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Personal Digital Estate

ADR-0003 · Strategist Investment Path

We evaluated three investment paths — Builder (€14-17/mo, max DIY), Operator (€50-65/mo, max managed services), and Strategist (€25-35/mo, DIY infra + premium AI). We chose Strategist.

The deciding factors: Francois values outcomes (“the WHAT, not the HOW”) but also enjoys infrastructure work as a learning investment. The key insight is that OpenRouter’s pay-per-token model naturally scales with motivation — €0 in lazy months, €15-25 in active months. The extra spend vs Builder goes entirely to AI quality, which has the highest ROI: premium models produce better article drafts, deeper research, and more nuanced strategic reasoning, saving 1-2 hours per task that would be spent compensating for weak free model output.

Considered Options

Section titled “Considered Options”
  • Builder (€14-17/mo): Maximum learning, minimum spend. Rejected because: free AI models produce mediocre drafts requiring heavy manual rework, reducing output velocity when motivation is high.
  • Operator (€50-65/mo): Maximum output, managed everything. Rejected because: pays €20/mo subscription even in lazy months, introduces managed service dependencies, and skips the infrastructure learning that Francois values.
  • Strategist (€25-35/mo): DIY infra (one-time learning investment) + variable premium AI budget. Chosen because: best balance of learning + output, variable cost matches variable energy, and the €10-15 premium AI investment returns 4-6x in time saved.