It’s that time of the year…

We asked a few badass colleagues and expert Trendsters what they think will be huge in 2024. Here’s what they said:

1. Niche Sports 

Sara Friedman, Senior Writer of The Hustle

Pickleball has grown into a national craze, with courts and other related businesses popping up everywhere. In 2024, more niche sports will follow.

Source: Google Trends, six-month rolling average

Games like badminton, racquetball, croquet, and spikeball will see increased popularity through activity bars, facilities, and clubs. These sports will be used to fill vacant shopping malls and offices that are too difficult to flip into residential space.

Badminton, where players use racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net, might be the next big hit among Gen Z and Millennials, per Pinterest.

2. The Menopause Market

Arlene Battishill, E-commerce maverick, Shark Tank trailblazer

The market is finally recognizing women ages 50 and older as a huge demographic with a lot of disposable income.

One way this trend will manifest is through the continued growth of the ~$17B menopause market. Globally, menopause causes $150B in lost productivity. It’s a big pain point for half the population, and a huge opportunity for businesses.

There’s already been an influx of products created for perimenopause and menopause care, with celebrities and influencers in the mix. But the market is still ripe for disruption.

3. Leaner Tech Startups

Dan Layfield, Subscription business expert, ex-Uber, ex-Codecademy

This year, many tech companies course-corrected their overhiring with massive layoffs. In 2024, the size of tech startups will continue to shrink, and we’ll see even leaner operations make bigger profits.

Source: Layoffs.fyi

With the help of better tools, newer codebases and AI, companies will need fewer engineers to build and ship meaningful products efficiently. This trend will show most clearly in the consumer app space – think fitness, health, nutrition and productivity.

4. Cryptocurrency

Cahill Camden, Fractional CMO with two 8-figure exits, web3 and AI expert

As the bad boys in crypto get cleared out of the way, there’s now space for cryptocurrency – especially Bitcoin – to receive mainstream adoption in 2024.

Major asset managers like BlackRock and Fidelity already proposed to launch spot bitcoin exchange-traded funds (ETF), which will make bitcoin more accessible to the average investor.

A spot ETF allows people to directly invest in Bitcoin, rather than Bitcoin futures contracts. It’s simpler, more affordable, and could potentially boost the legitimacy of Bitcoin in regulators’ eyes.

5. Expertise-driven SEO

Caroline Forsey, Principal Marketing Manager at HubSpot

In 2024, entrepreneurs will need to lean heavily into their own expertise when they create content for search engines.

This year Google introduced new EEAT guidelines to evaluate the quality of search results. One of the “E’s”, Experience, will drive a lot of content decisions in 2024, particularly as more users turn to AI to get their questions answered (rather than Google).

Content creators will now focus their SEO and creation strategies on expert, human-first content. They will need to ask themselves: What first-hand experience can we draw from to make this content unique and unreplicable by AI?  

6. AI Video Tools

Justin Kelsey, Founder of SwitchFrame, serial entrepreneur

OpenAI now lets you prompt ChatGPT with voice and pictures, and other developers are following suit. So I see AI becoming more ubiquitous in multimedia production, with video AI leading the pack.

Every day a new video AI startup pops up, and you can easily find 5+ such tools within a minute of search. With consumers’ growing preference for short-form videos, we’ll see even more advanced AI capabilities for video editing in 2024.

These new tools will not only make your video look beautiful and master your audio professionally, but will also be able to chop a full video into snackable bits that fit different platforms, like Instagram Reels and TikTok.

7. Anything with A Human Touch

Ben Berkley, Editor of The Hustle

As AI continually heats up, so too will that AI-can’t-do-everything backlash. Amidst all the change, people will find comfort in anything that feels innately *human*.

This holiday season, and in 2024, we’re going to see a rise in:

• Paper goods, as people send each other hand-written cards and letters
• Art and dance classes, book clubs, and watch parties;
• Hand-crafted, Etsy-style gifts that scream “this was created by another human” rather than some bot.

This backlash will also play out in arenas like travel, as people will crave intimate connection and conversation with family, old friends, and truly anything non-GPT. They’ll hit “book” on affordable, shared experiences.