Fire Your Production Team
Before you get started you can do all of this for nearly $0, but you’ll probably burnout quicker than the time it takes to read this post.
The $75 “Army of One” Tech Stack
TL;DR: You don’t need a team. You need a system. This is the exact “lean stack” running the VengaDragon operation right now. It costs less than $75/month, replaces a production crew, and is the only reason I am not currently burning out.
The Philosophy: Restraint is Speed
The amateur creator chases every shiny new AI tool that drops on X. They spend 80% of their week “testing” workflows and 20% actually building.
We reject that.
The VengaDragon tech stack is ruthless. If a tool does not directly buy me back time or make me money, it gets fired. We don’t collect subscriptions. We build infrastructure. The goal isn’t to be “tech-savvy.” The goal is to produce the output of a 5-person agency while living a quiet life in Spain.
If I were forced to strip everything down to zero (if the bank accounts froze and I had to restart with nothing but grit) I would keep only The Big Three.
The Survival Kit (The Big Three)
These are non-negotiable. You can start here for free, or very cheap, and still out-execute 90% of the internet.
OBS Studio (The Broadcaster): This is the engine. It is free, open-source, and powers everything from simple screen records to complex live streams. It is the raw capture tool that proves you are in the arena, not just writing about it.
Gemini (The Brain): My strategic partner. I don’t use AI to “write” for me. I use it to think with me. It handles the pattern recognition, the data sifting, and the structure. It allows me to move at the speed of thought.
Canva (The Visuals): The days of needing Photoshop are over for 99% of us. Canva provides a complete lean design stack with templates and images. It is how we ensure the brand looks professional without spending four hours on a thumbnail.
You can run a business on just these three. But you will eventually hit a wall: Time.
The Cost of Speed
Free is good. Fast is better.
At a certain point, “doing it all yourself” becomes a liability. You start trading sleep for editing. You stop marketing because you’re too busy cutting clips. That is the death spiral.
To escape it, I pay a “Speed Tax.” It costs me roughly $75/month. In exchange, I get the output of an entire production team.
This is where we leave the amateurs behind.
Ready to build your own machine?
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