# Building Underway > Taking underway global. Richard Lovatt builds in public on underway: 98 episodes so far, each one filmed as it happened and dated. Series page: https://underway.life/series/underwayrich ## Founder - Name: Richard Lovatt - About: Taking underway global - Photo: https://ayednnqrvicuxzmskdcg.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/episodes/series/3fffa77e-2ce7-4c65-b04e-47eddcd8ad74/avatar-1789464451975.jpg - Industry: video diary app ## Also on - LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richardjohnlovatt/ - X: https://x.com/underwayrich - Website: https://underway.life/ - TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@underwayrich - YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@underwayrich - Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/underwayrich/ ## About the series I'm building Underway, an app that interviews a founder about their day and turns the answers into a numbered video episode, so the story of a build gets filmed while it's happening instead of remembered afterwards. I'm the first user. Once a day, whenever suits me, it asks me what changed, I answer, and that becomes the next episode here: what shipped, what broke, the App Store review, the patent, the money, in the order it happened. Nothing reordered, nothing invented. It's for anyone who's ever said "I wish I had filmed the start". I said it about three businesses. This time the start is on camera, from episode zero. ## Episodes - [Episode 0: How to document building a startup without editing](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/s0e0-how-to-document-building-startup-without-editing) (filmed 2026-09-14): I explained what Underway is and used this first episode to document its own build. Underway plugs into a founder's calendar, GitHub, Zoom and payments, then interviews them out loud while they edit, turning that into a numbered episode with no script and no retakes. Right now it's just me building it, waiting on the App Store listing and trademark before I bring in five to ten testers. A clear win would be a few of them telling me they're actually using it and plan to keep using it. - [Episode 1: Why AI video editing adds jump cuts and cuts words](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-1-why-ai-video-editing-adds-jump-cuts-cuts) (filmed 2026-09-02) - [Episode 2: Why founders avoid making content for their startup](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-2-why-founders-avoid-making-content-their-startup) (filmed 2026-09-03) - [Episode 3: Build in public app walkthrough: how I record an episode](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-3-build-public-app-walkthrough) (filmed 2026-09-03) - [Episode 4: Finding bugs by using your own product: no share button](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-4-finding-bugs-using-own-product) (filmed 2026-09-03) - [Episode 5: Filing a trademark before launch, then starting a patent](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-5-filing-trademark-before-launch) (filmed 2026-09-03) - [Episode 6: Do I need a data processing agreement for my app?](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-6-do-i-need-data-processing-agreement-app) (filmed 2026-09-04) - [Episode 7: Building in public before filing a patent: I went private](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-7-building-public-before-filing-patent) (filmed 2026-09-04) - [Episode 8: Explainer video with Claude Code, not a videographer](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-8-explainer-video-claude-code) (filmed 2026-09-04) - [Episode 9: How to track landing page changes over time, side by side](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-9-how-to-track-landing-page-changes-over-time) (filmed 2026-09-05) - [Episode 10: Making a SaaS launch video with AI instead of hiring](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-10-making-saas-launch-video-ai-instead-hiring) (filmed 2026-09-05) - [Episode 11: Turn Git commits into daily video topics: screen demo](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-11-turn-git-commits-into-daily-video-topics) (filmed 2026-09-05) - [Episode 12: Making a launch video with AI in one shot: GPT-6 Astra](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-12-making-launch-video-ai-one-shot) (filmed 2026-09-06): GPT-6 Astra dropped a few days ago. I kept seeing people on X say they'd one-shot a launch video with it, and the clips looked wild. So I gave it a go. Sent what came back to my fiancée. We both just sat there for a second. She said she was proud of me, because it finally looked like the thing I've been trying to build and the problem it solves. Also added two bits that feed into the patent application: a watcher that bumps you when you hit a milestone so you can record the feeling right then, and a habit former that learns how you like to film. Episode 12 done. - [Episode 13: What a one shot AI generated video actually looks like](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-13-what-one-shot-ai-generated-video-actually-looks) (filmed 2026-09-06): On the last episode I showed two videos, but the second one just cut out. I thought I was recording, talking away, then we rewatched it and it was gone. God knows why. So I remade it. Second video, kind of one-shotted with GPT-6 Astra. Cinematically beautiful. Can you imagine how much you'd have to pay for that kind of thing put together. I also wanted to show another bit I'd been working on, but it wouldn't load. Refreshed a few times, still nothing. Bug after bug after bug lately. I guess that's what building software is all about. Episode 13 done. - [Episode 14: AI that suggests video topics from your past episodes](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-14-ai-that-suggests-video-topics-past-episodes) (filmed 2026-09-06): I said on the last episode I'd do the podcast next, but I lied. I had something else I wanted to show you first. It's a suggested topics tab. It reads everything I've said in every episode and picks up the things I never tied off, like when I say I've been thinking about something but haven't decided. The one it gave me was whether the videographer shoot still happens. I booked him for next weekend, then GPT-6 Astra one-shotted something I said I'd pay a lot for, and I never said on camera whether I kept the booking or cancelled. It quoted me back to myself, "I haven't made my mind up yet". So I can just do a whole episode on that and close it off. If it suggests an old topic I know I'm not going back to, I can remove it. That doesn't mean something like it won't come up again, it just gets replaced. Then I clicked stop sharing and the timer kept going. It didn't say I'd stopped. When I came back to the tab I think it had. We'll watch this back and see. Another bug. Episode 14 done. - [Episode 15: Why AI voice chat lags before replying: first test](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-15-why-ai-voice-chat-lags-before-replying) (filmed 2026-09-06): I finally tried the podcast tonight. Half eleven, I'm exhausted, and I thought it'd be the easy bit after all the video work. It isn't. It's incredibly detailed. I had to strip out the interview structure I'd copied across from the video section. If you build a natural conversation on that foundation, it never flows. And the lag is real. After I talk and wait, it doesn't respond quickly at all. Anyone else using this would assume something's wrong and that it hadn't heard them. It did ask one thoughtful question based on what I'd just said. Semi-impressed with that. Tomorrow I want to see how much of that lag I can remove. I've seen demos where the AI answers almost like a human. I don't even know what its name is. Going to hand the recording to Claude Code or ChatGPT and see what they make of it. Episode 15 done. Good night. - [Episode 16: AI podcast host that interviews you: my build so far](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-16-ai-podcast-host-that-interviews-you) (filmed 2026-09-07): Tonight was a hell of a long one. Continued build from the evening as well. GPT looked at my site and codebase and came back with some legit ideas. Both videos on the site are fine, it said, but nothing shows what being on the inside looks like. Especially the podcast path for founders who want to talk but don't want to be on camera. I thought working on the podcast would be simple compared to video. It wasn't. Far behind, and way more fiddly than I imagined. In my head it wasn't just rambling into a mic. You're speaking to something that knows your business, what you've said, what you've achieved. What I built is Just Chat. Tired, don't want the camera, you just talk like someone's in the room asking you questions. It remembers last night's lag, the interview scaffolding I stripped out, the patent lawyer, all of it. You can have the app host, or someone in the room, or send a link so they join without installing anything. I've also made topics simple. It suggests some, or I type "let's talk about hiring" and we go. Tonight I want to record another episode with Just Chat itself so you can hear how it comes out. The breakthrough for me is wanting that same tech on the video side. Right now video questions are still a bit robotic. You pick four, it asks, you tap done. Fine, but after Just Chat it feels different. Downside of all this is it ends up quite expensive. We will see. Episode 16 (1 of 2 filmed on 7 Sept). - [Episode 17: Building in public without being on camera](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-17-building-public-without-being-camera) (filmed 2026-09-07) - [Episode 18: Searching your past work with AI, and the bug it hit](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-18-searching-past-work-ai) (filmed 2026-09-08) - [Episode 19: What I found testing my own app before App Store launch](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-19-what-i-found-testing-own-app-before-app) (filmed 2026-09-08): Every episode before this one was a walkthrough on my laptop, so landscape. Tonight I recorded on the phone instead, because I'm looking into releasing the app on the app store and I need to be using it myself. Setting it up I found a pile of bugs: things not aligned, mechanisms running on web that were never added to the app, and no visible timer. I also gave it the topic of filming seven days in a row, and after the back and forth of the podcast mode, the prepared interview questions came back repetitive and robotic. - [Episode 20: Why my AI podcast interviewer repeats my words back](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-20-why-ai-podcast-interviewer-repeats-words-back) (filmed 2026-09-09): Tonight was meant to be a normal debrief with the AI co-host, but it turned into a test of the podcast feature itself. The co-host repeated a question it had already asked me, then couldn't confirm whether it has access to my daily GitHub pushes or the other connected data like calendar, email and Warp. Turns out it doesn't pull in live GitHub activity, even though other parts of the app do. The voice, response time and back-and-forth feel genuinely good, but this session showed me the context side isn't where I thought it was, so I'm stopping here to go work on that. - [Episode 21: AI podcast host keeps repeating the same question](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-21-ai-podcast-host-keeps-repeating-same-question) (filmed 2026-09-09): I came back to this expecting the fix from last episode to have landed, the one where Elizabeth kept opening with the same question regardless of what we'd covered before. It hasn't worked. I asked her directly what I'd achieved over the past few days and she just repeated the same opening line about the podcast side of Underway, four times in a row. So this is where it stands: the context problem isn't solved, and it's back to the drawing board on giving her memory of our previous conversations. - [Episode 22: AI voice agent repeating the same line, still not fixed](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-22-ai-voice-agent-repeating-same-line) (filmed 2026-09-09): Spent well over an hour today trying to get the voice-only podcast option working alongside the video version of Underway. Thought it was sorted after a teaser played back correctly, then the same opening line started repeating, this time in three different voices. The fix didn't hold, so it's back to square one on that piece of work. - [Episode 23: AI podcast co-host pulled up the wrong day's notes](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-23-ai-podcast-co-host-pulled-up-wrong-days-notes) (filmed 2026-09-09): Got past Elizabeth repeating herself. The conversation felt better this time. Then I asked what I did yesterday and the co-host started talking about stuff from weeks ago, basically one of the first days I started on this project. Same when I asked about the day before. So the context window got scrambled. Frustrating, but at least it gives me a foundation to work from. I need to refine how it retrieves what's actually recent, and I'll speak to some friends in the AI industry about it. Episode 23 (4 of 5 filmed on 9 Sept). - [Episode 24: Testing the AI podcast co-host I built into my app](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-24-testing-ai-podcast-co-host-i-built-into-app) (filmed 2026-09-09): Yesterday went entirely on App Store Connect: getting the API set, sorting the age rating, the five screenshots, and submitting the mobile app for review. It's now processing and I'm waiting to hear back from Apple. Today's been spent back on the podcast side, going round in circles on something I thought I'd already finished, though it feels about ninety percent there now. Also realised the AI co-host might be pulling notes from a different git project rather than Underway, so I need to check that connection before the next one of these. - [Episode 25: Can you file a patent yourself? What my attorney said](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-25-can-you-file-patent-yourself) (filmed 2026-09-10): The App Store came back on the mobile app submission: fields I hadn't filled in, functions like blocking another account still to add, and the iOS simulator video I sent isn't acceptable, so I need to record it myself. The patent attorney also got back to me. We went through the app and the idea thoroughly, he sounded positive about it, and his quotes ranged from highly expensive to very expensive. He was honest that I could file the application myself for much less, so I'm weighing that up alongside the trademark I've already applied for. - [Episode 26: App Store rejected my simulator demo video, build six](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-26-app-store-rejected-simulator-demo-video) (filmed 2026-09-11): I'm on my sixth build submitted to Apple, because every time I go through the app on TestFlight myself I find something missing or changed compared to the web app. The patent attorney said he'd call back in the afternoon after speaking to his colleague and didn't. I did get the international trademark submitted through the Madrid system, paid in Swiss francs, and I'm still weighing up whether the patent is worth the money. Today is another submission to the App Store, and then I want five to ten people using it for free to see what breaks. - [Episode 27: AI voice agent latency vs cost: 3 to 4x for no pauses](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-27-ai-voice-agent-latency-vs-cost) (filmed 2026-09-11): I reviewed what I shipped on the ninth of September: the podcast naming fix, the GitHub import scope fix, and the archive lookup feature, all done after a day of broken podcast calls that kept repeating the same line. Tonight I'm weighing whether this co-host is good enough to release, mainly because of the long pauses before it answers, against switching to OpenAI's realtime API, which would cost three to four times as much per minute. I tried to check how many total minutes each founder gets per membership to work out what that trade-off would actually mean, but couldn't find the cap in the records, on the website copy, or in the repository. - [Episode 28: AI voice assistant that sounds too upbeat: fixing tone](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-28-ai-voice-assistant-that-sounds-too-upbeat) (filmed 2026-09-11): I tested whether the co-host could recall what I'd actually shipped, checking Monday's work on the archive and co-host screens and the membership labeling task, which it pulled up correctly from the merged pull request on 10 September. I mentioned that a rebuild I expected to take days instead took about an hour using OpenAI's voice app. I flagged that the co-host's responses feel overly positive and asked for a more grounded, plain-spoken tone going forward, which it agreed to. - [Episode 29: Building app with AI: each fix breaks something else](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-29-building-app-ai) (filmed 2026-09-12): I'm on the 24th build trying to get the app into TestFlight, because every time I fix one thing something else breaks. I don't know yet whether that's because I'm new to this and just telling the AI what I want, or whether it's normal for building an app. I've also added a tour so people can look around before they're pushed into recording themselves. Next submission goes in and we'll see. - [Episode 30: Does Apple review apps on weekends? Sunday after submitting](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-30-does-apple-review-apps-weekends) (filmed 2026-09-13): Sunday was meant to be a rest day. We got through around 25 or 26 builds and submitted the app to the App Store. Now it sits with a genuine human reviewer, and because it's Sunday, nothing is moving. - [Episode 31: Why founders stop building in public after a week](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-31-why-founders-stop-building-public-after-week) (filmed 2026-09-14): I walked through the objections section I've added to the Underway website, line by line: I'll do it for a week and then stop, there's the edit, I can't put this in public, who would even watch, I'd film it three times and still not be happy. Each one is something that's stopped me before, so I talked through how the product takes it off the table, including the stealth vault for founders who can't go public yet. I'm not public with mine yet either, there are a few legal aspects I'm going through first. I also touched on the new how it works screen and yesterday's work on affiliates and founders getting paid, both of which I'll cover properly another time. - [Episode 32: What to talk about in a build in public video diary](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-32-what-to-talk-about-build-public-video-diary) (filmed 2026-09-14): Episode 32, and my second recording today. I walked through the worth an episode list: the unfinished, walkthrough and standout labels, the remind me later option, and removing an old standout about a rebuild I thought would take days. I also showed the get paid and affiliate screens, and the admin backend with reports, search and SEO, and the automatic emails and newsletter I put together at the weekend. The new function today is being able to put all the topics into the text box and click chat, so I can freestyle around eight of them instead of getting a question for each one. - [Episode 33: Why people stop vlogging after a week or two](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-33-why-people-stop-vlogging-after-week-two) (filmed 2026-09-14): I went through the list of things that stand between a builder and pressing record at the end of the day: the fear of stopping after a week, the blank camera, the edit eating your evening, the boss and the investors not knowing yet, three episodes into silence, filming it three times and binning the honest take, the ring light that becomes the reason you don't film. Every one of those is a real reason for me. Every one of them is also a design decision in Underway: it asks so there's no blank page, it cuts so there's no edit, it's private by default, episodes count rather than days, one take is the take. The whole product is built around week two, because that's where every series dies. - [Episode 34: Why founders don't document building in public, and my fix](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-34-why-founders-dont-document-building-public) (filmed 2026-09-15): I recorded the launch explanation for Underway, the app that connects to your email, GitHub, Zoom and Fathom, knows what you did that day, interviews you about it and edits the episode for you. I meant to record it as a Loom, but Loom wouldn't show my face on playback, so I used my own tech to do the job instead. I'm changing my Twitter, Instagram and YouTube from Clothes Unpaid over to Underway and documenting the whole build from here, while still doing my sales and marketing work with Next Growth. Anyone who wants to be one of the first testers can DM me. - [Episode 35: Going public after building in stealth, with no users yet](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-35-going-public-after-building-stealth) (filmed 2026-09-16): I took Underway public yesterday, flipping everything I'd recorded live to the directory in one click. Using the app on myself showed me the directory was bare bones, so I worked on it, and I rebuilt the AI-written descriptions that go out with posts to YouTube and LinkedIn because the old ones were so bad. The milestone nudges have a bug: it's telling me I've hit 1,000 YouTube subscribers when I've been past 2,700 for a long time, so I need to find where it's pulling that data from. I'm still waiting on Apple to come back about the App Store submission. - [Episode 36: LinkedIn developer app approval: submitted, still waiting](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-36-linkedin-developer-app-approval) (filmed 2026-09-17): I'm building underway, a build-in-public video diary app, and tonight I'm still waiting on the LinkedIn developer app I submitted on 6 September, which needs to be accepted before paying customers can publish to LinkedIn, Instagram, Meta and TikTok in one click. I can do it myself in tester mode, but eleven days on I've heard nothing, and the Apple App Store submission is stuck in the same place. On the better side, yesterday we got featured in TED Ed, Yahoo Finance and NewsFile, which I'm hoping starts the Google ranking for terms like building in public video diary. I also shared my screen to play the portrait motion graphics videos I've been making with ChatGPT about the pain points. - [Episode 37: Adding video podcast recording to an app I built](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-37-adding-video-podcast-recording-to-app-i-built) (filmed 2026-09-17): I decided to expand the podcast function in Underway so you can invite someone in via video, the way you would on Zoom, and post the interview raw with no editing. The plan is a weekly episode interviewing founders about the parts no one hears: what made them nearly quit, the hardest decision, the things they never recorded. I'm developing that into the app today, so the build and the first interviews will both happen on camera. I also talked about my main job at Next Growth and why I want to start documenting that side too, wins and losses across the board. - [Episode 38: ChatGPT ads spent £150 on a £50 daily budget](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-38-chatgpt-ads-spent-150-50-daily-budget) (filmed 2026-09-17): I set up ChatGPT ads for the Underway landing page, capped the budget at £50 a day, and it spent about £150 within 30 minutes, so I've raised a support ticket with OpenAI. I also had a sales meeting with the guys from my other work, and they said the idea genuinely solves a real issue. Then I shared my screen and walked through the series deck, which came up as a suggested topic because I'd left it open in an earlier episode. What it generates right now is a wall of text, so that's what I'm going to work on next. - [Episode 39: App Store rejected my app for external payment links](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-39-app-store-rejected-app-external-payment-links) (filmed 2026-09-18): We have submitted our app to the App Store three times now and been rejected three times, the latest because you can click through to a web browser to buy. I had wanted all the payments to happen on the website rather than in the app, but I am not arguing with Apple, so we are making the changes today to take payments on the phone as well. I also had an hour-long call with X ads, where you get an account manager before you have spent anything, and he is going to show me how to launch. That follows trying ChatGPT ads yesterday, which spent double my daily amount in about 20 minutes with nothing in return. - [Episode 40: WhatsApp and Slack bot integration to nudge me to record](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-40-whatsapp-slack-bot-integration-to-nudge-me) (filmed 2026-09-19): I talked through an idea for Underway: a proactive assistant that would live in Slack or WhatsApp, know everything I've done, and message me when it notices things like a batch of GitHub pushes or a week of website changes, asking if I want to talk about them and turn that into an episode. It would also handle the setup itself, checking whether I want video or podcast, someone else invited in, portrait or landscape, and an AI co-host, then open the recording in the browser. We got into when it should interrupt versus stay quiet, landing on the idea of a quiet mode that only nudges after meaningful events. I didn't commit to building it, the co-host suggested parking it as a future episode topic on designing that proactive assistant layer. - [Episode 41: AI voice assistant delay: why it waits 4 seconds to reply](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-41-ai-voice-assistant-delay) (filmed 2026-09-20): I recorded a podcast on the plane yesterday to test how the podcast handles engine noise and people talking, and listening back in Vegas this morning it wasn't good. It doesn't kick in for four or five seconds, and I worked out that's because it's so sensitive it records all the background noise, so the silence removal keeps it in. Today I'm working on the podcast, and on connecting your own Grok or Muse rather than building expensive direct integrations like Gmail, plus getting the assistant into Slack and WhatsApp so it sits in your day to day. - [Episode 42: Underway nudges inside Slack](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-42-underway-nudges-inside-slack) (filmed 2026-09-21): I finally got Underway installed and integrated into Slack, so it nudges you in the channel you already work in and asks whether something is worth an episode. I walked through yesterday's bugs on screen: a nudge that said something landed in my WhatsApp community and then said it had no record of it, and an expand that gave me a wall of text no one would read. Then I tried it live, clicked tell me more on the seven day X pixel nudge, and got nothing back about it. WhatsApp is still waiting on a number and business verification, and I'm going back to the drawing board on the Slack replies after this. - [Episode 43: Minimum viable product: why I keep adding features anyway](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-43-minimum-viable-product) (filmed 2026-09-22): I walked through Underway's Connections tab: the email forwarding address set up through Grokbot, the Slack bot in my DMs and the WhatsApp bot. I'm onboarding with X for ads and with Graft, run by Cody Schneider, for Meta, with a strategy call tomorrow to get the first ads out on a small budget. Meta has decided the Underway WhatsApp account is marketing rather than utility, which costs me more, and my international trademark application was accepted and moves to the next stage. I'm 21 days in a row on these episodes and still have no customers, and I know I keep adding features instead of getting distribution. - [Episode 44: Talking over a recorded clip, Loom style: first try](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-44-talking-over-recorded-clip) (filmed 2026-09-23): I recorded my first episode demonstrating moments, the part of the app that tracks what you're building and nudges you through Slack, WhatsApp or email when you hit something like your first customer. You can capture a moment as a 15 second video or as audio, and a freestyle is audio only. What I set up now is talking over one of those, Loom style, with me small on screen and the moment playing in front of me. The one I used was recorded two days ago and wasn't a good one, just me using the feature, but building with my own product is what makes me get around to testing all of it. - [Episode 45: Why founders give up documenting their build on camera](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-45-why-founders-give-up-documenting-their-build-camera) (filmed 2026-09-24): I recorded the raw clips for a set of Underway ads on X instead of doing a normal debrief. The existing creatives are all AI generated motion graphics and they get to the point, but they don't show the app or show me actually using it, so I answered short prompts on camera about habit, having nothing to say, editing time, filming in stealth, filming to no audience, camera shy days, where I've filmed from, what an investor would take from 80 episodes, and repurposing. Some answers I ran twice because the first go didn't land. The clips go out as tonight's episode as normal, and the AI cuts them into the creatives rather than me editing them. - [Episode 46: Is the X API hard to set up? Easiest one I've done](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-46-x-api-hard-to-set-up) (filmed 2026-09-25): I connected X to Underware, so founders can now one click push to every social channel. I'd stayed away from the X API because my research said it was difficult and cost more money, but when I finally looked at it yesterday it was the easiest one by far, far easier than Instagram, LinkedIn and TikTok. Some of the other connections are still sitting with the app developers waiting to be accepted for public use. The rest of this one is me recording ad scripts on camera, fluffing one and doing it again, talking about why Underware is an interview rather than a speech and why one take is the take. - [Episode 47: Should you document your business journey from the start](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-47-should-you-document-business-journey-start) (filmed 2026-09-26): I'm still in Vegas after the wedding, and a conversation with my friend Dylan about Underway made me think harder about what the diary is actually for. My take now is that the value sits in founders talking transparently about the weaknesses, the doubts and the times they nearly gave up, not just the wins, and I noticed most of my own episodes so far have been me listing what I've done. I also talked about the doubt that it could all go away, and why I'd keep documenting even with no customers. On the posting side, GrokBot now runs automatically, three posts a day across X, LinkedIn, Instagram, YouTube and TikTok. Next episode might be filmed on the plane. - [Episode 48: Meta app review: Instagram approved last, ads next week](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-48-meta-app-review) (filmed 2026-09-27): Meta accepted Underway's developer app, so Instagram posting is now approved alongside TikTok, LinkedIn, WhatsApp and Slack. I also added Reddit today and created a community called Building on Underway, so founders can post episodes there automatically. Then I walked through the director on screen: it takes the season context, my season one goal of 10 users, and suggests what the story needs next, like what Apple said about the new build or the first tester inside Underway. Ads go live next week on X and maybe Meta. - [Episode 49: Why I document my startup journey after 49 episodes](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-49-why-i-document-startup-journey-after-49-episodes) (filmed 2026-09-28): I landed back in the UK from Vegas and recorded episode 49 of the diary, using it to explain what Underway actually is and why I built it. My dad's sister has been watching the Instagram posts and told me I babble, and I realised the website wording, build in public, founder diaries, probably doesn't land for anyone outside the target market. I talk through the friction that stops founders documenting: being on camera, editing, lighting, hooks, consistency, posting to an audience of zero, and how I wanted something that knows my day and just interviews me. I'm doing it for myself to look back on in a few years, and I'd like other founders to do the same with Underway. - [Episode 50: Filming my own video ads for a landing page, unedited](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-50-filming-own-video-ads-landing-page) (filmed 2026-09-29): I filmed myself reading four ad scripts for the X ads and the landing pages, because the pages were all motion design and I wanted me on them rather than AI stuff. I went take after take on the lines about forgetting how bad version one was until I watched it back, and about nobody watching yet being the best time to be transparent on camera. Two ambulances went past while I was recording. The takes are done and now I'll see what can be stitched together. - [Episode 51: Getting an app approved on the App Store: 26 builds](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-51-getting-app-approved-app-store) (filmed 2026-09-30): I hit 50 recorded episodes of Underway and the App Store submission finally went live after about 26 builds and four submissions. I also set up an outreach agent in Grok that scans social media daily for people talking about wishing they had documented their build, and two of them replied today. I'm offering them £100 to use Underway properly for a week and give me feedback, because right now testing and feedback matter more than sales. Tomorrow I'm starting the X ads: a week-long views campaign, then retargeting for emails. - [Episode 52: Using AI to find my first customers: a Grok outreach bot](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-52-using-ai-to-find-first-customers) (filmed 2026-10-01): I woke up doubting whether 50-odd episodes of this build-in-public diary add up to a business or whether it's just noise. I shared my inbox to show the Grok bot I tasked with reaching out to people who say they want to document their day: it found someone asking whether to start documenting running their TikTok shop, pitched them on the hundred dollars to test the app for a week, and they came back with yes, let's hear it. I also talked about why I put the stealth mode option in the app, so other owners can build in public without putting themselves out there the way I am. It's a tiny step, but it's the kind of outreach that turns into testers, then feedback, then maybe paying customers, and I'll keep documenting it either way. - [Episode 53: Setting up an AI agent to record daily video updates](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-53-setting-up-ai-agent-to-record-daily-video) (filmed 2026-10-01): I built a new Agents tab into the site so that an agent you deploy can be given a name, a face and a voice and document its own daily episodes. I walked through setting one up on camera: Steve, head of engineering, an American man in his late thirties, taking context from GitHub repositories and posting weekdays at 9pm for 45 seconds each. I clicked make today's episode and it was still generating when I finished recording. It remains to be seen whether this becomes a legit part of the business or whether it is still a way off, but it is built and it is there. - [Episode 54: AI agent that makes its own video episodes, demoed](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-54-ai-agent-that-makes-own-video-episodes) (filmed 2026-10-02): I walked through the Underway vault and the two agent episodes Steve, my AI head of engineering, recorded yesterday. Still no customers, and I'm about to launch X ads and Meta ads. The outreach is getting replies that then drop off the face of the earth. Steve's episodes cost a lot and have bugs, episode zero came out better than episode one, and the one going out tonight should be better again. - [Episode 55: Can an AI co-host see your screen in an ads manager?](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-55-can-ai-co-host-see-screen-ads-manager) (filmed 2026-10-02): I reviewed Underway's first paid ads campaign, called Underway - Founders - US, by screen sharing the Ads Manager with my AI co-host. It could see three ad sets each with a daily budget of about $33.33 and zero spend so far, and we looked at an ad creative preview with two versions side by side, including the headline 'The camera, or just your voice'. Partway through looking at a second ad the co-host dropped out and went quiet, which we didn't resolve by the end. I also found out the co-host only works from saved records, not a live connection, after asking it what I'd done today and getting no match. - [Episode 56: Documenting with no audience: why I keep filming](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-56-documenting-no-audience) (filmed 2026-10-03): I read out a post I found on X that calls documenting your day the worst advice for B2C personal brands, and I talked through why I disagree while building Underway. My argument is that documenting and making content for virality are two different things: one is hooks, angles and top of funnel, the other is a record you keep for yourself whether or not anyone watches. I'm doing both right now, documenting these days with almost no audience while also testing ad angles. I think being on camera honestly is the moat when AI makes starting easy for everyone. - [Episode 57: Turn long videos into clips: the one-click tool I built](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-57-turn-long-videos-into-clips) (filmed 2026-10-03): I shipped one-click clip sharing in Underway, so an episode can be cut into short clips and posted to YouTube Shorts, Instagram, TikTok and LinkedIn without any fiddling. I walked through the app memory that suggests what to film next, then explained why a post arguing against documenting made me rethink: I had been posting full episodes to platforms that suit clips, not long form. The clipping uses your episode zero and knowledge base to understand your audience and pick hooks. Next I want a single button that posts everything at once, and the ads are running while I wait on the first customers. - [Episode 58: Why Facebook ad signups fail in the in-app browser](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-58-why-facebook-ad-signups-fail-in-app-browser) (filmed 2026-10-04): I ran ads on Facebook and Instagram and got twelve signups, but only three or four people ever made it through the sign-in link. Claude Code showed me why: people tapped the ad inside Facebook's own in-app browser, then opened the code in Gmail, which launched Safari, and the login couldn't match the two up. The link now works in any browser, there's a note about the spam and promotions tab, a send it again button, an email and phone notification for every signup, and an admin page showing where people get stuck. I also made a post in the build in public subreddit today: three upvotes, 100 views and a couple of comments. - [Episode 59: Connecting Meta ads to track leads and signups, read-only](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-59-connecting-meta-ads-to-track-leads-signups) (filmed 2026-10-04): Today on Underway I hit a milestone, with Meta ads bringing in ten new sign-ups, and I talked through what that means for the free account flow. I also connected a read-only Meta ads integration so daily spend, reach, and leads show up automatically, and founders will be able to connect theirs too while the review is open. I started thinking about how the free three-episode trial can build a habit of documenting regularly, and left milestone alerts for sign-ups and payments for another episode. - [Episode 60: Cost per lead at $36, and signups who never start](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-60-cost-per-lead-36) (filmed 2026-10-05): I went through the Underway ad campaigns and the signup dashboard, where cost per lead is running between $3 and $36. 23 people have signed up in the last 30 days, only about eight got into the app, and just one has made their Episode Zero. I've already cut the email code step so people land straight in the app, and now I'm asking whether to strip out buttons and point everyone at that first episode. For now I'm treating it as data collection and keeping the ads running. - [Episode 61: AI influencer videos to market an app: what mine look like](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-61-ai-influencer-videos-to-market-app) (filmed 2026-10-06): I made a set of AI influencer videos to market Underway, avatars of the kind of people I can picture using it. They're going out on a separate Instagram and YouTube, away from my personal profiles, because the people who follow me there aren't the crowd I need. I also added an assets section next to the Vault in Underway, so promotional material sits alongside the episodes, and my Grok bot will post one of those videos a day to the new account. Then I walked through the directory, the Building Underway profile, the seasons, the roundups and the podcasts. - [Episode 62: How I built a cold outreach tool with Claude Code](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-62-how-i-built-cold-outreach-tool-claude-code) (filmed 2026-10-06): I walked through the outreach screen I've built for Underway, which searches four signals to find founders, prepares a personalised page for each one and drafts the email. Today's run did 19 searches, found 33 new people and kept two, which I've asked Claude about because I want them all. I showed the page and email prepared for Ryan O'Hara at PitchFire, and I still want to take links out of the first email, add a four or five email sequence that stops on reply, and go omni-channel with LinkedIn and X. On signups, 25 people have signed up over the last seven days and 11 have got into the app, and five opened episode zero. - [Episode 63: Why users sign up but don't use the app: I tested mine](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-63-why-users-sign-up-but-dont-use-app) (filmed 2026-10-07): I went through the Underway signup funnel properly for the first time, after seeing that the signups coming in overnight from our ads were all getting stuck early in the app. Last time I tested it I only left my email and had a quick browse, so I missed it. Looking at it on mobile, as someone who has just clicked an ad and doesn't know what Underway is, it's overwhelming. I'm spending time now hiding things like connections away to simplify it, and we also started X ads today. - [Episode 64: What X ads cost per click: $2.50 and 198 clicks](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-64-what-x-ads-cost-per-click) (filmed 2026-10-08): I went through the X ads I'm running for Underway, where the current offer is join for free and get free episodes, and I think that might be the worst decision I've made. The video campaign did around 105,000 impressions with about $500 spent and 198 clicks at roughly $2.50 a click, but free signups bring in people with no skin in the game. The plan now is to build an audience from everyone who watches the video, then retarget them two ways: one asking for the email, one sending them straight to buy. Next I'll walk through the current flow from seeing the ad to using the app as a free member. - [Episode 65: Facebook ad to app signup flow, start to finish](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-65-facebook-ad-to-app-signup-flow) (filmed 2026-10-08): I walked through the whole Underway journey end to end, from the Facebook ad to the free signup, covering the landing page, leaving an email, and what you get as a free user. I showed the step one setup, the talk me through it option with Coral, the demo account mirrored from my own, and episode zero as a free practice recording. Along the way I hit a couple of bugs, including Coral referencing something I had not said and the practice recording jumping straight into video instead of offering audio. The experience itself I think is pretty much there, the bugs are on my list. - [Episode 66: YouTube title SEO written from your transcript](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-66-youtube-title-seo-written-transcript) (filmed 2026-10-09): I added YouTube video title SEO and auto-generated thumbnails to Underway, along with an intro buildup that pulls a segment from the episode to the front as a teaser. The titles are pulled from the transcript and shaped for search on each platform, and for high level members the thumbnails are generated from frames of my face. The context tab is now pulling in Google Search Console data on how people are finding episodes, with YouTube analytics still to come. The Vault took a while to load and there's a bug in the buildup I still need to look into, and I'm building all this while waiting for customers to pay. - [Episode 67: Sending Meta ads to a buy page instead of a free funnel](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-67-sending-meta-ads-to-buy-page-instead-free) (filmed 2026-10-09): I walked through Underway's Promote tab, which scans YouTube using your ICP and suggests a day in the life of a startup video I could film and rank for, plus a walkthrough it thinks will rank. I showed the marketing assets library, the ad answers tool that clips question answers into ads, and the reach numbers it pulls from the networks. I also messaged my Facebook ads guy yesterday to keep testing the free funnel but start sending traffic to a landing page to buy. The new website is up with the Steve Jobs video at the top, and the videos to film page is still quite hard to read, so I need to look at it again. - [Episode 68: Watch me work](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-68-watch-me-work) (filmed 2026-10-09) - [Episode 69: What an agentic Facebook ads agency actually does](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-69-what-agentic-facebook-ads-agency-actually) (filmed 2026-10-10): I talked through switching Underway's ads from sending people to a free signup toward a paid landing page instead. I woke up asking whether I'm failing at this and whether I should have paying clients by now, with ads running on X and Meta and no customers. On Thursday I asked Garrett at Graft, who runs the agentic Facebook ads, about sending paid traffic to a page that converts people to a paid account, because I'd rather have one paying client than 30 people joining for free and dropping out. The landing page is built, with a founding offer at $79 and the $29 membership. - [Episode 70: Why I post AI content to a new Instagram, not my main](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-70-why-i-post-ai-content-to-new-instagram) (filmed 2026-10-11): I created a second Instagram account, @underway.life, for faceless AI content, and I post the AI-made Shorts there before they go to my own profile, @underwayrich. My own followers aren't Underway specific, so I'm betting the algorithm will find the pocket of people who actually want this content on a fresh account, and posting to mine first would make the new account's posts count as copied content. One of the videos got 254 viewers yesterday, more than some of my own get. I also showed a video I didn't give the idea for, about a man taking over his dad's 30 year old bakery with no documentation behind it. - [Episode 71: Coding time lapse with flags to jump to milestones](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-71-coding-time-lapse-flags-to-jump-to-milestones) (filmed 2026-10-12): I recorded my first proper Watch Me Work episode of Underway, a screen time lapse of me coding with Claude that I can speed up and pause to talk over. I added flags so I can mark milestones and jump back to them later, and used one to explain four things Claude was about to build: turning episode pages into articles, a marketing brief generator pulling from connected tools like Google Calendar and GitHub, an AI answers feature that checks how often Underway gets named by ChatGPT and Claude versus competitors like Descript and Buffer, and a today's progress feature I'll show in a later episode. Right now it's just the plan, none of it is built yet. - [Episode 72: How to screen record only one tab (for SEO traffic)](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-72-how-to-screen-record-only-one-tab) (filmed 2026-10-13): I walked through Underway's "what's worth doing now" section on the Today page, which scans my website and GitHub and suggested filming "how to screen record only one tab" to sit alongside the article I already have up, with a one-click handoff into filming the walkthrough. I also mention we got our first customer yesterday after switching the ads from join for free to entering card details with 14 days free. The hover highlight on that screen isn't working, so the black panels are hard to read, and I'm going to fix that next. - [Episode 73: Getting found in AI search terms](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-73-getting-found-ai-search-terms) (filmed 2026-10-13): I walked through Underway's Found in AI Answers tool, which checks the questions buyers ask ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini with web search on and reports whether the answers name you, cite your page or name a competitor instead. This week I'm named in 1 of 17 answers, cited by ChatGPT for a question about a tool that interviews you by voice and turns the answers into a podcast episode. Nine of the searches name someone else, and for each one the tool gives me a question to say out loud and answer on camera, then publishes the answer on my own site under that heading. I haven't filmed those answers yet. - [Episode 74: Writing a marketing brief with AI](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-74-writing-marketing-brief-ai) (filmed 2026-10-13): I ran Underway's marketing brief tool on Underway itself and walked through what it produced. It read my site, 537 shipped changes from GitHub, 10 episodes for how I sound and 18 searches, then came back in about four minutes with who it's for, positioning, messaging, where to spend effort and a next 30 days list of 16 things I can tick off. The audience sections matched what I already believed, solo founders who stopped because of the camera or the edit, and makers outside software. Search is the slow part: 309 impressions, four clicks, nothing on page one yet, and the 59 retitled articles need months. - [Episode 75: Dealing with a difficult client and a smelly dog at work](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-75-dealing-difficult-client-smelly-dog-work) (filmed 2026-10-14): Underway has two signups now, both on a 14 day free trial after entering their card details. I talk through why asking for a card up front feels better than the no-card free trials I was running before: the people who sign up have more skin in the game. We will see over the next 14 days whether they convert to paying. Blue the dog makes an appearance. - [Episode 76: How to document your creative process without editing](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-76-how-to-document-creative-process-without-editing) (filmed 2026-10-15): I walked through Underway, the tool I built for documenting a creative process without having to edit footage. I showed episode zero, where you set the foundation by talking with an AI co-host over video or audio, and the Connections page where I'm connected to fourteen of thirty-two tools including GitHub, Vercel, Shopify and Patreon. That context gets pulled into the Underway brain and turned into episode suggestions on the Today page, like the free sign-up campaign and the two trial signups. Everything stays private until you choose to make it public, which takes one click. - [Episode 77: Documenting the moment a first customer signs up](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-77-documenting-moment-first-customer-signs-up) (filmed 2026-10-16): Underway got its first paying customer today, a $29.99 sign-up from a complete stranger. The email came through attached to a business address, and the job role is exactly the kind of person I built this for. He skipped the trial and paid straight away, while a handful of other people are coming through on trial with their cards in. I started documenting from the beginning so I'd have moments like this on record. - [Episode 78: Build in public straight from your commits, no scripting](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-78-build-public-straight-commits) (filmed 2026-10-17): I demo Underway, the tool I built to turn my commits and standups into a build in public video update. It connects to 14 tools, had read 76 GitHub items that day, and on the Today page showed 15 suggested questions split into new topics, open threads, story needs next and walkthroughs. I also cover what else it reads, inbox, Search Console, Meta Ads, YouTube and Google Analytics, and the fact that the host prompts you but the voice stays yours. Finished episodes land in a private vault, and from there you can post to social, YouTube or the public Underway directory. - [Episode 79: What it feels like giving a first refund](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-79-what-it-feels-like-giving-first-refund) (filmed 2026-10-17): I refunded a second Underway customer who paid when the ads only point to a seven-day free trial, bringing revenue down from $60 to $29. The same day we had seven free trial signups with cards attached, plus three more whose cards failed and didn't try again. I called Dr Luke, one of the trial users, walked him through Underway and asked what he saw in the ad, and another trial customer asked for an Upwork connection, which I'm building now. Right now the feedback matters more to me than the money. - [Episode 80: Getting started on underway: a live walk-through](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-80-getting-started-underway) (filmed 2026-10-18): I recorded an app walkthrough tutorial of Underway's onboarding, from signing in to episode zero, after one of the people who joined asked for exactly that. I go through each step on screen: naming the series, how the marketing brief gets written from your site and social profiles, the three ways to look around the app, connecting tools like GitHub and Stripe, and the questions episode zero offers to ask you. I skipped the Google Search Console and Analytics connections to do later, and I explain why episode zero stays private until you choose to publish. - [Episode 81: Finding ideal customers for a daily build-in-public tool](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-81-finding-ideal-customers-daily-build-in-public-tool) (filmed 2026-10-18): I walked through Underway's Conversations feature, which searches X, LinkedIn, Reddit, Threads and Hacker News each day for people describing the problem I solve. I ran it live on screen: X came back with 28 to read, Reddit 33, LinkedIn 13, and replies written for 15 of 43 posts. One Threads result looked like a competitor, and 13 posts on X were read and passed over. Each result comes with the link to the post, the context, how it was found and what you could say, and nothing is posted for you. - [Episode 82: What is the best build in public app?](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-82-what-best-build-public-app) (filmed 2026-10-19): I made the case for Underway, the build in public app at underway.life that interviews me and turns my answers into an edited episode. Its context tab is the brain behind this, connected to Google Calendar, my inbox, GitHub, Whop, Analytics, Search Console, Meta Ads, Slack, YouTube and LinkedIn, and today it collected 88 things from 16 sources. That context lets it ask me questions and produce episodes with B-roll, intros, outros and branding. Episodes are numbered as a series, so missing a day or a week does not break the run. - [Episode 83: Milestones checklist for a startup build](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-83-milestones-checklist-startup-build) (filmed 2026-10-19): I went through Underway's Google Search Console and noticed feed on camera: 82 episodes, 35,000 followers, 477 Google impressions in the past 28 days, and zero searches on page one so far. The milestones I had been waiting on have started landing, including 10 people on a free trial with their card in, site visits up from 518 to 893, and the first payment. My goal for this series was 10 paying users and we are close, though AI answers citing the site have gone down, which I am leaving for another day. - [Episode 84: AI clone of a founder for building in public](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-84-ai-clone-founder-building-public) (filmed 2026-10-20): I tested an AI clone of myself and worked out where it fits in Underway. The clone was close enough that my fiancée said it was me, but I decided I won't use it to record episodes, because the whole point of documenting is that it's me telling the truth about the day. Instead I'm adding it to the Promote side, so after ten recorded episodes you can set up your clone to research your market and make ads and short form content with the right hooks. I also showed the three agents I have running, Steve, Moss and Priya, posting Monday, Wednesday and Friday, and Steve's latest clip, which is short but looks cinematic now. - [Episode 85: Card on file trials: checking who has recorded anything yet](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-85-card-file-trials) (filmed 2026-10-20): I planned to check in on the ten trials of my app that have payment cards attached, looking at how many had opened the app or recorded content and which founders I'd spoken with beyond Dr Luke. The conversation didn't get that far: I pushed back on how my co-host framed the question, then mentioned hearing three loud beeps during the call that it couldn't hear on its end. We ended with my co-host suggesting we go back to the trials, so where those ten actually stand is still open. - [Episode 86: Brand positioning: did I get it all wrong](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-86-brand-positioning) (filmed 2026-10-21): I talked through whether to use a Trojan horse marketing strategy to get business owners onto Underway instead of my current day-one positioning. Ryan, a business owner in California, signed up because he was starting an animation project, then asked if he could use Underway for his more established business, and that question made me rethink things. I'm getting plenty of landing page views from my Meta and X ads but losing money every day on them. I'm now considering testing a different angle with mature business owners, built around taking the content process off their hands, and nothing is decided yet. - [Episode 87: Changing who a startup markets to mid build](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-87-changing-who-startup-markets-to-mid-build) (filmed 2026-10-22): I built two new landing pages for Underway, one for business owners and one for companies with large teams, and gave the teams page a book a call funnel. The positioning shifted from catching people on day one of a project to catching people who regret the days they already missed. The teams page uses a big yellow book a call button because a company with lots of employees is unlikely to just sign up and pay, so I can onboard them properly on a call. The idea came from jamming with my friend Brandon, who runs an AI agency and signed up to Underway himself. - [Episode 88: Getting first users: 10 trials and what the calls taught me](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-88-getting-first-users) (filmed 2026-10-20): I hit my season one goal on Underway: 10 genuine trial users signed up, though none have converted to paying customers yet. I've started calling early users directly, including one tonight with Ryan, who owns a large clothing brand, to hear how they're using it before inviting any of them onto a podcast episode. One user's real application actually led me to change the codebase for him, and I'm now thinking about running regular Monday, Wednesday and Friday community calls as the user base grows. - [Episode 89: Meta ads setup for more app sign ups](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-89-meta-ads-setup-more-app-sign-ups) (filmed 2026-10-23): Underway hit 20 signups, and I'm testing an AI background changer for a new studio setup. I talk about how the signups feel compared to my first big sales back when I started in sales, and why I'm documenting it to see where I am in a year's time. I'm also recording this one sitting in front of a plain wall in my kitchen that gets filled in with a background, after seeing a few people on X post videos doing the same. I don't know yet how it will come out. - [Episode 90: Train Your AI Clone to Make Money](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-90-train-ai-clone-to-make-money) (filmed 2026-10-24): I trained my AI clone inside Underway for marketing by recording the three short clips it asks for: sat and talking, up close, and walking with my phone. I turned the voice recording off because Underway already has plenty of my voice from the episodes I've made, so it defaults to that. The walking clip was still saving when I stopped, so how the clone actually looks and how I use it to write scripts and market will be part two. - [Episode 91: Train Your Ai Clone To Make Money: part 2](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-91-train-ai-clone-to-make-money) (filmed 2026-10-24): I rebuilt my AI clone in Underway from three short phone recordings, then used it to set up a 12 to 15 second ad. I played back the clone video from last time, which I'd be happy to run as an ad even though the pacing at the end is off, and showed earlier attempts where the face and lighting were wrong. The model finished building while I talked through how the ads get researched and written, and the new ad I queued was still at 0% when I stopped. - [Episode 92: People pay more than you think to fix a problem](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-92-people-pay-more-than-you-think-to-fix) (filmed 2026-10-26): I changed the positioning of Underway from day-one urgency to the pain of not having posted content for years, and raised the cheapest plan from a 14-day trial at $29.99 to a seven-day trial at $129.99. Signups came in faster and the cost to acquire each one dropped a lot. That lets me start working out CAC, margins and recurring revenue, which matters after the Anthropic bill gave me a scare. I'll go through the ads I crafted in another episode. - [Episode 93: How to Get Trials to Pay (It's Not Features)](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-93-how-to-get-trials-to-pay) (filmed 2026-10-27): I cut the free trial on Underway from fourteen days to seven without changing a single feature. Talking to customers on the $29.99 plan with fourteen days and customers on the $129.99 plan with seven days, it was clear they don't care how many free days they get. What they care about is that the product delivers exactly the outcome the ad promised, so the work now is congruency between the ad, the landing page, the branding and the product itself. The shorter trial stands. - [Episode 94: What Happens When 4 AI Agents Run Your Business](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-94-what-happens-when-4-ai-agents-run-business) (filmed 2026-10-27): I walked through how Underway Producer helps get my videos seen, alongside three other AI agents: Director, Writer and Bookkeeper. Producer reads my market on YouTube once a week and writes the hook, five titles and the sections. Director learns from each episode I make, and Writer publishes a search article per episode and checks whether ChatGPT, Claude and Gemini mention me. Bookkeeper showed the month so far: money in against 2,716 out, mostly Meta ads, with one payment refunded. - [Episode 95: Posting Is Hard Until an AI Agent Directs You](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-95-posting-hard-until-ai-agent-directs-you) (filmed 2026-10-28): Underway Producer is the AI video director I built that picks up what I'm filming, sets me up and directs me through each take out loud. It connects to my email, GitHub, Linear and Vercel, so the agent speaking to me knows what my day held. Each take comes out as a fully edited long episode with captions, shorts and clips, thumbnails, the copywriting for every social post, an SEO article, and it posts to all my channels in the right format. I filmed alone for years with no plan and bad lighting, and most of that footage never left my camera phone. - [Episode 96: SaaS pricing for a higher tier, nearing 10 paying customers](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-96-saas-pricing-higher-tier) (filmed 2026-10-29): I talked through how I'm pricing Underway's next tier while closing in on the goal of 10 paying customers I set when series one opened. There are somewhere around 15 to 20 people on trial and very few have cancelled, and most signups are now on the $129.99 plan with a seven day free trial, even though people close to me still say they don't quite grasp what Underway does. I'm also in the early stages of a higher-priced membership that acts like a director and producer in your pocket: it researches your niche, brings you video ideas when you say you're ready to film, and talks you through the recording section by section. I'm using it on myself while I build it. - [Episode 97: How to Plan a YouTube Video With AI (Titles, Hook, Sections)](https://underway.life/series/underwayrich/episode-97-how-to-plan-youtube-video-ai) (filmed 2026-10-29): I planned a YouTube video with AI by talking to Bert, the director inside Underway, live on camera. Bert offered three ideas, then found the feature videos in my vault, and we picked Motion Graphics, A Pro Edit Without the Editor to remake with me as the hook and narration. It wrote five title options, I chose Motion Graphics and B-roll Without an Editor, and it broke the video into six sections to film one at a time. I stopped at the set up your shot screen, so part two is where I film it. Made with underway (https://underway.life): talk for 3 minutes, get a week of content.