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All last week, OpenAI watchers reported seeing strange things. References to GPT-5.1 kept showing up in OpenAIs codebase, and a cloaked model codenamed Polaris Alpha and widely believed to have come from OpenAI randomly appeared in OpenRouter, a platform that AI nerds use to test new systems. Today, we learned what was going on. OpenAI announced the release of its brand new 5.1 model, an updated and revamped version of the GPT-5 model the company debuted in August. As a former OpenAI Beta testerand someone who burns through millions of GPT-5 tokens every monthheres what you need to know about GPT-5.1. A smarter, friendlier robot In their release notes for the new model, OpenAI emphasizes that GPT-5.1 is smarter and more conversational than previous versions. The company says that GPT-5.1 is warmer by default and often surprises people with its playfulness while remaining clear and useful. While some people like talking with a chatbot as if its their long-time friend, others find that cringey. OpenAI acknowledges this, saying that Preferences on chat style varyfrom person to person and even from conversation to conversation. For that reason, OpenAI says users can customize the new models tone, choosing between pre-set options like Professional, Candid and Quirky. Theres also a Nerdy option, which in my testing seems to make the model more pedantic and cause it to overuse terms like level up. At their core, the new changes feel like a pivot towards the consumer side of OpenAIs customer base. Enterprise users probably dont want a model that occasionally drops Dungeons and Dragons references. As the uproar over OpenAIs initially voiceless GPT-5 model shows, though, everyday users do. Even fewer hallucinations OpenAIs GPT-5 model fell short in many ways, but it was very good at providing accurate, largely hallucination-free responses. I often use OpenAIs models to perform research. With earlier models like GPT-4o, I found that I had to carefully fact check everything the model produced to ensure it wasnt imagining some new software tool that doesnt actually exist, or lying to me about myriad other small, crucial things. With GPT-5, I had to do that far less. The model wasnt perfect. But OpenAI had largely solved the problem of wild hallucinations. According to the companys own data, GPT-5 hallucinates only 26% of the time when solving a complex benchmark problem, versus 75% of the time with older models. In normal usage, that translates to a far lower hallucination rate on simpler, everyday queries that arent designed to trip the model up. From my early testing, GPT-5.1 seems even less prone to hallucinate. I asked it to make a list of the best restaurants in my hometown, and to include addresses, website links and open hours for each one. When I asked GPT-4 to complete a similar task years ago, it made up plausible-sounding restaurants that dont exist. GPT-5 does better on such things, but still often misses details, like the fact that one popular restaurant recently moved down the street. GPT-5.1s list, though, is spot-on. Its choices are solid, theyre all real places, and the hours and locations are correct across all ten selections. Theres a cost, though. Models that hallucinate less tend to take fewer risks, and can thus seem less creative than unconstrained, hallucination-laden ones. To that point, the restaurants in GPT-5.1s list arent wrong, but theyre mostly safe choicesthe kinds of places that have been in town forever, and that every local would have visited a million times. A real human reviewer (or a bolder model) might have highlighted a promising newcomer, just to keep things fresh and interesting. GPT-5.1 stuck with decade-old, proven classics. OpenAI will likely try to carefully walk the link between accuracy and creativity with GPT-5.1 as the rollout continues. The model clearly gets things right more often, but its not yet clear if that will impact GPT-5.1s ability to come up with things that are truly creative and new. Better, more creative writing In a similar vein, when OpenAI released their GPT-5 model, users quickly noticed that it produced boring, lifeless written prose. At the time, I predicted that OpenAI had essentially given the model an emotional lobotomy, killing its emotional intelligence in order to curb a worrying trend of the model sending users down psychotic spirals. Turns out, I was right. In a post on X last month, Sam Altman admitted that We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. But Altman also said in the post now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases. That process began with the rollout of new, more emotionally intelligent personalities in the existing GPT-5 model. But its continuing and intensifying with GPT-5.1. Again, the model is already voicer than its predecessor. But as the system card for the new model shows, GPT-5.1s Instant model (the default in the popular free version of the ChatGPT app) is also markedly better at detecting harmful conversations and protecting vulnerable users. Naughty bits If youre squeamish about NSFW stuff, maybe cover your ears for this part. In the same X post, Altman subtly dropped a sentence that sent the Internet into a tizzy: As we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our treat adult users like adults principle, we will allow even more, like erotica fo verified adults. The idea of Americas leading AI company churning out reams of computer-generated erotica has already sparked feverish commentary from such varied sources as politicians, Christian leaders, tech reporters, and (judging from the number of Upvotes), most of Reddit. For their part, though, OpenAI seems quite committed to moving ahead with this promise. In a calculus that surely makes sense in the strange techno-Libertarian circles of the AI world, the issue is intimately tied to personal freedom and autonomy. In a recent article about the future of artificial intelligence, OpenAI again reiterated that We believe that adults should be able to use AI on their own terms, within broad bounds defined by society, placing full access to AI on par with electricity, clean water, or food. All thats to say that soon, the guardrails around ChatGPTs naughty bits are almost certainly coming off. That hasnt yet happened at launchthe model still coyly demures when asked about explicit things. But along with GPT-5.1s bolder personalities, its almost certainly on the way. Deeper thought In addition to killing GPT-5s emotional intelligence, OpenAI made another misstep when releasing GPT-5. The company tried to unify all queries within a single model, letting ChatGPT itself choose whether to use a simpler, lower-effort version of GPT-5, or a slower, more thoughtful one. The idea was nobletheres little reason to use an incredibly powerful, slow, resource-intensive LLM to answer a query like Is tahini still good after 1 month in the fridge (Answer: no) But in practice, the feature was a failure. ChatGPT was no good at determining how much effort was needed to field a given query, which meant that people asking complex questions were often routed to a cheap, crappy model that gave awful results. OpenAI fixed the issue in ChatGPT with a user interface kludge. But with GPT-5.1, OpenAI is once again bifurcating their model into an Instant and Thinking version. The former responds to simple queries far faster than GPT-5, while the latter takes longer, chews through more tokens, and yields better results on complex tasks. OpenAI says that theres more fine grained nuance within GPT-5.1s Thinking model, too. Unlike with GPT-5, the new model can dial up and down its level of thought to accurately answer tough questions without taking forever to return a responsea common gripe with the previous version. OpenAI has also hinted that its future models will be capable of making very small discoveries in fields like science and medicine next year, with systems that can make more significant discoveries coming as soon as 2028. GPT-5.1s increased smarts and dialed-up thinking ability are a first step down that path. An attempt to course correct Overall, GPT-5.1 seems like an attempt to correct many of the glaring problems with GPT-5, while also doubling down on OpenAIs more freedom-oriented, accuracy-focused, voicy approach to conversational AI. The new model can think, write, and communicate better than its predecessorsand will soon likely be able to (ahem) flirt better too. Whether it will do those things better than a growing stable of competing models from Google, Anthropic, and myriad Chinese AI labs, though, is anyones guess. This story has been updated.
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E-Commerce
Just in time for the busy holiday travel season, Apple has rolled out a new iOS 26 feature that lets users store their U.S. passport on their iPhone. The digitization of the passport is something tech-savvy travelers have longed for, especially as other once physical-only items that have crowded our pockets, like credit cards, driver’s licenses, and even car keys, have made their way onto the iPhone. But so far there are limitations to what you can do with your digitized passport, which Apple dubs your Digital ID. Heres what you need to know about uploading your passport to your iPhone and what you canand cantuse it for once its there. How to add your passport to your iPhone Adding your U.S. passport to your iPhone is relatively straightforwardprovided your iPhone and your passport meet some requirements. As far as your iPhone goes, it must be an iPhone 11 or later; it must be running iOS 26.1 or later; and its region must be set to the United States. Youll also need Face ID or Touch ID turned on, as well as Bluetooth. Finally, your Apple Account must have two-factor authentication enabled. As far as your passport is concerned, it must be a United States passport, and it must not be expired. If your iPhone and passport meet these requirements, you can add your passport to your iPhone. Heres how: Open the Wallet app. Tap the + button. Tap Drivers License and ID Cards. Tap Digital ID. Tap Add to iPhone and Apple Watch or Add to iPhone Only. Scan the photo page of your U.S. passport when prompted. Use your iPhone to scan the chip on the inside back cover of your passport when prompted. Take a live photo of your face when prompted and follow the facial movement instructions that appear on the screen. Once youve gone through the steps above, Apple will verify the details from your scanned passport and your facial movements, and your iPhone will then send you a notification when your passport information, contained in what Apple calls your Digital ID, is available in the Wallet app. Verification is usually done within a few minutes. [Photo: Apple] What information does your Digital ID hold? The new Digital ID on your iPhone contains much of the information in your passport. This includes your: Legal name Date of birth Age Sex Passport number Passport issue date Passport expiration date If you open the Wallet app, tap your Digital ID, then tap the i button, youll even be able to see your passport photo on the Physical Passport Information screen. You cant use your digital passport everywhere The first thing many people are likely to think when they hear they can now add their U.S. passport to their iPhone is, Great! I dont need to carry my physical passport with me anymore. Unfortunately, this isnt true. Your passports information, stored in your new Digital ID card in iOS 26s Wallet app, can be used as an identity document to get through some airport checkpointsbut the keyword is some. Apple says its new Digital ID is currently in beta, and during that beta stage it can be used at Transportation Security Administration checkpoints in more than 250 airports in the U.S. for in-person identity verification during domestic travel. But while your new Digital ID will get you past TSA security checkpoints at these 250-plus locations, it cannot be used for international travel or at border crossings. Digital ID gives more people a way to create and present an ID in Apple wallet even if they do not have a REAL ID-compliant drivers license or state ID, Apple says. Digital ID is not a replacement for a physical passport, and cannot be used for international travel and border crossing in lieu of a U.S. passport. Can I rely on my digitized passport for domestic travel? Even if youre flying domestically, its still wise to carry alternate acceptable forms of ID that will get you through a TSA checkpoint. This includes your REAL ID-compliant drivers license or your actual physical U.S. passport, which is also REAL ID-compliant. Apple says you can use your newly digitized passport on your iPhone at TSA checkpoints at more than 250 airports in the U.S.,” but the company was unable to provide me with a list of these airports. An Apple spokesperson told me that most major U.S. airports, including John F. Kennedy International (JFK) and San Francisco International (SFO), accept Digital ID. However, since the TSA is the authority regarding where Digital ID is accepted, Apple directed me to the government agency for a list of airports that recognize the new ID. (As of this writing, the TSA has not yet responded to my inquiry.) You can store your U.S. passport on your iPhone. But should you? One concern individuals may have is whether putting their passport on their iPhone is a wise move from a privacy and security standpoint. Apple says the Digital ID on your iPhone is encrypted, and since your passports information is locked behind Face ID or Touch ID, even if someone had access to your phone, they couldnt access your passport information. Those who worry that using a Digital ID will mean theyll need to hand their iPhone over to TSA staff at the airport can rest easy, too. If you want to use your Digital ID at a TSA checkpoint, you wont have to unlock your iPhone or hand the device over to TSA staff. Instead, youll present your Digital ID much like you do a credit card you use wit Apple Pay: Youll place your phone near a TSA reader, and your iPhone will alert you to the passport information it will share. Further, it will share this information only with your authorization, which you give by double-clicking the iPhones side button and scanning your biometrics using the iPhones Face or Touch ID. By allowing users to add their passport information to their iPhone, Apple has made the upcoming holiday travel season a little more convenient for many with domestic flights to catch. Too bad that’s likely to be the only convenient thing about U.S. air travel in the weeks ahead.
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E-Commerce
OpenAI watchers have spotted something curious over the last week. References to GPT-5.1 keep showing up in OpenAIs codebase, and a cloaked model codenamed Polaris Alpha and widely believed to have come from OpenAI randomly appeared in OpenRouter, a platform that AI nerds use to test new systems. Nothing is official yet. But all of this suggests that OpenAI is quietly preparing to release a new version of their GPT-5 model. Industry sources point to a potential release date as early as November 24. If GPT-5.1 is for real, what new capabilities will the model have? As a former OpenAI Beta testerand someone who burns through millions of GPT-5 tokens every monthheres what Im expecting. A larger context window (but still not large enough) An AI models context window is the amount of data (measured in tokens, which are basically bits of words) that it can process at one time. As the name implies, a larger context window means that a model can consider more context and external information when processing a given request. This usually results in better output. I recently spoke to an artist, for example, who hands Googles Gemini a 300-page document every time he chats with it. The document includes excerpts from his personal journal, full copies of screenplays hes written, and much else. This insanely large amount of context lets the model provide him much better, more tailored responses than it would if he simply interacted with it like the average user. This works largely because Gemini has a 1 million token context window. GPT-5s, in comparison, is relatively puny at just 196,000 tokens in ChatGPT (expanded to 400,000 tokens when used by developers through the companys API). That smaller context window puts GPT-5 and ChatGPT at a major disadvantage. If you want to use the model to edit a book or improve a large codebase, for example, youll quickly run out of tokens. When OpenAI releases GPT-5.1, sources indicate that it will come with a 256,000 token context window when used via the ChatGPT interface, and perhaps double that in the API. Thats better than todays GPT-5, to be sure. But it still falls far short of Geminiespecially as Google prepares to make its own upgrades. OpenAI could make a surprise last-minute upgrade to 1 million tokens. But if it keeps the 256,000 token context window, expect plenty of grumbling from the developer community about why the window still isnt big enough. Even fewer hallucinations OpenAIs GPT-5 model falls short in many ways. But one thing its very good at is providing accurate, largely hallucination-free responses. I often use OpenAIs models to perform research. With earlier models like GPT-4o, I found that I had to carefully fact-check everything the model produced to ensure it wasnt imagining some new software tool that doesnt actually exist, or lying to me about myriad other small, crucial things. With GPT-5, I find I have to do that far less. The model isnt perfect. But OpenAI has largely solved the problem of wild hallucinations. According to the companys own data, GPT-5 hallucinates only 26% of the time when solving a complex benchmark problem, versus 75% of the time with older models. In normal usage, that translates to a far lower hallucination rate on simpler, everyday queries that arent designed to trip the model up. With GPT-5.1, expect OpenAI to double down on its new, hallucination-free direction. The updated model is likely to do an even better job at avoiding errors. Theres a cost, though. Models that hallucinate less tend to take fewer risks, and can thus seem less creative than unconstrained, hallucination-laden ones. OpenAI will likely try to carefully walk the link between accuracy and creativity with GPT-5.1. But theres no guarantee theyll succeed. Better, more creative writing In a similar vein, when OpenAI released their GPT-5 model, users quickly noticed that it produced boring, lifeless prose. At the time, I predicted that OpenAI had essentially given the model an emotional lobotomy, killing its emotional intelligence in order to curb a worrying trend of the model sending users down psychotic spirals. Turns out, I was right. In a post on X last month, Sam Altman admitted that We made ChatGPT pretty restrictive to make sure we were being careful with mental health issues. But Altman also said in the post now that we have been able to mitigate the serious mental health issues and have new tools, we are going to be able to safely relax the restrictions in most cases. That process began with the rollout of new, more emotionally intelligent personalities in the existing GPT-5 model. But its likely to continue and intensify with GPT-5.1. I expect the new model to have the overall intelligence and accuracy of GPT-5, but with a personality to match the emotionally deep GPT-4o. This will likely be paired with much more robust safeguards to ensure that 5.1 avoids conversations that might hurt someone who is having a mental health crisis. Hopefully, with GPT-5.1 the company can protect those vulnerable users without bricking the bots brain for everyone else. Naughty bits If youre squeamish about NSFW stuff, maybe cover your ears for this part. In the same X post, Altman subtly dropped a sentence that sent the Interne into a tizzy: As we roll out age-gating more fully and as part of our ‘treat adult users like adults’ principle, we will allow even more, like erotica for verified adults. The idea of Americas leading AI company churning out reams of computer-generated erotica has already sparked feverish commentary from such varied sources as politicians, Christian leaders, tech reporters, and (judging from the number of Upvotes), much of Reddit. For their part, though, OpenAI seems quite committed to moving ahead with this promise. In a calculus that surely makes sense in the strange techno-Libertarian circles of the AI world, the issue is intimately tied to personal freedom and autonomy. In a recent article about the future of artificial intelligence, OpenAI again reiterated that We believe that adults should be able to use AI on their own terms, within broad bounds defined by society, placing full access to AI on par with electricity, clean water, or food. All thats to say that with the release of GPT-5.1 (or perhaps slightly after the release, so the inevitable media frenzy doesnt overshadow the new models less interesting aspects), the guardrails around ChatGPTs naughty bits are almost certainly coming off. Deeper thought In addition to killing GPT-5s emotional intelligence, OpenAI made another misstep when releasing GPT-5. The company tried to unify all queries within a single model, letting ChatGPT itself choose whether to use a simpler, lower-effort version of GPT-5, or a slower, more thoughtful one. The idea was nobletheres little reason to use an incredibly powerful, slow, resource-intensive LLM to answer a query like, Is tahini still good after one month in the fridge? But in practice, the feature was a failure. ChatGPT was no good at determining how much effort was needed to field a given query, which meant that people asking complex questions were often routed to a cheap, crappy model that gave awful results. OpenAI fixed the issue in ChatGPT with a user interface kludge. But with GPT-5.1, early indications point to OpenAI once again bifurcating their model into Instant and Thinking versions. The former will likely respond to simple queries far faster than GPT-5, while the latter will take longer, chew through more tokens, and yield better results on complex tasks. Crucially, it seems like the user will once again be able to explicitly choose between the two models. That should yield faster results when a query is genuinely simple, and a better ability to solve complicated problems. OpenAI has hinted that its future models will be capable of making very small discoveries in fields like science and medicine next year, with systems that can make more significant discoveries coming as soon as 2028. GPT-5.1 will likely be a first step down that path. An attempt to course correct Until OpenAI formally releases GPT-5.1 in one of its signature, wonky livestreams, all of this remains speculative. But given my history with OpenAIgoing back to the halcyon days of GPT-3these are some changes Im expecting when the 5.1 model does go live. Overall, GPT-5.1 seems like an attempt to correct many of the glaring problems with GPT-5, while also doubling down on OpenAIs more freedom-oriented, accuracy-focused approach. The new model will likely be able to think, (ahem) flirt, write, and communicate better than its predecessors. Whether it will do those things better than a growing stable of competing models from Google, Anthropic, and myriad Chinese AI labs, though, is anyones guess.
Category:
E-Commerce
Discovering that a colleague with the same job title is earning more than you is never fun, though it is quite common. According to a global survey of 1,850 workers by résumé building platform Kickresume, 56% have discovered that someone with the same job at their company is earning more than them, and another 24% have their suspicions. People are much less willing to discuss their salaries than we thought they would betheres still quite a stigma around it, says Kickresumes head of content Martin Poduska, who helped conduct the study. The weirdest thing is that we didnt identify a good reason for it. Poduska explains that compensation is far from a precise science, and that keeping the topic taboo only works to the benefit of the employer. The secrecy that surrounds it prevents organizations from coming up with more effective or more transparent ways of rewarding people, he says. In recent years, there have been efforts to mandate wage transparency in certain cities and states. For example, California, Washington, New York, Maryland, Colorado, and Rhode Island have had pay transparency laws on the books for years, and a handful moreincluding Illinois, Massachusetts, Minnesota, New Jersey, and Vermontadded them this year. Calls for more robust pay transparency have even gone viral on TikTok, and the Kickresume survey suggests Gen Zers and millennials are much more willing to talk about their compensation than Gen Xers and boomers. With more people sharing salary information, the research suggests many wont be happy with what they learn. Heres what to do when you discover a colleague is making more for the same job. Dont assume the worst Not everyone who found out that a colleague with the same job title was outearning them took issue with it. In the Kickresume survey, about 40% didnt really care what others were making, though the rest did. That includes 45% of women compared to just 33% of men, which may not be surprising given the gender wage gap. But that could be because there are a lot of reasons why two people with the same title may get paid differentlyand that any pay discrepancies could be unintended, or simply reflect nuances in talent and market trends. These reasons could range from résumé points, like education and experience, to differences in their responsibilities, even if they share a job title. Plus, those who are hired in a more competitive talent market also typically have more bargaining power than those who are hired in slower economic periods. I think that people assume that companies have it all figured out in terms of jobs and titles and career paths, but it’s really not that neat and clean, says career coach Caroline Ceniza-Levine. Even if a company doesn’t do it deliberately, there’s so many opportunities for inequities to develop in compensation, and no one’s going to advocate for your salary more than you will. So you might as well pay attention. Take a breath, and do your homework Discovering that someone with the same job title is earning more can provoke a lot of emotions, but a heated confrontation is unlikely to resolve the issue. You dont want to react the moment you find out, says Andres Lares, managing partner at Shapiro Negotiations Institute, which offers negotiation consulting and training services. You want to take some time to digest it, and that also gives you time to find some objective information. Lares explains that those emotions are best channeled into research about market rates for your role. That prepares you to have these conversations from a place of knowledge, he says. The more you do that, the less reactionary and emotional you are, and the more objective you are when you approach [your manager]. Approach with caution While there are wrong moments to confront your managerlike immediately after finding out someone is earning morethere may never be a right time. It can be very easy to stall forever waiting for the right time, and the right time will really never happen, says Lares. There’s always going to be excuses not to do it. If you want to talk to your boss about your compensation as it compares to your colleagues, Lares suggests scheduling an in-person appointment or bringing it up during a regularly scheduled one-on-one. Ask questions Rather than opening the conversation with accusations and demands, Lares recommends starting with questions. Sit down with your boss and ask about pay structures. How does it work? How do you come up with the pay structures for each person on your team? How do I compare in my compensation with others in the role? Where does my performance land compared to my colleagues? What would set me up best to increase my compensation? he says. Not only are you getting valuable information and seeing a more complete picture, but they can see that you’re approaching this with empathy. Test the market, carefully The most direct way to understand what youre worth is to test the market yourself. Even if youre not ready to jump ship, Vivian Garcia-Tunon, founder of executive coaching, leadership development, talent strategy, and advisory services provider VGT People Advisory, says sending out a few applications may be useful, as long as your negotiation doesn’t become an ultimatum. Probably eight out of 10 people will go test the market and see if they can get a job offer and then have the conversation with their manager, she says. It’s a strategy that brings the individual more confidence. But there’s a risk associated with it, which is that if you use it as a negotiation strategy, you have to be willing to walk. That other offer, in other words, may be a card you want in your back pocket heading into the negotiations, but not necessarily one you want to play. If youre seriously considering leaving, you can put that offer on the table, Garcia-Tunon says. If youre trying to use it to get an increase, you can position it in the conversation as another piece of information. Be patient Just because youre walking into your bosss office to talk about a raise doesnt mean youre going to walk out with a higher salary. Those decisions rarely happen on the spot, and may require conversations with other stakeholders, like human resources, accounting, and leadership teams. Sometimes your manager agrees with you, but they then have to go higher up, says Ceniza-Levine. One thing that I’ve actually seen with a lot of people is that they have this initial conversation with their manager, the manager promises them something, and then nothing happens. Ceniza-Levine expains that your salary will never be as pressing to anyone else, and whether intentionally or not, it can take a long time for managers to follow up. Be prepared to have multiple conversations, check in on what is happening, and leave a paper trail, she says. Send an email saying, thank you so much for meeting with me, as discussed youre going to talk to senior leader X about a merit raise for me, and then we can schedule another meeting.
Category:
E-Commerce
As I write this my 6-and-a-half-month-old daughter is sitting on my lap in my home office, where she spends an hour or two each day. Despite all the toys Ive laid out for her, the thing she typically reaches for is my keyboard, occasionally leading to the odd typo. Ive been a freelance journalist for about 12 years, but never has this work-from-home, choose-your-own schedule arrangement been so valuable. Last year I was able to be with my wife at almost every doctors appointment, ultrasound, and blood test before we became parents in April. Since our daughter was born, I have enjoyed the flexibility not only to make it to every pediatrician appointment and give my wife a helping hand during the day but also to be a part of important milestone moments. I couldnt imagine having to walk out the front door each morning, only to return a couple of hours before bedtime in the evening, but of course that is the reality for most working parents. That is perhaps why solopreneurship is so popular among those with kids, especially women, and particularly those stepping away from extremely demanding careers to start or grow their families. Studies in Australia and Canada have found that many workers make the transition into parenthood and self-employment at the same time, and research even suggests that self-employed mothers outperform those without children. Being more present at home and work When her first child was born, Fernanda Chouza went in the opposite direction, taking on a more challenging role at a fast-growing AI startup in San Francisco. Over time Chouza says she earned the respect and leeway to take time off to care for her kids, but then she got laid off in 2022, when her kids were 2 and 4 years old. As I looked at hyper-growth companies, I realized I would need to put in, like, two years of elbow grease to get to the point where I can take a week off for my kids, she says. The idea of starting from scratch was too hard. Instead, Chouza started a one-women marketing agency called the Launch Shop, offering fractional product marketing expertise to software companies launching new products. Previously, Chouza says she spent many hours at work feeling guilty for not being home with her kids, and many hours at home worrying about whether she was dropping the ball at work. Now I have full flexibility. I don’t have to be constantly apologizing for stuff, and I only show up when I’m at the top of my game, she says. When I’m off, I’m fully off; I don’t have anxiety on the weekends, I don’t have anxiety at night, and I can be a lot more mentally present with my kids. Though she doesnt enjoy the same kind of equity-payout potential, Chouza says her salary is about 50% higher than her previous earnings, while providing significantly more time off. Previously, she said she could take two or three weeks off a year but was expected to be responsive on email and Slack during that time. Thus far this year, Chouza has taken a week or more off from work on eight separate occasions for reasons ranging from her kids eye infection to a two-week trip to visit their grandparents abroad. In corporate, I would have had to grovel and apologize for any time off, she says. It felt like I was being penalized for being a mom and they think of me as a liability, like Were always making so many accommodations for Fern. A side door to new career opportunities Perhaps one of the most unexpected benefits are the kinds of clients Chouza has worked with as a solopreneur. She says most companies are hesitant to hire executives in the current market but still need short-term support, making a contractor with corporate experience a viable option. By being fractional Im actually punching so far above my weight, she says. I would have never had this exposure if I was just trying to go through the front door, but Im coming in through this side door and getting these amazing logos on my résumé and this amazing experience. That is perhaps one of the most surprising benefits for those who step away from the workforce to start an independent venture while raising a family. Though many choose solopreneurship for the flexibility, they often discover that it can also offer a bridgeor even a ladderback into the traditional workforce. You can think of it as not necessarily I’m going to build a startup that’s going to pay me a lot of money, but Im going to write a story for myself that professionally fills those years, explains Kyle Jensen, the director of entrepreneurship programs, and associate dean and professor in the practice of entrepreneurship at the Yale School of Management. I created something new, I operated it, I ran it, and through all of this I developed all sorts of executive acumen and business sense, and maybe some software skills. Professional benefits aside, Jensen also says part of what makes solopreneurship so appealing to parents is the ability to trade some of the financial rewards for time. With this manner of entrepreneurship, you can treat your human capital as a luxury good, and you can choose different distributions of time that allows you to enjoy things that are important but not necessarily prioritized in our societylike parenting, he says, adding, The only person who’s going to remember that you worked extra hours are your children.
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E-Commerce
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