Cancel or Clone — The software renewal audit
Whenever something comes up for renewal, question it. Without exception. Cancel or Clone is a free one-page scorecard from Brad Hart (Optimus, Make More Marbles): for every software renewal and vendor invoice, three questions and a verdict. Keep it, swap it for an AI-native tool at about a tenth of the cost, or clone it with an agent for about a tenth of that again.
Three questions for every invoice
- Is there an AI-native version? Most legacy tools now have a competitor built after the models got good. In the mastermind those priced at about a tenth of the renewal.
- Is the data or API available? If you can get your data out, or the vendor has an API, an agent can roll your own version of the part you actually use, at about a tenth of the AI-native price again.
- Compared to what? Every invoice is a hire you are not making. "Compared to what? Who are you not hiring because of that?" turns a software line item into a staffing decision.
The verdicts
- KEEP — it does a job nothing cheaper does, or the risk of moving is bigger than the invoice.
- SWAP — an AI-native tool does the same job for about a tenth.
- CLONE — the data or API is open and an agent runs the part you use, for about a tenth of that.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is Cancel or Clone?
A one-page software renewal audit. For every renewal or vendor invoice you ask three questions (is there an AI-native version, is the data or API available so an agent can roll our own, and compared to what human hire) and give a verdict: keep, swap, or clone. It comes with a printable scorecard and a copy-paste agent prompt that runs the audit on your whole renewal list.
We need a human in the loop for client data. Doesn't that rule out cloning?
No. Keep the human on the approval step and clone the grunt work. A tax firm in the mastermind dropped a paid agent tool on cost, built the workflow itself, and got a week-long review down to minutes, with a person still signing off.
Isn't building our own version expensive?
Compared to what? The renewal you are about to auto-pay, or the person you are not hiring because of it. In the mastermind, AI-native tools came in at about a tenth of the legacy cost, and rolling your own with an agent at about a tenth of that again. The scorecard makes you write the comparison down before you decide.
We tried automating something and it broke. Why would this be different?
The first version of everything is rough. The audit does not ask you to replace anything on day one; it asks you to score it, pick the smallest clone, and iterate. One business owner took a roughly $6K a month software bill to about zero over two years by chipping away, not overnight.
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