Welcome to your MetaTrends Report, a guide to help you navigate the 5 forces shaping our world.
In each issue, we look at the most important events and new opportunities. We do so through the lens of the Five Forces Framework. It’s built on recurring themes discovered through over 5,000 hours of research for more than 100+ Trends Reports.
Whether you’re a founder, investor or curious about the future, the Five Forces Framework will help you understand these key forces.
The Five Forces:
- 🦾 Individual Leverage: The increasing power of individuals to impact the world. See our reports on AI Agents, No-Code and Million-Dollar, One-Person Businesses.
- 🔓 Permissionless Innovation: The erosion of barriers to entry, allowing anyone to build and share ideas. See our reports on Paid Podcasts, The Creator Economy and Self-Publishing.
- 🔻 Specialization: The growing importance of niche expertise and targeted solutions. See our reports on Micro-SaaS, Micro-Marketplaces and Audience-First Products.
- 🏛️ Centralization: The consolidation of power and control by platforms and institutions. See our reports on Programmatic SEO, YouTube Channels and Faceless Social Media Accounts.
- 🌐 Decentralization: The shift towards distributed systems and technologies that empower individuals. See our reports on Open-Source AI, DAOs and Decentralized Finance.
MetaTrends Reports will help you:
- Stop Reacting, Start Shaping: Become an active player in shaping the future, rather than a passive observer of events.
- Gain Clarity in a World of Chaos: The Five Forces Framework gives you a sense of order in an otherwise overwhelming world.
- Turn Disruption into Advantage: See challenges as opportunities and build new solutions that others haven’t imagined.
Now let’s see the forces in action…
This free issue dives into the most important (and overlooked) events from last week. We use the MetaTrends framework to find opportunities and prepare for risks.
Runway Gen-3: New AI Model Stuns The World
The Facts:
- Gen-3 Alpha by Runway is better at fidelity, consistency and motion compared to its last iteration.
- Gen-3 Alpha will power Runway’s suite of creative tools, including Text-to-Video, Image-to-Video and control modes like Motion Brush, Advanced Camera Controls and Director Mode.
Opportunities:
- Create B-roll for your YouTube videos. Start a faceless YouTube channel without worrying about how you look, speak and act on camera.
- Make realistic ads. Use Gen-3 Alpha’s ability to simulate physics, character interactions and 3D motions to create eye-catching ads for your business.
- Visualize stories from books, podcasts and songs. Reach a wider audience by adding a visual component to your work.
- Build a stock video library. Take a vertical approach and create videos for games, music artists and more. See Envato Elements, Pixabay and Motion Array.
Haters:
“Sora, Vidu, Kling, Luma and now Runway Gen-3… Wake me up when we have a winner.”
Generative AI is a fast-moving space. It’s smart to stay informed while Sora, Vidu, Kling, Luma and now Runway Gen-3 are trying to establish dominance. Others may be using these tools while you’re just waking up and starting to notice them.
MetaTrends Analysis:
Runway is an example of 🦾 Individual Leverage, helping creators produce high-quality videos without technical skills. It also represents 🔓 Permissionless Innovation, as it democratizes video creation by removing the need for expensive equipment and specialized knowledge. Since access is controlled by a closed entity, it’s also an example of 🏛️ Centralization.
PH-LLM: AI For Personal Health Insights
The Facts:
- Google built PH-LLM, a large language model fine-tuned for personal health insights.
- PH-LLM understands time-series personal health data from wearable devices, offers personalized insights, recommendations and answers to your questions about health.
Opportunities:
- Build AI-powered tools for healthcare professionals. Help them quickly understand and advise patients to improve outcomes.
- Work with wellness-focused organizations: Work with gyms to help their clients get better results. Help insurance companies save money by helping their clients stay healthy. Can you be the next CoachAi? Here’s the paper behind their research.
- Build a personalized fitness trainer. Integrate with fitness tracking wearables, such as Fitbit, Oura or Garmin. Analyze workout data, give personalized exercise tips and adjust routines based on performance and recovery.
- Create a mental health monitor. Track physiological markers such as heart rate variability and sleep patterns. Offer insights on and recommendations for stress management. Suggest mindfulness exercises and warn users of potential mental health dips. You can also prompt users to seek professional advice when needed.
- Build a tool to manage chronic conditions. Help people with conditions like diabetes and hypertension. Connect to devices that monitor blood glucose levels, blood pressure and other health metrics. Give daily advice on managing conditions and remind users about medication.
- Create a nutrition and diet coach. Pair with devices that track diet and activity. Offer real-time nutrition coaching and include personalized meal suggestions based on activity levels and health goals. would determine them. Include reminders to hydrate and alerts for nutritional deficits. ONVY and Docus are trying to do something similar.
- Build a sleep improvement tool. Use PH-LLM to analyze sleep quality, duration and patterns. Give personalized advice to improve sleep.
Haters:
“There’s no moat. Any health app can integrate with AI models and offer the same advice.”
We’ve heard this critique since GPT-3. Yet lots of businesses make thousands of dollars by wrapping GPT models. Seize the opportunity while you have it.
“AI companies can sell my health data.”
This is the risk with any centralized solution. The unfortunate fact is that it’s also the case with “private”, local LLMs (if your computer is compromised).
“AI can give dangerous health advice.”
This calls for a balance between AI-driven insights and human expertise. Do not follow advice blindly. Consult healthcare providers for professional help. As an entrepreneur, recommending human health professionals within your AI wrapper can be prudent and profitable.
MetaTrends Analysis:
PH-LLM is an example of 🦾 Individual Leverage, helping people take control of their health and make better decisions. The paper does not share enough details or the code to reproduce PH-LLM. The proprietary nature of this means it’s an example of 🏛️ Centralization (Google controlling the model).
Frame: Open-Source AI-Powered Glasses
The Facts:
- Brilliant Labs built open-source, AI-powered glasses that connect to your phone and use AI apps.
- The glasses can recognize objects, translate text and more.
- “Frame” are lightweight, affordable ($349) and look like normal glasses.
Opportunities:
- Build a language translation app. Translate audio to text and vice versa in real-time. Help travelers read signs, menus and understand conversations.
- Create an assistive reading app. Help people with dyslexia or other reading issues simplify text on the fly, highlight key details and read text aloud through an earpiece.
- Build an interactive tour app. Use the glasses for education in museums or historical sites. Create audio guides and augmented reality experiences.
- Create a safety compliance app for industrial use. Workers in industries like construction or manufacturing can spot safety hazards in real-time and get safety tips to reduce accidents.
- Make smart jewelry. This includes necklaces and bracelets that can provide health monitoring and panic alerts.
Haters:
“Meta and Google tried making AR glasses before… and failed.”
Webvan also failed in 2001. Now we have Instacart, Amazon Fresh and Rappi. Just to name a few. Google Glass was discontinued in January 2015 before Generative AI took off. Timing is everything.
“AI-powered glasses with vision can be used for live surveillance.”
This critique is valid but not specific to ”Frame”. It’s a new negative externality that we’ll have to deal with as omnipresent devices like earbuds become equipped with cameras.
“People don’t feel comfortable hanging around someone wearing AR glasses.”
The stigma is real. Time will tell whether this tech becomes socially acceptable.
MetaTrends Analysis:
“Frame” glasses are an example of 🦾 Individual Leverage by giving users access to information and abilities on-the-go. offering real-time information and accessibility. As an open-source platform, it’s an example of 🔓 Permissionless Innovation. Depending on how the data collected is used, wearable glasses can also be used to advance 🏛️ Centralization.
MetaTrends Pro #0003 has more insights:
With MetaTrends Pro you’ll learn:
- (📈 Pro) Why was a powerful AI model tool taken down shortly after its public release?
- (📈 Pro) How is AI transforming personal health insights and wearables?
- (📈 Pro) What low-cost humanoid robot is making waves in the robotics industry?
- (📈 Pro) Why do governments view AI as a threat to national security?
- (📈 Pro) Why is the demand for private, local LLMs growing?
- (📈 Pro) How does GPT-4 train robots to do complex human tasks?
What you’ll get:
- In-depth analysis of 4 more new developments and emerging opportunities
- 5 opportunities to use real-time video-to-video AI models
- 2 opportunities around robots with dexterous hands
- 4 opportunities to capitalize on low-cost humanoids
- 3 opportunities to serve the needs for private AI
Upgrade to MetaTrends Pro to stay ahead of the curve and uncover hidden opportunities in the rapidly evolving world of AI and emerging technologies.
Get Weekly Reports
Join 65,000+ founders and investors
📈 Unlock Pro Reports, 1:1 Intros and Masterminds
Become a Trends Pro Member and join 1,200+ founders enjoying…
🧠 Founder Mastermind Groups • To share goals, progress and solve problems together, each group is made up of 6 members who meet for 1 hour each Monday.
📈 100+ Trends Pro Reports • To make sense of new markets, ideas and business models, check out our research reports.
💬 1:1 Founder Intros • Make new friends, share lessons and find ways to help each other. Keep life interesting by meeting new founders each week.
🧍 Daily Standups • Stay productive and accountable with daily, async standups. Unlock access to 1:1 chats, masterminds and more by building standup streaks.
💲 100k+ Startup Discounts • Get access to $100k+ in startup discounts on AWS, Twilio, Webflow, ClickUp and more.
