Building trust in the creator economy, one plush at a time: Landon Brett, CEO of Makeship

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Tech About Town by Communitech

Communitech

38 episodes

10 hours ago

Tech About Town gives you an inside look at what's happening in Waterloo Region tech. Each episode brings you a unique view from a founder, ecosystem partner, Communitecher, and maybe a local celebrity. Communitech was founded in 1997 by a group of entrepreneurs committed to making Waterloo Region a global innovation leader. At the time it was just a wild idea, but somehow this community managed to pull it off. Today, Communitech is a public-private innovation hub that supports a community of more than 1,600 companies — from startups to scale-ups to large global players.

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Building trust in the creator economy, one plush at a time: Landon Brett, CEO of Makeship

Tech About Town by Communitech

31 minutes 45 seconds

4 months ago

Building trust in the creator economy, one plush at a time: Landon Brett, CEO of Makeship

What do plush toys and tech startups have in common? If you ask Landon Brett, the answer is everything.

Landon is the CEO of Makeship, one of Canada’s fastest-growing creator economy companies. Makeship launched in 2018 with just $8,000 and a bold idea: help online creators bring their characters to life through limited-edition plush toys. Today, Makeship has grown into a global business with over 65 employees and more than $20 million paid out to creators, without taking on a dime of outside funding.

In this episode, Landon joins us to talk about Makeship’s journey from its Kitchener roots to the global stage, the power of fan communities, and how his team is building trust at scale with creators big and small. Plus, he shares what it takes to scale, why being scrappy still matters, and how Makeship plans to hit $100 million in annual revenue in the next three years.

00:00 – What do plushies and startups have in common?

01:47 – From $8K to crowdfunded success

06:15 – Superfans know their stitching

09:20 – The road to $100M

13:50 – Platforms shift, creators adapt

18:30 – Tariffs, transparency, and trust

23:35 – Leading through chaos

27:40 – Plushie wishlist and career tips

Visit makeship.com to learn more about the company (and get yourself some plushies). Need help getting your startup off the ground? Visit communitech.ca to learn how we can help!