I keep getting asked about which AI tools are actually useful, especially from friends and family trying to make sense of all the hype. So here's my running list of what's worth checking out right now.
My go-to for first drafts and problem-solving. Free tier works fine, but I spend enough time in it that paying for GPT-4 made sense.
Better at handling longer texts than ChatGPT. Really good at making AI-generated text sound human. The free version is solid.
Runs on your own computer instead of the cloud. Needs decent hardware, but worth it if you care about privacy or need to work offline.
New kid on the block. Has real-time knowledge which is neat, though still finding its groove.
Yeah, you have to use Discord. Yeah, it's weird at first. But it makes the most beautiful images of any AI I've tried. Seriously addictive once you get the hang of it.
Easier to use than Midjourney. Better for realistic stuff. Sometimes that's all you need.
New but promising. Actually follows your prompts without needing to play the "guess what the AI wants" game.
They're doing cool things with video. Type what you want, get a video clip back. Still rough around the edges but wild when it works.
Fast inference, good fine-tuning options. Solid if you're building AI into your apps.
Great for real-time media processing. Their API is actually pleasant to work with.
Makes it dead simple to use open source AI models. Good pricing model too.
Enterprise-focused deployment. Multi-cloud support if that's your thing.
Where you go to find AI models. Massive community. Their Transformers library is everywhere for a reason.
Visual builder for AI workflows. Nice if you want to chain stuff together without coding.
Hosted automation for AI workflows. Set it up once and let it run.
Google's take on AI documents. Good at connecting dots across lots of text.
Writing editor with AI-powered polish. Great checks for brevity, confidence, passive voice, and grammar. Makes final cleanup a breeze.
Here's a workflow I use regularly: I have a custom ChatGPT setup that formats recipes - whether from blog links, text dumps, or just ingredients and a target outcome. ChatGPT does the heavy lifting of structuring everything, but the writing comes out robotic. So I feed that through Claude, telling it specifically to remove the AI voice. Then it's over to Lex for final polish - its checks for brevity, confidence, passive voice, and grammar clean everything up nicely.
Start simple. Get comfortable with one tool before adding others.
Don't pay until you know you'll use it enough.
Everything needs cleanup - these aren't magic.
Save prompts that work well.
For dev stuff, use hosted before self-hosting.
I keep finding new uses for these tools as they evolve. I'll update this when I find something worth adding.
Product teams often talk about being "data-driven" or "customer-obsessed," but the reality is more complex. The best decisions come from weaving together multiple information streams - from raw user feedback to market analysis to internal knowledge. This essay explores how to build and maintain these pipelines, focusing on using them to drive growth throughout the customer lifecycle.
Customer feedback grounds our reality. While it's tempting to rely on analytics and market research, direct customer input remains our most transparent insight into what works and what doesn't. The key is gathering this feedback systematically rather than haphazardly.
Start with consistent customer interviews and usability testing on a regular cadence, not just during new launches. The goal isn't to ask customers what they want (they often don't know), but to understand their workflows, frustrations, and aspirations. The "5 Whys" technique is valuable: when a customer mentions a problem, keep asking "why" until you get to the root cause. What sounds like a request for a specific feature often reveals a deeper need that could be solved in multiple ways.
Beyond direct interviews, customer feedback flows in through support tickets, social media, sales calls, and advisory boards. Good product managers monitor all channels. Great ones build systems to aggregate and analyze feedback, looking for patterns that indicate underlying problems and opportunities.
Customer feedback explains why things happen, while quantitative data shows what's happening at scale. The real power comes from how we collect, connect, and activate this data across tools.
At the core of any modern growth stack sits a Customer Data Platform (CDP) like Segment. It is the essential hub of your data infrastructure. Instead of building one-off integrations between every tool, a CDP:
Captures user behavior and traits from your product
Standardizes this data into consistent formats
It distributes to all your downstream tools
Maintains user identity across platforms
When a user takes an action in your product, that information flows automatically to your analytics, email platform, ad accounts, and other necessary places. More importantly, it ensures everyone works from the same source of truth about user behavior.
Raw event data is just the start. Tools like Hightouch transform this data into useful insights by:
Syncing customer data back to operational tools
Building audience segments based on complex behaviors
Keeping customer data updated across your stack
Enabling two-way data flow between systems
You can identify power users in your data warehouse based on product usage patterns, sync that segment to Braze for targeted communication, and push it to ad platforms for lookalike targeting.
Modern analytics platforms like Amplitude go beyond basic pageview tracking. They help you:
Build and test user behavior
Identify retention-driving features.
Spot friction points in your user flows
Measure impact across customer segments
The key is connecting these insights to action. When you spot a drop in feature adoption, you can quickly run tests to understand why and experiment with solutions.
Marketing automation platforms like Braze and Iterable turn data into conversations. Modern engagement platforms can:
Trigger messages based on real-time behavior
Test different communication strategies
Personalize content based on user attributes
Coordinate messaging across channels
The magic happens when these systems work together. For example:
Segment captures a user completing the onboarding process
Hightouch enriches this data with product usage patterns
Amplitude identifies which onboarding paths lead to better retention
Braze uses this insight to personalize subsequent messaging.
The goal isn't just to collect data – it's to create feedback loops that drive growth. A well-integrated stack helps you:
Test and Learn:
Run controlled experiments across user segments
Measure impact on immediate and long-term metrics
Quickly adapt based on results
Personalize Experiences:
Tailor product experiences to user behavior
Adjust messaging based on engagement patterns
Target features to the appropriate user segments
Predict and prevent problems:
Spot potential churners before they depart
Identify expansion opportunities
Find and fix friction points
The key is to view these tools as an ecosystem rather than individual solutions. Each piece should complement the others, creating a complete view of your customer journey and enabling rapid testing and iteration.
Understanding competitors isn't about copying their features - it's about understanding the broader context of your product. This knowledge informs positioning, pricing, and product strategy.
The most useful competitive analysis goes beyond surface-level feature comparisons. For each major competitor, you must understand:
Their target audience and its overlap or differences with yours.
Their primary distribution channels and market entry strategy.
Their pricing model and its influence on customer behavior.
Their strengths and weaknesses compared to your product
This information helps identify market gaps and differentiation opportunities. It's valuable for planning growth initiatives; understanding how competitors acquire and retain customers can highlight underserved segments or messaging approaches worth testing.
Track industry trends and new entrants. The competitive landscape is always changing, and threats can come from unexpected directions. Pay attention to venture capital flows and new approaches gaining traction.
Your colleagues have crucial insights for product strategy and growth initiatives. The challenge is gathering these systematically while focusing on customer needs rather than internal opinions.
Different stakeholders offer different perspectives:
Marketing teams can identify which messages resonate with customer segments and how positioning evolves across the customer lifecycle. This aligns product development with customer acquisition and retention strategies.
Sales and growth teams provide direct feedback on prospects' needs and deal-closing obstacles. They also help quantify the potential market size for new features.
Customer service teams often spot emerging issues or changing customer needs. Their daily interactions with users provide early warning signals about potential churn risks and expansion opportunities.
Finance teams provide crucial context about unit economics and business constraints. Understanding these constraints helps prioritize initiatives that drive sustainable growth over short-term gains.
Legal and compliance teams in regulated industries help identify potential roadblocks early and ensure growth initiatives don't create unexpected risks.
The key is creating regular forums to gather insights while focusing on customer problems rather than proposed solutions. When stakeholders suggest specific features, dig deeper to understand the underlying need or business objective.
Building a robust signal pipeline isn't a one-time project - it's an ongoing practice requiring consistent attention and refinement. The goal is to maintain a balanced view of qualitative insights, quantitative data, competitive intelligence, and internal knowledge.
This view enables better decision-making in product development. When considering new features or growth initiatives, you can evaluate them against multiple signals:
What do customers say about this problem?
What does the data say about its impact?
How are competitors approaching this issue?
What internal constraints or opportunities should we consider?
A well-maintained signal pipeline helps you focus on real customer needs rather than internal assumptions or competitor actions. It provides the context needed to make strategic decisions that drive sustainable growth and satisfaction.
The best product teams make maintaining information pipelines a core part of their workflow. They gather and analyze signals, share insights across the organization, and use this knowledge to inform tactical decisions and strategic planning. The result is better products, more effective growth initiatives, and stronger customer relationships built on deep understanding and continuous learning.
I'm embarking on a new venture.
It started as a concept, then slowly became a plan. And at the intersection, I founded ☼ day---break — a new marketing consultancy based in Southern California.
Why ☼ day---break? There's something magical about that moment when a new day begins — full of potential and fresh ideas. It's that energy and promise of new beginnings that inspired this.
Here's what we're about: helping businesses harness their data and transform it into marketing strategies that deliver real results. We believe in clarity, effectiveness, and strategies tailored to help you grow.
What we do:
Lifecycle Marketing Strategy: We'll help you build relationships with your customers that last, from first click to loyal advocate.
Marketing Automation Planning: We'll set up systems that deliver the right message at the right time, freeing you up to focus on what you do best.
Data Analytics Consultation: We'll dive into your data, surface the insights that matter, and help you make smarter decisions.
Growth Strategy Development: We'll work with you to create a realistic, step-by-step plan to grow your business.
At ☼ day---break, we're here to turn ideas into action. It's not just about crafting strategies — it's about seeing them through. Whether you're taking your first steps in business or you're looking to shake things up after years in the game, we're ready to jump in and tackle your challenges head-on.
If you're feeling stuck with your marketing or just want to explore some fresh perspectives, let's talk. We'll keep things straightforward and focused on what really counts — moving your business forward.
Looking forward to the possibility of working together,
Matthias
Founder, ☼ day---break