Stuff
An assorted collection of things I use and like. I spend a lot of time hyper-optimizing my stuff, so I'm putting this here for other stuff-enjoyers. Includes affiliate links.
Tech Stack
Cool stuff you might not be using already:
- AI Meeting Notes - Granola
- Second brain - Notion
- Calendar - Notion Calendar is great
- Email efficiency 5x - Superhuman
- Productivity maxxing - Wispr Flow
- Perplexity Comet - agentic assistant, marginally better than Chrome
- YouTube Music is better than Spotify & Apple, change my mind
Currently Trying
Cool products I'm experimenting with but haven't fully incorporated yet:
- Dex by Thirdlayer - ai extension done right-ish
- Raycast - launcher/productivity app for Mac
- Beside - interesting call tool
- Antigravity IDE + Claude Code - AI-powered coding
Video Equipment
I've made many YouTube videos. Here's what's served me well:
- Panasonic LUMIX S5II Mirrorless Camera - 24.2MP Full Frame. Expensive, but one-and-done for ~5 years. If you're an amateur, start with your iPhone.
- Rode VideoMic Pro+ - Clip-on microphone for camera. Nice because you don't have to sync audio separately.
- FIFINE USB Studio Recording Microphone (K690) - You don't need a Blue Yeti—it's overrated. This Fifine mic is BETTER and has served me for years.
- iPhone Continuity Camera Mount - Super helpful if you have a MacBook. Improves your webcam without buying a weird Logitech extension.
- K&F Concept Carbon Fiber Tripod - A super stable tripod is well worth it. I used to have a cheap one from Walmart but it was so finnicky.
- Godox SL100D LED Video Light - Lighting is super important. Getting a real light versus those trashy LED panels matters.
- Amazon Basics Light Stand (2-pack) - Very affordable.
- Softbox - Spreads your light evenly.
Tech Gear
- MacBook Pro M2 Max - It's overkill and I genuinely think the MacBook Air is good enough for 90% of people. Next time I'm getting the Air—it's lighter and more portable.
- Keychron K8 Mechanical Keyboard - Great keyboard. A little loud though, so I can't bring it to libraries.
- Logitech Lift Vertical Ergonomic Mouse - Save your hands.
- Sceptre 27-inch Gaming Monitor - Be careful: if you get too big of a monitor with poor resolution, it'll look worse than a smaller monitor with higher res.
Credit Cards & Banking
The ultimate credit card stack.
Business Bank Accounts:
- Mercury - Let me save you some time. 1% off on credit cards. If it's your first company, just open a Mercury account. No wire fees (including international!). Great integrations, bill pay, reimbursements. Deposit $10K and we both get $250.
- For Claisen, we tried Brex and Rho. Liked Rho the most because of the 2% platinum card. Brex rewards aren't great (1000/1500 ratio for flight rewards), so 2% flat is actually better.
Credit Cards:
- Rho Platinum Card (2% flat) - see above
- Amex Business Gold Card - Great opening offer: 200K points for $15K spend in 3 months (~$1,200 statement credit or ~$8,000 if you're a flight maxxer using seats.aero). Plus 4x on top two spend categories (Food, Rideshare, or Online Ads—the real hack for Meta spend!).
- Amex Personal Gold Card - Similar to business gold, but for yourself. ~80K points for $6K in 6 months.
More coming soon...