AI agent monetization: what 23 solo founders actually earn
One founder tracked 23 solo founders monetizing AI agents across 14 verticals for nine months: three reached $20K+ MRR, eight sit at $2K–15K, and twelve are below $2K or have stopped. The realistic range given is $5K–50K MRR within 12–18 months, with agent inference costs eating 10–25% of customer revenue at scale. The numbers are self-reported and unaudited, but the distribution itself is the honest part — most agent businesses don't make it past $2K MRR.