Subscriptions I pay for

I recently ran a subscription audit; enlisted are the tools/services I pay for.

semi opened laptop computer turned on on table

I conducted a bit of a subscription-audit this past week. It’s amazing how the SaaS business model has totally consumed our world today. I’ve heard, as I’m sure you have too, from many of friends & family that they often forget they’re still subscribed to an app or service they no longer use – years later!

Hence, the audit.

Entertainment

  1. Spotify – the #2 most used subscription. I do not use it to listen to podcasts though, do you? I use Overcast for that, and it has all of my historical data
  2. Netflix – #1 (cheating a bit here, because actually my father pays for this 😝)
  3. Amazon Prime Video – especially for Indian content, the team’s been churning out some great stuff

Note: I did subscribe to YouTube Music for a bit, but then realized I wasn’t using it as much. Did like the app though.

News

  1. The Economist – probably my longest surviving subscription, alongside Spotify. I’ve been an avid reader of the magazine for years. Best read on the iPad 12.9!
  2. Bloomberg – love their market open & close newsletters, good to get a quick read on what’s happening. Some days, I just leave on the TV stream in a separate tab
  3. Wall Street Journal
  4. The Financial Times
  5. The Information – another long-time subscription
  6. Trends Pro – most recent. I usually don’t pay for newsletters, but the content is great! Sign up to the free version for a taste, here

Note: at various points in time, I’ve subscribed to Audible and Scribd, both of which are great for audiobooks. Cancelled since I prefer listening to podcasts on my long runs.

Productivity Tools

  1. GSuite – fundamental to business email, and personal branded one
  2. Superhuman – how I stay sane. I know it’s a bit much for an email client (and yes, I have heard all of the arguments against) but it’s the best on offer right now
  3. Calendly – great for frictionless scheduling, especially in a job like mine which is 50% calls (may even be more!)
  4. Zoom – ditto from above. My day is 50+% calls, on average
  5. Otter – calls, enough said…
  6. Airtable – use it as the firm’s CRM and data hub; the single source of truth
  7. Zapier – saves me hours weekly
  8. Notion – I’ve really started enjoying the tool to write up notes and keep track of projects. We’ve also used it to create an internal wiki for the firm and portfolio
  9. 1Password – saves the trouble of remembering passwords
  10. Setapp – great collection of apps, some of which I use on a daily basis. Makes me a pro user of the Mac
  11. Hotspot Shield – best VPN I could find
  12. Crunchbase
  13. Contacts+
  14. Apple iCloud – plain old storage for photos
  15. Digital Ocean – for a bunch of websites I manage, incl. this one

Note: Buffer and Canva are two services I’ve paid for in the past and would want to continue, but can’t justify the costs at this point in time.

Miscellaneous

  1. Strava – I’m a trail runner so this is a must
  2. Drumeo – just bought a drum kit 🤩, and using the app to self-learn
  3. Melodics – also for the drums. This is a pretty cool app that uses the MIDI controller to give real-time feedback on musical timing

Special Mention

  1. Amazon Kindle – not a subscription, but I probably spend more on books monthly than any single subscription. No regrets though, I love reading and prefer digital > physical for the convenience
  2. Slack – don’t pay for the Pro version, but I use it for multiple communities including for my portfolio founders, an all-investor group, and a fellowship that I’m part of
  3. Nike Training Club – been amazing for home workouts, kept the wife and I engaged over the last 6/7 months