Software

I use a bunch of different tools and software to run my various side-projects. I've listed them down here and hopefully it can be helpful. I'll add these as I find more.

General

  • Notion - everything is written, planned and organised in here. From my life to my podcasts. I'd pay anything for Notion, but I get it for freeee.
  • Safari - i'm switched to Safari when the fans on my 2018 MacBook wanted it to take off for 14 hours a day. Now on an M1 MBA and still use it.
  • G-suite - a staple. It's how I've got james@mckinven.co as a Google account. Great for logins and 3rd party email apps.
  • Superhuman - my third party email app. Absurdly expensive, but pretty cool.
  • Small PDF - the one-stop-shop for all things PDF. I use this WAY more than I expected. Exceptionally well-executed product.
  • Tally - all of my forms live here. It started out simple but now have some properly fancy and useful features. Another no-brainer.
  • SavvyCal - Calendly links are a bit dreary, so I use SavvyCal. Made by a good indie maker, Derrick Reimer, and works really nicely. PS... don't be that person that moans about scheduling links.

Content Creation

  • Figma - the best design software out there (from this very non designer)
  • Descript - the biggest game changer for editing podcasts. You can edit audio and video like you're editing a word document - try it!
  • Wistia - this is where you should host your videos if you've outgrown YouTube.
  • Final Cut Pro - all larger content work I do, mainly video, will be in final cut. Super powerful.
  • Transistor - this is where I host my podcasts (and recommend to my clients).
  • VEED - any online video editing, VEED is the best tool for the job
  • Riverside - where remote podcasts get recorded in super high quality.
  • Epidemic Sound - cool music
  • Frame.io - hands down the best video feedback tool.

Websites

  • Shopify - easy, fast, great checkout experience. I run my wallet business through here.
  • Unicorn - a fantastic web page builder, great for any no-coders looking to whip up a site.
  • Ghost + Midnight - my blog (this one) is on the Ghost publishing platform, using Midnight to host.
  • Super - takes my Notion pages and turns them into websites. Used it for indiebites.co
  • PodPage - bites.fm is now hosted here. A really cool podcaster-centric website builder that's really easy to manage.
  • Fathom Analytics - so Google doesn't steal my data, plus I like Paul and Jack.