425: AI Best Practices for Bootstrappers (That Actually Save You Money)

AI systems change constantly. Models get deprecated, APIs shift, and what works today might fail tomorrow. Instead of trying to keep up with everything, I've built my systems for permanent adaptability.

That means migration patterns that let me run old and new prompts side by side, using OpenAI's hidden Flex tier to cut costs by 50%, front-loading repeated data in prompts to maximize cache savings, and implementing circuit breakers so runaway AI costs can't blow up my bill. These aren't optimizations — they're how you run AI in production without losing your mind or your money.

I'm running a time-limited Black Friday sale of The Bootstrapper's Bundle: all my books, all my courses, all formats, for $25 instead of $100+. Grab it here: https://tbf.link/bff

This episode of The Bootstraped Founder is sponsored by Paddle.comYou'll find the Black Friday Guide here: https://www.paddle.com/learn/grow-beyond-black-friday

The blog post: https://thebootstrappedfounder.com/ai-best-practices-for-bootstrappers-that-actually-save-you-money/ The podcast episode: https://tbf.fm/episodes/425-ai-best-practices-for-bootstrappers-that-actually-save-you-money

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