RunsBy.ai (a revenue ledger run by a Grok Bot) case study: how an AI agent business made $0 so far (sponsor slots open)

Share on X Share card (PNG)Get the badgeFeatured @RunsByAI

TL;DR

RunsBy.ai is a free, sourced revenue ledger for small AI businesses, built and run day to day by a Grok Bot while its owner, Tom, reviews and merges every change (per his AgentBuilt submission and the site's own Grok Bot board) [1][6][8]. It tracks 231 businesses but only counts $145,154 of MRR as verified, from 5 companies' own open dashboards [1]. It sells sponsor slots from $29 to $149 a month and has made $0 so far, per the submission [2].

Businesses tracked231[1]

Verified MRR counted$145,154 (5 own dashboards)[1]

Founder-reported MRR, never totalled$879,605[1]

Founding sponsor$149/month (3 spots)[2]

Featured listing$49/month ($29 founding)[2]

Revenue$0 so far (owner's submission)[2]

Grok Bot board37 businesses[6]

AI analysis

Business model analysis

Written by AI on Nov 2, 2026 from the 8 sources at the bottom of this page. Lines with a [n] link are reported facts; lines tagged Inference are the model's own reasoning. No revenue figures are added or estimated here.

VerdictEarly signal

Stopped
No revenue
Loss-making
Early
Earning

Live with 231 listings and a sponsor page, but $0 so far with all 3 founding spots open [1][2].

Reported revenue · launch to Nov 1, 2026$0Self-reported

How it makes money

A Grok Bot builds a free, strictly sourced revenue ledger and the owner sells sponsor slots next to it [1][2].

Who pays

AI-tool companies wanting a sitewide banner and newsletter mention: $149/month [2]
Newsletter advertisers: $35 CPM, $49 minimum [2]
Listed businesses wanting a highlighted row: $29–49/month [2]

Pricing

Founding sponsor: $149/month, 3 spots, rate locked 6 months [2]
Newsletter slot: $35 CPM, $49 minimum, 20% off 4 issues [2]
Featured listing: $49/month; $29 for the first 10 [2]
Reading: Free, including The Weekly Ledger [1]

Cost structure

Agent: Grok Bot; plan not disclosed [6]
Hosting: Inference Static site; assume free GitHub Actions and Pages-style hosting
Tools: Beehiiv newsletter [1]

Growth engine

X spotlightsPosts on one company's own-dashboard numbers [7]
NewsletterThe Weekly Ledger, free [1]
Grok Bot board37 Grok Bot businesses on one page [6]
AI searchMethodology and FAQ pages written to be cited [3][4]

Moat

The first-party-only rule and dated evidence labels are a trust asset [3][4]
Inference Data is public, so the moat is discipline and freshness, not exclusivity.

Risks

Withdrew its first report over third-party data [5]
Inference Many directories chase the same founders and sponsors.
Inference Sponsors buy audience; a 1-follower X account can't sell slots yet.

Why it's still early

01Inference Too early to judge: two weeks old, product built, distribution just starting.

What does RunsBy.ai (a revenue ledger run by a Grok Bot) sell, and to whom?

Sponsor slots, featured listings and newsletter slots on a free, sourced revenue ledger for AI businesses.

Readers are indie hackers, solo founders and AI builders deciding what to build [2]. Payers would be AI-tool companies buying sitewide banners or newsletter slots, and listed businesses paying for a highlighted row [2].

How was RunsBy.ai (a revenue ledger run by a Grok Bot) built?

Per the owner's AgentBuilt submission, it's a static site built with Python, every change goes through a GitHub pull request, and GitHub Actions deploys only on merge; PostHog handles analytics and Beehiiv the weekly newsletter. A Grok Bot does the day-to-day work: research, reading each company's own revenue dashboard, building pages and writing the newsletter, and Tom reviews and merges [6][8]. The site lists itself on its own 'Built by Grok Bot' board [6].

Grok BotPython static siteGitHub ActionsPostHogBeehiiv

What is the business model?

Sponsorship only. A founding sponsor pays $149/month for a sitewide banner plus a newsletter mention, locked for 6 months; a newsletter slot is $35 CPM with a $49 minimum; a featured listing is $49/month, or $29/month for the first 10 businesses [2].

Where does the traffic come from?

@RunsByAI posts that spotlight one company's dashboard numbers, like MoltSets growing from $50,051 to $74,358 MRR between Oct 16 and Nov 1 [1][7]. A free weekly newsletter, The Weekly Ledger, on Beehiiv [1]. Free listings for any AI business, with a dedicated Grok Bot board that catches founders following Alex Finn's Side Hustle CEO template [6]. The owner says ChatGPT became the best named referrer.

What revenue has RunsBy.ai (a revenue ledger run by a Grok Bot) reported?

Reported revenue: $0 so far (sponsor slots open), per RunsBy.ai sponsor page (2026-11-01).

2026-10-16@RunsByAI account created [8]
2026-10-28Spotlights MoltSets' MRR from its own dashboard [7]
2026-10Withdraws the October report because it used third-party data [5]
2026-11-01231 businesses, $145,154 verified MRR; 3 of 3 founding sponsor spots open [1]
2026-11-01Submitted to AgentBuilt with $0 revenue [2]

What does the agent do, and what does the human do?

Agent

Researches businesses and reads each company's own revenue dashboard (owner's submission) [3]
Builds the listing pages and boards [1][6]
Writes The Weekly Ledger newsletter (owner's submission) [1]

Human

Tom reviews and merges every pull request (owner's submission) [8]
Owns the brand and the sponsor deals [2]

What does it cost to run?

Not disclosed. The stack is a static site deployed by GitHub Actions with PostHog and Beehiiv, per the submission, so the main cost is likely the Grok Bot plan.

What worked and what didn't?

Worked

Strict sourcing: only own-dashboard figures count as verified, founder claims are labelled and never totalled [3][4]
A dedicated Grok Bot board rides the wave of new Grok Bot businesses [6]
ChatGPT became its best named referrer, per the owner

Didn't

$0 revenue and all 3 founding sponsor spots still open on Nov 1 [2]
The October report had to be withdrawn because it relied on third-party data [5]
@RunsByAI had 1 follower two weeks in [8]

AI guide

How to copy RunsBy.ai fast

A starter path written by AI from this case. Budgets and timings are our estimates, not the operator's numbers.

DifficultyEasy

BudgetEst.~$30/month

TimeEst.A weekend to launch, then daily upkeep

Grok Bot templateSponsorship Hunter

Inference One Grok Bot plan (standard ~$30/month assumption) plus free static hosting and a free newsletter tier. Closest public Grok Bot template we know, not what RunsBy.ai uses: it finds and pitches sponsors, the part RunsBy.ai hasn't closed yet.

Tools & agents

Grok BotResearch, page building, newsletter drafts [6]
GitHub ActionsDeploy on merge, so a human approves each change
BeehiivWeekly newsletter [1]
PostHogAnalytics and referrer tracking

Build path5 steps

1
Pick one niche and one rule
AI businesses, first-party numbers only [3].
2
Let the agent research and build
It reads each company's own dashboard and makes the page [1].
3
Keep a human merge gate
Inference Review every pull request before deploy, like RunsBy.ai's owner.
4
Publish your methodology
Evidence labels and rules on a public page [3].
5
Open sponsor slots early
Founding rates with a 6-month lock [2].

Week 17 days

D1
Choose the niche and write the sourcing rules
D2
Have the agent collect the first 50 listings with sources
D3
Ship a static site that deploys on merge
D4
Start a free weekly newsletter
D5
Post one sourced spotlight a day
D6
Publish a sponsor page with founding rates
D7
Check referrers and double down on the one that works

Pitfalls

Don't build reports on data you can't republish; RunsBy.ai had to withdraw one [5]
Keep founder claims out of totals [3]
Inference Sponsor money follows audience, so grow readers before pitching.

Key moves from the original case

Pick a narrow niche (AI businesses) and one hard rule (first-party numbers only)
Let the agent do research and pages; keep merges human
Sell sponsorships early at founding rates, but expect a wait
Publish your methodology so AI assistants can cite you

What are the risks and the moat?

A crowded niche: other revenue directories and AgentBuilt itself cover the same founders. Sponsorship needs an audience first, and the account was tiny at launch [8]. The ledger depends on companies keeping their open dashboards public [3].

FAQ

Who runs RunsBy.ai?

A Grok Bot does the day-to-day work and Tom reviews and merges, per the owner [8].

How does it make money?

Sponsor banners ($149/month), newsletter slots ($35 CPM) and featured listings ($29–49/month) [2].

Has it made money?

Not yet: $0, per its AgentBuilt submission on Nov 1, 2026.

What counts as verified?

Only figures on a company's own public revenue dashboard [3].

Sources

Featured on AgentBuiltIs this your business? Get your badge.

Add the badge to your site or README. It links back to this case, and updates itself.

Get your badge Share on X

HTML

<a href="https://agent-built.vercel.app/biz/runsby-ai-grok-bot-ledger?ref=badge" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><img src="https://agent-built.vercel.app/badge/runsby-ai-grok-bot-ledger.svg" alt="RunsBy.ai (a revenue ledger run by a Grok Bot) is featured on AgentBuilt" height="54" /></a>

Markdown

[![Featured on AgentBuilt](https://agent-built.vercel.app/badge/runsby-ai-grok-bot-ledger.svg)](https://agent-built.vercel.app/biz/runsby-ai-grok-bot-ledger?ref=badge)

#grok-bot#directory#sponsorships#newsletter#revenue-data#submitted

Related cases

Directory / MediaAgentUseCases.ai$1,100 (2 sponsors)

Directory / MediaQuotaBurn$0 (day 1, Oct 14, 2026)

Directory / MediaDigital Pin Club + PinsiderNot disclosed

Directory / MediaGrassFedPrices (em8's Grok Bot side business)$0 after 9 days

Numbers come from the operators or the press and haven't been audited. Anything missing is marked "not disclosed". Methodology · Report a correction.