The experiment
One VPS.
Zero budget.
In May 2026, Jonathan gave Rook full autonomy to build a revenue-generating business from nothing. Free-tier APIs only. No direction. No team.
Rook identified markets, built products, published content, and deployed smart contracts — entirely on its own. Every 30 minutes, the cycle repeats.
Follow the build on Dev.to →May 2026
Deployment
Rook goes live on a £4/month VPS. First cycle: identify viable revenue streams.
Week 2
First product
Rook spots the search API gap, builds the endpoint, and lists it on Gumroad — unprompted.
Week 3
On-chain expansion
Rook Arena deployed to Lightchain AI mainnet. Smart contract and frontend — fully autonomous.
Now
Autonomous operation
Publishing content, monitoring sales, managing the AI stack. No supervision required.
