CalWizz Meeting Cost Calculator - Reddit, LinkedIn & Hacker News Posts
Reddit Posts
r/productivity
Title: I built a free calculator to show the actual cost of your meetings (the math is uncomfortable)
Body:
We all know meetings eat up time. But have you ever calculated what they actually cost in dollars?
I built a simple tool: enter the number of attendees, average salary, duration, frequency, and prep time — and it shows you the annual cost.
Some examples that made me uncomfortable:
- A 10-person weekly standup (15 min): $46,875/year
- A 6-person "quick sync" (30 min weekly): $13,650/year
- A 50-person all-hands (1 hr weekly with 15 min prep): $225,000/year
The prep time multiplier is what kills most people. A "1-hour meeting" with 30 minutes of prep per person isn't 6 person-hours, it's 9 person-hours.
The tool: calculator.calwizz.com
What's the most expensive meeting you're stuck in? Curious to hear what numbers you get.
r/projectmanagement
Title: Free tool: Meeting Cost Calculator — helps justify which meetings to cut
Body:
Fellow PMs — how often do you get asked "do we really need this meeting?" without any data to back up the answer?
I built a Meeting Cost Calculator to make the invisible costs of meetings visible. You enter:
- Number of attendees
- Average salary (it defaults to tech industry, but you can adjust)
- Duration
- Frequency (daily/weekly/monthly)
- Prep time per person
It gives you the annual dollar cost of that meeting.
Why this matters for PMs:
1. It helps you push back on low-value meetings with actual numbers
2. It justifies async alternatives (that $15k meeting could be a Loom)
3. The shareable URL lets you send the math directly to stakeholders
When someone sees their "quick weekly sync" costs $18,000/year, they suddenly become more open to alternatives.
Link: calculator.calwizz.com
Free, no signup required. Would love feedback from other PMs on how you'd use something like this.
r/startups
Title: Meetings are your biggest untracked expense — built a free calculator to prove it
Body:
Hot take: Your company would never spend $50k without approval. But you schedule meetings worth exactly that every year with zero oversight.
I'm building CalWizz (calendar analytics for teams) and just shipped a free Meeting Cost Calculator as a standalone tool.
The math is simple but brutal:
- 10 people Ă— $150k salary Ă— 1 hour weekly Ă— 52 weeks = $39,000/year
- Add 15 minutes of prep time each = $48,750/year
That's one meeting. How many recurring meetings does your company have?
The calculator: calculator.calwizz.com
Why I built this:
- Every startup I've been at complains about "too many meetings"
- But no one quantifies it, so nothing changes
- When you show people actual dollars, behavior shifts
5 inputs, instant results, shareable URL (so you can send "here's what that meeting costs" to whoever keeps scheduling them).
Would appreciate any feedback — and curious what numbers your recurring meetings come out to.
LinkedIn Post
Format: Personal post with line breaks for readability
Your company would never spend $50,000 without a budget review.
But I bet you have meetings that cost exactly that — with zero oversight.
Here's the math most companies ignore:
10-person weekly meeting Ă— $150k average salary Ă— 1 hour = $39,000/year
Add 15 minutes of prep time per person?
Now it's $48,750.
For ONE recurring meeting.
The problem is visibility. Meetings don't show up on any P&L. No one tracks them. No one questions them.
We spend weeks evaluating a $10k software purchase. But a meeting that costs 5x that? Just... scheduled.
I built a free tool to change this: the Meeting Cost Calculator.
→ Enter attendees, salary, duration, frequency, prep time
→ Get the real annual cost
→ Share the URL (sometimes a link says more than an email)
Link in comments.
Try it on your most questionable recurring meeting. I promise the number will surprise you.
What's the most expensive meeting on your calendar right now?
#productivity #leadership #meetings #startups #remotework
First comment (post immediately after):
Free tool here: calculator.calwizz.com
No signup required. The URL updates with your numbers so you can share specific meeting costs directly.
Hacker News “Show HN” Post
Title: Show HN: Meeting Cost Calculator – See how much your meetings actually cost
Body:
Hi HN,
I built a simple calculator that shows you the annual cost of any meeting: calculator.calwizz.com
You enter 5 things: attendees, average salary, duration, frequency, and prep time. It outputs the yearly cost in dollars plus some fun comparisons.
Why prep time matters:
Most meeting cost calculations are just (hourly_rate × attendees × duration). But that misses prep — reviewing agendas, context switching, pre-meeting prep work. A "1-hour meeting" with 30 min prep each isn't 6 person-hours, it's 9.
The prep time input is what makes most people uncomfortable when they see their numbers.
Why I built this:
I'm building CalWizz, calendar analytics for teams. This calculator is a free standalone tool that embodies the core problem we're solving: meeting costs are invisible, so no one manages them.
Technical details:
- Static site, no backend (your data stays in the URL)
- Shareable URLs (each calculation generates a unique link)
- Works on mobile
The code is simple — the value is in forcing people to actually run the numbers.
Curious what calculations HN comes up with. I'd bet most recurring meetings at big tech companies cost more than an engineer's annual salary.
Feedback welcome.
Cross-Posting Notes
Timing:
- Reddit: Post during US work hours (9am-12pm ET or 1pm-4pm ET)
- LinkedIn: Tuesday-Thursday, 8am-10am or 5pm-7pm
- Hacker News: Weekday mornings US time (8am-11am ET)
Engagement:
- Reply to every comment in first 2 hours
- On Reddit: upvote/thank people who share their own calculations
- On HN: answer technical questions, stay factual
- On LinkedIn: ask follow-up questions to keep engagement going
Don’t do:
- Don’t cross-post the exact same text (platforms detect this)
- Don’t use link shorteners on Reddit (they get auto-removed)
- Don’t mention “upvote” or ask for votes on any platform
- On HN: Don’t be promotional in comments, stay technical and helpful
Subreddit rules to note:
- r/productivity allows tools if they’re genuinely useful and you engage
- r/startups wants you to disclose if it’s your own product (done in the post)
- r/projectmanagement tends to prefer practical/tactical content