AI blockbuster

gm world-changers! Welcome back to the Leaderboard. In today's edition, we're taking a look at some of the categories and breaking down some of the coolest products that made the cut this year. When you're done reading, don't forget to go and vote for your favorites.

AI for Video: Products that make it easier to create the video of your dreams

AI video was revolutionized last year, with tools like Google Veo, OpenAI's Sora, and Runway ML's VFX workflows making high-quality, synthetic video production accessible to almost anyone, anywhere. Yet my sense is that, to the general public, most of these advances remain relatively unknown. People know you can generate lifelike images with LLMs, and they vaguely understand that this is changing the film industry in major ways (see: the Hollywood writers strike in 2023), but they haven't quite felt the AGI, as it were. The next step here? A chasm-cross AI-assisted blockbuster movie. Maybe in 2025?

Community & Social: The products that make it easier for us to connect.

In 2024, social media is trying to feel social again. While the big platforms still chase followers and likes, there’s been a noticeable shift toward smaller, more intimate platforms focused on the people who actually matter—close friends, family, and meaningful communities. I’ve also noticed a wave of products designed to help users plan events or connect with others who share their interests, from local game nights to niche book clubs. It’s a refreshing change, prioritizing quality over quantity and making time spent online feel more meaningful. Hopefully, some of these platforms will stay true to their mission. For now, it feels like social media with a little more soul.

Crypto & Web3: The products that aim to create a new, decentralized internet. 

Around 2020 another Web3 boom appeared, this time fueled by communities, NFTs, and promises on decentralizing the internet. While the adoption speed many were hoping for didn't quite happen at terminal velocity, we did start to see more traction in 2024 on focus on consumer apps vs meme coins. With Hardware becoming prettier, looking at you Burner, it looks like we're slowly starting to build thoughtful experiences around the blockchain but I bet that we won't start seeing consumer mass adoption until 2026 or 2027.