«From zero» and «from six figures» are equally useless answers. The number comes from specific lines, and the main one is not the one people think of.
The lines
- Accounts. Two to five aged ones to start.
- Proxies. One per account, monthly.
- Software. One month's subscription.
- An AI key. Free options exist for starting out.
- Runway for month two. This is the main line.
Why runway beats the starting sum
Month one goes on warm-up and tests and is almost always a loss — that is normal, not failure. Money arrives in month two, and with hold, month three.
Someone with exactly one month of budget closes down precisely when things start working. It is the most common failure pattern and it is not about skill.
The rule
Starting budget is monthly cost times three. Not because you will spend three times as much, but because you need three months of calm to make decisions on numbers rather than fear.
If times three is impossible, start with a smaller fleet. Two accounts for three months beats ten for one. How the fleet itself is costed is in what an account fleet costs.