would use it again, (3) permission to cite anonymised turnaround time.
Runbook
- Tell the host up front that free tools, host add-ons and cheaper human writers exist, and what you do differently (a person spot-checks quotes and timestamps against the audio).
- Ask for a transcript, or their bullets, quotes and timestamps, within 24 hours of recording. If you will paste their content into an LLM, get their OK first (see
AI-OPERATOR.md). - Build with AfterAir offline. Fix every warning it shows; never fill in a time you did not check.
- Record your real minutes in the table below (listening/extracting, running the tool, checking, comms).
- Deliver the four text files. Ask which of these they would pay: $99 / $149 per episode, or $349 / $399 a month for four (with real time codes), and $149 per episode or $549 / $599 a month (without). Do not lead with a price below the break-even. Tell them first that a human writer on a marketplace costs from about $36 for a 30-minute episode. Write the answer down, including "no".
- Do not upsell anything that costs you or them extra money.
Feedback capture
| Host | Episode length | Input supplied (bullets / transcript / audio only) | Transcript had real time codes? (y/n) | Minutes: extract | Minutes: tool + check | Minutes: comms | Accepted in 48 h? | Would pay (price or no) | Compared against (tool) | Notes |
|---|
Swipe the table sideways to see every column →
Success thresholds (decide before you start)
- At least 2 of 3 hosts accept the pack without major rework.
- Real total minutes per episode are within 50% of the model in
ECONOMICS.mdfor your case. - Three free pilot episodes; no one pays. The pass line is stated willingness to pay, not a payment. Pass line: at least one host says, after hearing the free and cheaper alternatives, that they would pay at least $84 per episode, preferably $99+, for a pack made from a transcript with real time codes (at least $134, preferably $149+, without real time codes); $79 is not a pass. Caveat: $84 breaks even only if the 5% outreach-conversion assumption holds; at 2% conversion the with-time-codes break-even is about $115.
- Why those numbers: the break-even at a $50/h planning rate is $83.33 per episode with real time codes (100 minutes in total) and $133.33 without (about 160 minutes, case B2's modelled total, a ceiling you should replace with your own recorded minutes), so $84 and $134 are the first whole dollars that clear it. Check the "real time codes" column in the table above for each episode. $79 loses about $4 per episode in case B1.
- Prices to test: with real time codes, $99 or $149 per episode, or $349 or $399 a month for four; without them, $149 per episode, or $549 or $599 a month for four. $79 per episode and $249 a month are below the transcript break-even and make sense only in case A, where the client supplies the bullets, timestamps and quotes. Monthly floors for four episodes: 4 x $83.33 = $333.32, so at least $334 a month with real time codes; 4 x $133.33 = $533.32, so at least $534 without them; case A is 4 x $50 = $200.
If any threshold fails, reprice or stop. Do not report a demand number from three pilots.
Stop rules
- Clinical or medical-advice content: decline, out of scope.
- Guaranteed ranking or download claims: decline.
Client scope and AI consent (copy, adapt, send before the first pilot)
A plain-language starting point, not legal advice. Fill the brackets, cut what you will not offer, and keep a copy of the client's reply.
Scope for [Show name] — [number] episode(s)
What you get: four draft text files for each episode: show notes, chapter markers, three social posts and a guest thank-you, in your style and tone. Drafts for you to review and publish; I do not publish anything for you.
What I need from you: a link to the audio; a transcript with time codes if you have one (without it, chapter times take longer and may cost more); the guest's name spelled as they spell it; any links you want included.
How it is made: I may paste your transcript into a third-party AI assistant to draft bullets and quotes, then spot-check each quote and chapter time against your audio before I send anything. That means your transcript is shared with that provider and covered by its terms. Reply "yes" to allow this, or "no" and I will do it by hand (the price may change). Please do not send private, confidential or sensitive episodes.
Your transcript and files: I keep your transcript and the drafts only for [30] days after delivery, then delete them from my files and cloud storage; tell me sooner and I will delete them on request. If I used an AI assistant, that provider may keep or log what I pasted under its own terms, and I cannot delete it from there. [Edit these terms to match what you actually do.]
Turnaround and changes: [2] business days from receiving everything above, and [one] round of changes included. Extra rounds [price].
Price and payment: [free pilot | $ per episode | $ per month for four episodes], [paid before delivery | invoiced on delivery]. Cancel any time before the next episode starts.
Limits: I check quotes and times against the audio but cannot promise the content is free of errors; the final text is yours to approve. You own the finished files. I may decline an episode that is outside this scope.
Reply "agreed" (and "yes" or "no" to the AI question) to start.