Team Members
Jack Gregorski, Lorenzo Cagliero, Collin Boler, Vijay Krishnamoorthi
What did you build?
GenText is a web platform that lets anyone create hilarious and eye-catching text-message-style videos with just a few clicks. These videos are made to go viral on TikTok and other platforms—without the need for filming, editing, or writing scripts manually. We wanted to solve a simple problem: it takes way too much time to grow a social media page and start making money. GenText makes that process fast and fun, giving creators ready-to-post videos in seconds.
The idea came from watching how popular and shareable these “text story” videos are—and realizing that most people don’t have the time or tools to make them consistently. We leaned into humor and creativity, using AI tools that actually generate weird, funny, and memorable content (not just generic stories).
We stand out by focusing on entertainment-first videos that are tailor-made for social media, rather than business or generic content. We also made it super easy to use: you just give a short prompt and we take care of the rest.
Check out the video demo walkthrough
How did you improve over the hackathon period?
We started strong, getting a working version of the site up on day one. You could already generate a fun video with a simple story prompt—like a fake breakup at McDonald’s with LeBron and The Rock involved. That early version was funny, but simple. Over the next three weeks, we made huge improvements:
- We added the ability to generate characters and profile photos automatically.
- We gave users a way to see and manage their past videos.●
- We built in payment options and a credit system so people could keep using the platform beyond the hackathon.
- We gave users more control, like choosing whether they wanted a clean or edgier story. Basically, we went from a basic demo to a full product that people can use right now.
Metrics
We shared our videos online—mostly on TikTok—and the response was great:
- Total video views: 15,000+
- Top video views: Over 4,000
- New followers gained: 35
- Total likes: 140
- Total comments: 86
- We also made $152 in revenue:
- About $141 came from people buying credits on our site
- About $11 came from TikTok monetization (with more expected as views continue to roll in)
And we did all of this with $0 spent on marketing. We grew by sharing with friends, Discord communities, and existing TikTok audiences.