Rune Westenberg

We underestimated how much work it would be to script and train voice agents that match our brand tone. Out of the box, the AI feels generic and occasionally too formal. With enough iteration it gets better, but this is not a turn-on-and-forget product. Expect to invest time to get the most out of it.

I use the 'CC' (cloud) version, not Classic. Being able to start an edit on my iPad Pro and finish it on my Mac is freedom. The interface is modern and less intimidating than Classic. However, it lacks some of the deep export options and plugin support of the Classic version. If you just want to edit photos and have them everywhere, it's perfect.

Basecamp is opinionated software, and I love its opinions. It groups everything—chat, files, tasks, schedule—by project. No more hunting through Slack and Drive. The flat pricing is amazing for our growing team; we don't worry about seat costs. It reduces anxiety and notification overload significantly.

Prophet is great for a first pass, but it struggles with highly irregular time series or when external regressors have a complex relationship with the target. I found I had to move to more traditional models like ARIMA or deep learning models (LSTMs) for higher accuracy on our core business metrics. It's a great tool in the toolbox, but not the only one.

The productivity gain is undeniable. However, I find myself thinking less about the 'why' behind the code and just accepting suggestions. It's a crutch. A very, very useful crutch, but still a crutch. I worry about junior developers learning with this, as they might not build the same fundamental problem-solving skills.

It's incredible that this is free. I started my podcast with zero budget, and Spotify for Podcasters (formerly Anchor) gave me unlimited hosting and easy distribution to all platforms. The analytics are actually really detailed, showing exactly where listeners drop off. The mobile app lets me record on the go, which is handy for quick updates.

The Starter plan is the perfect entry point. The email templates, tracking, and meeting scheduler save our reps hours every week. Being able to build simple email sequences has automated our follow-up process. It's an incredible value for the price and has paid for itself many times over.

If you're still using VLOOKUP, you're living in the past. The modern array functions like XLOOKUP, FILTER, and UNIQUE make Excel feel like a new piece of software. It's incredibly robust for financial modeling. The subscription model ensures I always have the latest features, which I actually appreciate now.