Developer Advocate & Founder @ ML Data | Data Science & AI Content Creator

I didn't write my first line of code until I was 26. Now I get sponsored by companies like Anthropic, Amazon and IBM to create coding videos as a tech content creator.

My career path has been anything but linear - finance analyst to consultant to data scientist to full-time content creator. At each stop, I felt like I was starting over, but those diverse experiences became my superpower. My finance background taught me business fundamentals, consulting showed me how to solve complex problems, and data science gave me technical skills. 

When I combined all three and took the leap into content creation and developer advocacy, companies started paying attention.

Now I help others navigate their own career transitions by sharing what I've learned across industries and roles.

When I'm not creating content, you'll find me exploring running, playing pickleball or cuddling with my fur babies, Belle and Lola.

I'm always excited to connect with fellow career changers or anyone building something interesting. Feel free to reach out at megan@thedriveagency.co or send me a message here on LinkedIn 👋

Megan Lieu

90% of people are either wasting money on AI tools…

Or missing out on powerful tools that are literally FREE.

Including me — until I finally understood the real difference between Free vs Paid AI Tools.

Here’s what nobody tells you about AI tools:

Paid doesn’t mean better.
It just means better for a specific workflow.

So I’m finally sharing my full Free vs Paid AI Tools Framework (by category) 👇

✅ Writing & Content
↳ Paid: Jasper AI, Writesonic, Copy. ai, Frase, LongShot AI
↳ Free: ChatGPT, Google Gemini, QuillBot, Grammarly, Wordtune

✅ Image & Design
↳ Paid: Midjourney, Adobe Firefly, Leonardo AI, Seedream 4.0, Runway Images
↳ Free: Bing Image Creator, Canva, Stable Diffusion, DALL·E, Nano Banana

✅ Video & Multimedia
↳ Paid: Synthesia, Pika Labs, Runway Video, Descript, Veo 3 Fast
↳ Free: CapCut AI, InVideo, Runway, Synthesia, Pexels AI Video

✅ Coding & Dev
↳ Paid: GitHub Copilot, Cursor AI, Tabnine, Replit Ghostwriter, Codeium Pro
↳ Free: GitHub Copilot, Gemini Code Assist, Codeium, AWS CodeWhisperer, OpenAI Playground

✅ Productivity & Research
↳ Paid: Notion AI, Perplexity Pro, Coda AI, Otter. ai, Evernote AI
↳ Free: Perplexity, Notion, Microsoft Copilot, Obsidian AI Plugins, Google Gemini

✅ SEO & Marketing
↳ Paid: Surfer SEO, Clearscope, MarketMuse, SEMrush AI, Ahrefs AI
↳ Free: Ubersuggest, Google Trends, AnswerThePublic, SEO Minion, Mangools Tools

✅ Audio & Speech
↳ Paid: ElevenLabs, Murf AI, Play. ht, Resemble AI, Descript Audio
↳ Free: Google Text-to-Speech, Mozilla TTS, Audacity AI Plugins, Talkie AI

✅ New & Trending AI Tools
↳ Paid: Claude Pro, Gemini Advanced, Lovable AI, Flux Pro, Runway Advanced
↳ Free: Nano Banana, Lovable. ai , Flux, Captions. ai, Playground AI

I went from randomly subscribing to AI tools…

To building a stack that actually matches my work.

And that’s the truth about AI tools…

Free tools help you start.
Paid tools help you scale.

♻️ Reshare this if it helped and follow me for more AI tools + workflow breakdowns.

a16z just dropped their list of unicorn startup ideas for 2026. 

The Silicon Valley VC firm just released a list of the biggest ideas their investing teams believe builders need to tackle this year.

So make sure you save this if you’ve been looking for the next unicorn startup idea:
 
 1. AI-native banking & insurance infrastructure
 2. Enterprise multi-agent orchestration platforms
 3. Physical observability platform
 4. Compliance-first AI development tools
 5. ChatGPT-native apps (via OpenAI apps SDK)
 6. Autonomous scientific discovery labs
 7. Multi-modal voice agent platforms
 8. Prompt-free, proactive AI applications
 9. AI-native industrial base companies
10. Reasoning/multimodal/computer-use-enabled companies
11. Industrial data collection & annotation platform
12. Forward-deployed AI consulting
13. AI startup tooling for greenfield companies
14. Voice-first AI operating system
15. AI-powered contingency business models
16. "See Me" consumer AI products
17. Synthetic biology design studio
18. AI-native insurance products
19. AI-powered sales qualification platform
20. Electro-industrial stack components

Which of these ideas are you betting on?
 
Check out the full article from a16z linked in my comments below 👇

Tech Startups by A16z

MUSIC LEGS, INC.

Busy working doing:
-Manning the phone lines
-Ecommerce sales order processing.
-Preparing shipping documents & invoices
-UPS & FEDEX Shipping software
-Uploading inventory items to e-commerce sites.
-Sage 60 Accounting
-Generating AP & Payroll checks
-Receiving money
-AR Aging statements
-Banking
-Scanning documents
-Purchasing
-Inventory Management
-Excel Report Writing/Data Analysis
-Warehousing
-Running errands in DT Alhambra, Vernon and Santa Fe Springs.
-Annual Trade Shows in Las Vegas.
-Great place to work.  Free Sam Woo.  Free Auntie Qiu.  Free LAN Noodle.  Free Dimsum.
-European food available at nearby Hamiltons
-Free company car.
-Great management and co-workers
-If you like Sexy Exotic Wholesale Fashion Clothing, Music Legs Inc. is the place to be!!!

Office Rep at Wholesale Clothing Firm

Olympic Staffing Services

Worked on location at the following Client sites:
-San Rafael Elementary School, Pasadena, CA.
-Eliot Arts Magnet Academy, Altadena, CA.
-Brault, San Dimas, CA.
-Iron Workers, Pasadena, CA.
-Intellitech, La Verne, CA.
-LGC Labs, Monrovia, CA.

W2 Contractor

Union Supply Chain Management

Great place to work!  Professional management and staff.  Supply Chain management, Market Research, Import/Export, Database Development, Graphic Design, Web Technologies, Marketing/Advertising, Procurement, Sales/eCommerce, Patents, Trademarks & Copyrights.  There's never a dull moment at USCM.  Free breakfast, snacks, coffee/tea, water and soda.  Free Yoga & Tai Chi.  Stretching/exercise area.  Great company culture.  Neighborhood discount at Bengong's Tea. Lots of great places to eat.  Just a stone's throw away from the Santa Anita racetrack and shopping mall.  *Shopify Partner/Developer/Affiliate.

Project Coordinator

Dynaflex Products

Dynamic manufacturing company located in the heart of the City of Commerce just a stone's throw away from the Commerce Casino and Citadel Outlets.  Great VFP-based Made-to-Manage ERP App.  Great management,  training and company culture.  Great Accounting, Engineering & Manufacturing.  Free continental breakfast on Friday's.  If you like Made in America, DynaFlex Products is the place to be!

Purchasing

Fulgent Genetics

Great place to work!  Excellent management and hard-working, self-motivated staff.  Great SAS Software.  Free lunch/snacks and Covid-19 testing.  Helpful and friendly co-workers.  Slack based help system available 24/7.  'glad to have worked onsite processing Covid-19 test requisitions during the Covid-19 pandemic.  Be well & stay safe!

Order Processor

UnitedHealth Group

Great place to work!  Professional work environment.  Excellent management and courteous staff.  Lots of loyal and happy customers.  If you like Optometrists, Opticians and Opthalmologists, UHC Vision is the place to be!

Data Management Coordinator

LA Police Gear, INC.

Great place to work!  Professional work environment.  Efficient warehouse operations.  Excellent accounting with MS Dynamics NAV.  Very smart Controller and accurate detail oriented accounting staff.  If you like to be thanked by Law Enforcers for what you do, LA Police Gear is the place to be!

Accounts Payable

Verifone

Good company with generous benefits.  Verifone Media is a good place to work if you like Taxi Top/magazine advertising.  Excellent Salesforce CRM software.  If you like playing slots at 7-Eleven during your lunch breaks, Las Vegas is definitely the place to be!

Inventory Coordinator

Boston Scientific

Great place to work!  Excellent training provided for free.  Good management and nice cool comfortable working conditions.  Excellent SAP Software.  Diverse workforce with an American work ethic.  Lots of free parking.  Big cafeteria with fresh food.  Lockers provided for free.  If you like working in a cleanroom environment, Boston Scientific is the place to be!

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