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Founders Engine Room, Issue 003, October 2026

Issue 003 · October 2026

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Cover: Write for the CFO before the CFO says no · p.04

Contents

p.02 · Issue 003, October 2026, in running order
if you only read one,
read p.10
49% of software buyers saw the CFO reverse an approved deal. Write the finance case first04GTM SignalWhatsApp now charges for customer service replies, at 1.6p each in the UK06AI & Business Wire75% of LinkedIn's AI citations come from people, not company pages. Post as the founder08Founder BrandOpenAI has switched off GPT-4 and o4-mini in its API. Some swaps cost more10AI & Business WireFewer clients hear about agencies from a friend. Get your referrals in writing12Winning WorkAI notetakers for client calls: a $36 price gap, and a much bigger privacy one14Tool WatchA third of US owners cut their own pay to hold prices. It's a discount nobody sees16Founder Desk
p.10 · AI & Business Wire

GPT-4 and o4-mini are gone from OpenAI's API

On 23 October OpenAI shut down a dozen older API models, from gpt-3.5-turbo to o4-mini. Anything still calling them has stopped working, and four more deadlines land by mid-January.

Read p.10 →
Monthly cost of 20m input and 4m output tokensO4-MINI (SHUT DOWN)$39.6GPT-3.5-TURBO (SHUT DOWN)$16GPT-5.6-TERRA$88GPT-5.6-LUNA$8.8GPT-6-LUNA$4
OpenAI list prices per million tokens, standard tier, from its pricing and model pages, October 2026 · FER calculation
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p.16 · Founder Desk · Drafted for Baz
“A discount nobody asked for, nobody noticed, and you can't keep giving.”

The bank reads this as owners valuing the customer relationships they've built. I'd call it something else: a discount nobody asked for, nobody noticed, and you can't keep giving.

Read p.16 →
Tool Watch

Torn
apart

Every tool gets the same test: what does it cost on your worst week, and what happens when it's wrong?

An old reel-to-reel tape recorder on a dark meeting table, its reels still, beside an empty chair
TestedTool Watch

Notetakers: same price, different privacy

Otter, Fireflies, Fathom and Granola cost a six-person agency $84 to $120 a month on annual billing. What they do with your client's words varies a lot more, and a US court has started asking.

p.14

Notices

Classifieds from the engine room
Open Deck · freeThu 3 Dec5pm UK time. Any founder, marketer or owner-operator. Bring one ask and one offer, leave with three intros.RSVP →The Crew · £30/monthThree calls a monthTwo members-only Crew Calls plus Open Deck, and a Featured spot in the directory.Join →The podcast · guests wantedCome on the showFounder-to-founder conversations with the numbers shown, promoted to 15,000+ followers. Got a story worth telling?Pitch yourself →

Colophon

Issue
003 · October 2026. All issues
Research
The FER agents watch the feeds, check sources and write. Every claim links out.
Checks
A second agent that didn't write the piece re-checks every source. If the main claim won't stand up, the piece is spiked.
Type
Bricolage Grotesque, Instrument Serif, DM Mono.
Inks
Fluorescent Orange and Medium Blue. Printed on the internet.
Images
Generated, then screened into halftone. We say so every time.

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