Archive | The Creator Rep

Breaking Black Friday Records 📈

$11.8 billion in online sales in the US. An estimated $80 billion in global sales. Despite low consumer sentiment, this Black Friday was a record-breaking, smash hit. And many outlets are projecting that in-store purchases were down. Online purchasing keeps growing. And depending on the news outlet, this can be attributed to everything from customers looking for discounts in a tough economy to the rise of social commerce, AI shopping, or whatever else makes for a good headline. Let's do a round up of (mostly) good news around online shopping!

What Creator Reps are Thankful For 🙏🏼

Happy Thanksgiving for those who celebrate, and for those who don't, it's never a bad day to take stock on what we can be thankful for! I'm out of commission this week, so in this special edition, I'll give you the top ten reasons why creator reps can be thankful for the state of the industry this year.

Beehiiv's Platform Value Bundling 🐝

I know it's weird to write a beehiiv newsletter about beehiiv's new features, but their announcement this week of 20 new features tells the story we've been seeing from a lot of platforms in the vibe-coding era: rapid expansion beyond the core value proposition to conquest other competitive sets. I'll break down the challenges and benefits of this strategy for platforms and creators.

MrBeast and the Middle East 🌇

Jimmy has his own creator conference with VidSummit, so we never expected him to bend over backwards for Playlist Live or CreatorFest. But he just announced both a huge 'social good' activation with the 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai and a theme park in Saudi Arabia which, as we learned from the Riyadh Comedy Fest backlash, could be considered one heck of a controversial move to some audiences. So what's happening there and why does Jimmy care?

Steven Bartlett: The $425M Man 🤑

Steven Bartlett, the host of the popular podcast 'Diary of a CEO', and CEO of the hold co 'Steven' just raised a round at a $425m valuation. Needless to say, it feels like an investment in him even more than his companies alone. MrBeast has similar ambitions, with rumors circulating he's attempting to raise money at a $5b valuation for a suite of MrBeast branded services. Are we nearing a creator IPO?

The World's Battle for Creators 🌍

I'm not in China right now, but many creators are there for Creator Week Macao. It's another in a drumbeat of overseas creator events planting their flag as global events, including CreatorFest in London which also happened last week, 1 Billion Follower Summit in Dubai, and a myriad others popping up as localized solutions to VidCon in the US. So why is the world fighting so hard for creators?

The TV-ification of the Internet 📺

Must See TV. 24-hour news. Game shows. All terms that currently make me think of social media content. YouTube is now the number one OTT app, beating Netflix by watch time. Twitch content has gone political and 24/7. And new start-ups are starting to tie old IP into new distribution methods. Not to mention the success of Beast Games, leading streamers actually to talk to companies like mine again! Is this just another fad or should creators take notice?

Win Creator Economy Conventions 🏆

Just getting back from the Microsoft Partner Summit, LA Comic Con, VidSummit, and an SF Tech Week panel. This week, I have appearances at LA Tech Week, YFCon, CreatorIQ Connect, Uscreen Connect, and TwitchCon. And, yes, I have a framework to master these conventions. I'll share the basics.

Sora 2: AI's Frankenstein Moment

It's alive! It's alive! AI video has always been expensive, inaccurate, and exceptionally hard to evolve beyond the most apt term for AI content: slop. But with Sora 2's accessibility, accuracy, and built-in Instagram-like social network, suddenly end-to-end generative AI can be meme-worthy, and perhaps on its path to more. Let's discuss how creators can best use this technology.