Free AI is bleeding your time. In this Fargo Walks episode Jeff Fargo says free is the reason, because it costs you the one thing you cannot buy back. His fix: pay for it, then make it earn the money back.
Why does free AI cost you?
Time. The clip's description puts it plainly: “It costs you the one thing you cannot buy back.” In Jeff's words, paying for it “gives you your time back.”
How much should you pay?
At least 20 dollars a month. The clip's description goes further: “If your business runs on it, 100 to 200.” Jeff's spoken advice is to pay for it as much as you can afford.
How do you make the AI earn it back?
Ask it. The clip gives the question: “if I make this investment in you, how do I get it back? How are you going to help me meet and exceed what I am paying you?”
How do you keep up with what your AI can do?
Follow your AI company on X. The clip names Claude, Claude Devs, OpenAI and ChatGPT, and says to turn on notifications. When they drop something new, screenshot the announcement, hand it to your AI and ask how to use it in your business.
Related reading: Is ChatGPT Right for You? Ask It Which Version Fits the Task and Your Competition Moves While You Sleep. ChatGPT's Dot Watches Them for You.
What this does not mean
It does not mean everyone needs the top tier. The clip sets the floor at 20 dollars a month and puts 100 to 200 on businesses that run on it.
It does not mean paying is the whole job. The clip's point is to make the AI answer for the money: ask how it will meet and exceed what you are paying.
The decision
Pay for your AI, at least 20 dollars a month. Then ask it how it will earn that back. Follow your AI company on X with notifications on, and hand each new announcement to your AI with one question: how do we use this in the business?
Sources
- Fargo Walks, episode 110: Free AI Is Bleeding Your Time. Pay for It Now and Make It Earn Every Dollar Back. Published October 23, 2026. Every claim on this page comes from the clip's title, description and the transcript below. The transcript is the clip's spoken audio, taken from Fargo Factor's transcript file for this episode.
Transcript
Study came out last week. Less than 10% of the population is really using AI or using it to its full potential. So number one, pay for it. It gives you your time back. Pay for it as much as you can afford. Pay for it at least 20 bucks a month, but really like 100 bucks a month or 200 bucks a month if you need it and ask it. If I make this investment with you, how am I going to get it back? How are you going to help me to meet and exceed my investment in you? Pro tip go into X, follow whatever LLM you work with. If it's Claude, do Claude Claude devs or if it's OpenAI with ChatGPT follow them on X, get notifications, whatever. They drop something new. Take a screenshot of that of whatever they've dropped the press release, put it into your LLM and say here, how can we leverage this? I'm Jeff Fargo. I can help you streamline and scale with AI. Go forth.
I'm Jeff Fargo, founder of Fargo Factor. I help businesses streamline and scale with AI. https://www.fargofactor.ai
WHEN THE DECISION MATTERS
Paying for AI and not sure it pays you back?
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