Remember when Steve Jobs basically trolled IBM with that “Welcome, IBM. Seriously” ad back in ’81? Classic move. While Big Blue was flexing, little Apple was plotting world domination from a garage. Fast forward to today: Apple’s up 175,000% since then, IBM’s… well, let’s just say they’re not exactly setting the world on fire.
Here’s the thing about tech revolutions – the real money isn’t made by the giants everyone’s watching. It’s made by the scrappy underdogs who figure out how to actually use the shiny new technology while everyone else is still arguing about what it means.
Case in point: three AI stocks just pulled their own “Apple moves” while you were probably busy watching NVIDIA hit another all-time high.
The Quiet Revolutionaries
AvePoint (AVPT) was that Microsoft partner nobody talked about at parties. Then in October 2023, they dropped an AI-powered data management platform and suddenly became the cool kid. Stock went up 105%. Not bad for a company most people couldn’t pronounce six months ago.
Blend Labs (BLND) took on the mortgage industry – you know, that delightfully efficient process where buying a house feels like applying for citizenship in a foreign country. They added an AI chatbot to streamline applications, and boom: 108% gains. Turns out people really hate paperwork. Who knew?
Kratos Defense (KTOS) was building AI-powered drones before it was trendy. While everyone was debating whether AI would take over the world, Kratos was quietly teaching machines how to fly. Result? A casual 324% gain. Nothing to see here, just tripling your money.
The Pattern You’re Missing
Here’s what’s actually happening: AI is moving from the “wow, cool demo” phase to the “holy crap, this actually works” phase. Phase 1 was all hype and headlines. Phase 2 is where companies start making real money with real products. Phase 3? That’s when your grandmother starts using AI and the explosive growth is over.
We’re solidly in Phase 2 right now, but the window’s closing fast. Maybe 12 months before AI becomes as exciting as email – useful, everywhere, and definitely not making anyone rich anymore.
The brutal truth? Most people will miss this wave entirely. They’ll keep betting on the obvious plays (looking at you, NVIDIA fanboys) while the real action happens in companies they’ve never heard of. Then, two years from now, they’ll say it “was obvious all along.”
Sound familiar? It should. It’s the same story every tech cycle: the incumbents get the headlines, the insurgents get the gains.
The question isn’t whether AI will change everything – it already is. The question is whether you’ll spot the next AvePoint before it becomes obvious to everyone else.
Spoiler alert: it probably won’t be the company with the biggest marketing budget.