My new favorite AI app

Also a new docuseries about AI, a fan-made film on Porter Robinson, and breaking my podcast hiatus

If you’re new here: Hi, I’m Ryan Hoover, founder of Product Hunt and early-stage investor at Weekend Fund. I also helped write Hooked and occasionally publish essays. This newsletter highlights my latest experiments, essays, and curiosities. If someone forwarded this to you, subscribe along with 25k+ others here. :)

1. My new favorite toy: Producer.ai. I met the Riffusion team a few years ago when they started the co. It’s incredible how the tech has advanced. It can now create catchy 3+ minute songs from a single prompt, and they sound pretty good. I’m curious to see how this and other AI-powered tools birth new genres and experiences. My bet: Music—for the first time—will have the ability to deliver personalized music based on your life, relationships, and day-to-day context.

2. I wouldn’t raise VC without a secret or traction. More on why here.

3. AngelList just launched Rollups.com. I’m biased but always a fan of what this team is exploring.

4. Speaking of AngelList, here’s their latest report on the startup ecosystem. Honestly, this wasn’t too surprising but a good gut check comparison to what we’re seeing in the market.

5. Porter Robinson fans are next level. Years ago they pieced together cell phone videos to recreate his Worlds set. They just did it again for his more recent SMILE tour. Porter has less than 2M monthly listeners on Spotify and more engagement and fan love than many artists with 10x the reach.

6. Shoutout to Chris Lyons for his new album. Most of his prior music is atmospheric, brain candy. His new stuff will get you out of the chair with some Afrobeats and house flavor.

7. I’ve read The Courage to be Disliked three times. Chris Lakin shares a thoughtful critique and praise for the book.

8. I think Huberman was right. Vitamin D can really improve my mood and energy after I’ve been indoors slapping the keyboard all day. This might be pedantic about health but here’s a vitamin D tracker by Jack Dorsey.

9. It’s been a minute since I went on a podcast. I’ve been avoiding them until recently. Last month I went on Turner Novak’s The Peel and Jason Calacanis’ This Week in Startups.

10. I started my career in gaming. Mobile and the freemium movement was the biggest shift in the industry over the last decade. GenAI (no surprise) will have a similar impact. Genie 3 illustrates a reimagining. Instead of painstakingly crafting 3D models and worlds, we can generate it all in real-time. And like music, gaming has the potential to be truly personal for the first time.

11. Remember when we used to make our own personal websites? Do kids still do that? Well, I updated mine for fun.

12. I’ve been investing in funds for several years with small personal checks. If you’re interested in seeing what I’m backing, add your details here.

13. Back in my day we had to defrag our computers. Enjoy the nostalgia, fellow ‘90s kids. H/t Kevin Rose from a recent Diggnation ep.

14. Max Cooper was one of the top artists my gf and I wanted to see. He performed the day before we left for Burning Man. What a gem.

15. There’s inside baseball debate in tech on “triple, triple, double, double” and what outlier performance is today. Joanne and Leo from Foundation Capital think we’re entering an era of centicorn, a rise in $100B+ startups.

16. Techmeme recently turned 20. So few companies survive five years, let alone two decades. Respect to its founder, Gabe Rivera, and team for what they built and without seductive VC capital. :)

17. My buddy, Greg Isenberg, launched the first episode of his new docuseries on the AI gold rush. For a while I’ve wanted to produce a doc highlighting lesser-known founders and makers. Maybe someday I will with my bro who’s a videographer.