Umair Farooqui

This could be related to your industry, or even a side project you're working on.

Here are my 5 (I couldn't function without them):

1. Grammarly proofreading my texts, not just posts, but also client communication

2. ChatGPT / Claude mostly brainstorming, help with copy, and summarising

3. Figma I can put the basic graphics together quickly.

4. Translator sounds incredibly old-school, but English is not my mother tongue

5. Gmail and not only for communication, but also for storing ideas and sending myself email reminders for posts

1. I've always been on the personal brand side. More and more founders are building it now (sometimes even before the product is ready while it's still in development, before seed fundraising). The CEO builds their position so the product sells more easily at the official launch.

2. But I have experience with people who built the product, scaled it, and only then did we discover who was behind it.

Honestly, with the first approach, I'd be concerned that people invest more in me as a person than in the product. People would idealise the founder and overlook the product's flaws (which could hurt development and constructive feedback).

+ I noticed the most common mistake that many people who started building a personal brand first, connected their product to their personal accounts (emails, social media, etc.) and started having a problem selling these things, because they cannot "give someone keys" to their personal profiles.