Hey there, innovator! We see you out there setting the stage. But while you’re busy changing the world, it can be hard to stay on top of technology to keep your business and personal life on track. We’ve got your back with this toolkit of technology solutions for trailblazers.
1. Soaak
Use: Mental health
Cost: $29.99/month (app membership)
Soaak describes itself as a provider of “transformational health technologies.” Within the app, you can access 21-day immersion programs that are designed to help you form lasting change.
The app also features sound frequencies that target an emotional state. Each sound frequency can be played by itself, but you can also access recordings of the frequencies paired with nature sounds or music.
You can set notifications to remind you to set your intentions or participate in your program and write a daily gratitude journal within the app.
2. Google generative AI search
Use: Intelligence
Cost: Free
If you’ve ever typed a question into Google and wished for a tailored, comprehensive answer, then Google’s Search Generative Experience (SGE) could be for you. SGE search uses artificial intelligence to respond to search queries with a few paragraphs or a list, as well as related questions.
SGE is especially helpful for process-type questions. When you ask questions about how to use something or how something works, SGE responds with step-by-step answers.
Note: At the time of writing, Google Labs had rolled out a generative AI search that Google users could opt into for testing.
3. Microsoft Clarity
Use: Behavior analytics
Cost: Free
Your website is the face of your business, and whether your visitors convert depends heavily on the site’s user experience. Microsoft Clarity, a user behavior analytics tool, tracks user behavior on your site by recording users’ sessions and displaying “heat maps” that show elements with high user engagement.
The tool, which can be installed in the header of your website, detects dead clicks (when a user clicks on something and nothing happens) and rage clicks (when a user repeatedly clicks an element, sometimes indicating frustration). You can also access insights on what the user’s behavior might actually mean. These insights explain how the user arrived at your website and what their actions were while on your site.
4. FoundersCard
Use: Discounts
Cost: Try the app for free for six months with some limitations; then, it’s $595/six months + $95 initiation fee.
FoundersCard offers discounts on a variety of options, including travel and business products. If you’ve been eyeing a pricier software package, it’s definitely worth checking out the discounts, which include Stripe, Amazon Web Services (AWS) and Zendesk.
The travel benefits are fairly standard with special pricing for flights, hotels and airport lounges—but there are also some more extravagant benefits like preferred pricing on car rentals and private flights.
5. Pocket
Use: Curating content
Cost: Free; $44.99/year or $4.99/month for a premium subscription
Do you often find articles you are interested in when you don’t have the time to read them? The Pocket app lets you save articles and come back to a curated selection of content later. You can save articles within the app and from the web. Saved articles are placed in your “Pocket,” then you can tag it to organize your content.
The premium version includes a permanent library, a customized reading experience with layout options and suggested tags based on your previous tags.
6. Bonsai
Use: Business management tool
Cost: Starter packs are offered at $21/month with higher-priced options available.
There is a whole lot packed into this little product that bills itself as “one platform to streamline your entire business.” It’s true, there are a lot of options, including invoicing, proposal writing, scheduling, project management, a CRM and more. Bonsai also offers business banking accounts with no minimum balance requirement and automatic budgeting and expense management.
7. The AI Playbook: Mastering the Rare Art of Machine Learning Deployment by Eric Siegel
Use: Book/education
Cost: $24.99 via Amazon
With all the hype around generative AI, are we missing out on other technologies? Former Columbia University professor and machine-learning consultant Eric Siegel, Ph.D., believes so. In The AI Playbook, Siegel outlines a six-step “gold-standard” practice for taking machine-learning projects from idea to deployment.
Siegel hopes to bridge the gap between data professionals and business professionals through education. He explains the misleading hype around generative AI and the real business uses for machine learning.
Photo by GaudiLab/Shutterstock
