Provisions
Recommended.
A short list of what I actually use. Tools, books, people. No affiliate trickery. If it’s on here, it’s because I’d be worse without it.
Tools I use every single day
If I had to pay double, I'd still pay.
- Strategy, writing, multi-step docs. The Cowork desktop client became my command center.AI
- Code, image gen, second opinion. Canvas is criminally underrated for coding.AI
- Parallel engineering when one Claude isn't enough.AI
- The editor I actually open. Composer + tab is the keyboard combo that paid for itself in week one.IDE
- Single source of truth for everything that isn't code. Command Center, sprints, brand guides, opportunity log.OS
- Postgres + auth + storage + edge. The cheapest path from idea to production for a solo.DB
- Deploy on push. Preview URLs. Nothing else gets out of the way like this.Hosting
- DNS, R2, Workers, Pages. The Swiss army knife I forget I'm relying on until I need it.Edge
- Marketing sites for ventures that don't need a dev. Indistinguishable from a polished custom build, in an afternoon.Web
- The newsletter platform I keep coming back to. Sane analytics, no Mailchimp drag.Email
Books that actually changed how I work
Skipping the obvious ones everyone already names.
- Rob Fitzpatrick. The only customer-research book I trust. Re-read every two years.Book
- Nadia Asparouhova. About open source on the surface; really about modern indie reputation.Book
- Where Good Ideas Come FromSteven Johnson. Adjacent possible, slow hunches, exaptation. Frame for spotting evergreen niches.Book
- Free online. The chapters on leverage and specific knowledge earn re-reads.Book
People worth following
Operators, not gurus.
- Public proof you can run a real business from a laptop. No team, no fluff, transparent revenue.Solo
- Builds in public, ships small tools that actually pay. Calm operator energy.Solo
- Bookshelf and essays. The questions list alone is worth a read once a year.Builder
Missing something obvious? Tell me. I update this list whenever I swap a habit.