This script features an in-depth interview with Josh Kaplan, CEO and co-founder of Smooth Media, a platform dedicated to supporting and scaling the revenue of knowledge creators further along in their creative journey.
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 Unlocking the Potential of Knowledge Creators
00:27 The Genesis of Smooth Media: From Morning Brew to Creator Support
01:39 Why Focus on Knowledge Creators and Established Talents?
04:11 Brand Partnerships and Newsletters
07:26 The Business Model Behind Supporting Creators
07:53 Equity
10:23 Learning from Industry Dive, Morning Brew, etc.
22:37 Strategic Priorities
23:51 The Future of the Creator Economy
26:46 Final Thoughts: Advice for Creators
Brian started Little Chonk because he wanted a better way to carry his dog around. He noticed that pet carriers were not good enough, so he decided to make his own. The idea took off during the pandemic when more people got pets and wanted to take them everywhere
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00 The Origin Story of Little Chonk
02:51 Designing the Perfect Pet Carrier
08:38 The Launch: A Viral Success
08:44 Challenges of a DTC Business
18:33 Expanding Beyond Social Media Sales
21:49 A New Chapter: The Penguin Book Deal
23:55 Living a Dream: Building a Life Around Passions
24:38 Looking Ahead: Future Aspirations
26:04 Finding Brian and Little Chonk Online
Hunter Hammonds is the founder & CEO of Assembly, a holding company of creator-led businesses. And every month for the rest of the year, he's launching a new business with a creator.
In this video, he breaks down:
-His newest agency, HeyFriends! with Ali Abdaal
-Why he partners with creators
-How he thinks about moats (& building the machine of Assembly)
TIME STAMPS
00:00:00 - Introduction
00:00:50 - Announcing HeyFriends! and the partnership with Ali Abdaal
00:01:21 - HeyFriends as a YouTube agency and the focus on unlocking effortless growth
00:03:06 - The challenges and complexities of succeeding on YouTube
00:04:12 - The ambition and scale of HeyFriends and similarities to Offmenu
00:05:19 - The process and structure of HeyFriends and the two categories of target customers
00:09:23 - The benefits and advantages of partnering with creators for launching businesses
00:12:12 - The focus on building moats and the competitive landscape of productized agencies
00:15:39 - Why the productized services model was chosen for Assembly and the vision for the future
00:19:01 - The operational excellence and the principles that guide the management style
00:26:12 - The focus on building a massive business and the plan for acquiring or investing in businesses
00:31:12 - The approach to launching multiple businesses and maintaining focus
00:37:51 - The importance of communication, thinking, and recruiting as a manager
00:44:34 - Responding to questions from the audience about talent acquisition and scaling revenue
Follow Hunter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_hunterhammonds
Pete Huang and Noah Edelman are the brains behind the Neuron, a daily AI newsletter.
They've grown to over 100, 000 subscribers and have readers from Salesforce, Microsoft, Apple, and more. In this episode, they share
- how they grew their email list to 100, 000 subscribers with 90, 000 of those being organic
- how they're planning to monetize beyond ad sponsorships
- and the economics of newsletter businesses
TIME STAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
01:03 - The importance of brand in the post-AI world
02:48 - Balancing competition and creating unique value
05:33 - Overcoming challenges and staying focused on work
08:20 - Creating content for LinkedIn and TikTok
11:45 - Using paid ads and SparkLoop for growth
21:04 - Choosing to focus on courses instead of events
27:33 - Considering pricing and business models for courses
31:54 - Exciting developments in AI, such as AI in education and contextual understanding
37:57 - Pete's billion-dollar idea for old people
40:27 - Where to find them online
Greg Isenberg breaks down why he's partnering with creators to launch products, how he's doing this, and why now is exactly the right time to do it.
TIME STAMPS:
TIME STAMPS
0:00 - Intro
0:30 - Relationship between Mr. Beast and Night Ventures
0:56 - Greg shares reasons for focusing on creators building audiences
1:26 - Greg explains the moment in time for creators
2:05 - Challenges faced by creators
3:27 - Greg predicts the future of creators like Mr. Beast
5:20 - Michael asks about building a YC for creators
5:31 - Greg shares his approach to building a creator's incubator
7:14 - Safwaan asks about the balance between early and late development
7:58 - Greg outlines the stage where he is interested in focusing
8:31 - Safwaan and Greg discuss incubating companies with creators
9:34 - Safwaan and Greg talk about returns for their holding company
10:47 - Michael comments on the shift in product advertisement and promotion
11:20 - Greg discusses the benefit of communities in promoting products.
Greg Isenberg uses 300, 000 Twitter followers to start an agency. Now, his agency is a cash-flowing engine that allows him to incubate and invest in multiple businesses for his personal holding company. In this video, we cover how he uses his audience to start an agency, the first thing you should do when you start a personal holding company, and how he works on so many different things without getting distracted. TIME STAMPS 0:00 - Intro 0:26 - The personal holding company thesis 1:05 - The opportunities of product studios 1:20 - What does the McKinsey for Community look like? 1:55 - Greg talks about working with big companies 2:05 - The decision to create a product design agency 2:30 - The issues with agencies & how Greg solves them 3:25 - Importance of starting with a cash flow generating business for a PHC 4:40 - Greg talks about how cash is being used in business 4:55 - Importance of not having LPs 5:50 - Discussion about trade-offs between starting an agency and getting capital from LPs 6:20 - Drawbacks of venture capital investments 7:50 - The value of creativity in a holding company setup 8:20 - Discussion about the freedom and fun in creating a company 9:15 - Benefits of a personal holding company for creative individuals 9:55 - Focus and dealing with too many ideas 11:10 - Importance of themes in focus and execution 11:30 - Greg shares his themes for the year 12:22 - Conclusion
Cole and Cody are the founders of Up North, a talent management company for creators.
We talk about how they signed their first clients, how they operate, to what they’re looking for in creators they work with.
We also discuss the challenges of working with creators, partnering with creators to start businesses and more.
0:00 - Introduction
0:40 - Starting to manage talent
1:45 - Understanding individual goals
4:55 - Challenges of managing content creators
5:40 - Being a therapist or manager
10:00 - Looking for talent and collaboration
11:50 - Launching businesses with creators
14:45 - Revenue breakdown for brand sponsorships
18:20 - Balancing time and resources
20:40 - Valuation and acquisition of talent management agencies
22:55 - Revenue breakdown for talent management
24:10 - Team structure and functions
26:55 - Philosophy of building and working
28:35 - Predictions for the next 1-5 years in the industry
31:30 - Advice for young creatorsTwitter:Cody: https://twitter.com/Cody_Hock
Cole: https://twitter.com/upnorthcole
Safwaan: https://twitter.com/safwaankay
Michael: https://twitter.com/mikekarnj
Listen on Spotify:
https://open.spotify.com/show/0NxaIMJydhpHoRy2g7eAvn
Listen on Apple:
https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-led-brands-with-safwaan-kay/id1688957922
In this video, Megan Lightcap, an investor at Slow Ventures, discusses the concept of investing in creators. She explores the idea of borrowing against future equity and how it can be a valuable opportunity for creators. Megan addresses common misconceptions about owning a piece of the creator and explains the structure of deals with creators, including the use of holding companies. She shares insights on the different types of investments in creators and the stages of raising capital for them. Megan also highlights the potential outcomes and liquidity for investments in creators. Lastly, she discusses the need for a rebranding or reframing of the creator economy and shares her plans for marketing and awareness strategies in the future. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introducing the video 1:37 Exploring the concept of investing in creators 2:00 Examining the idea of borrowing against future equity 6:00 Describing the structure of a deal with a creator 6:40 Discussing the thought process behind the deal structure 8:35 Exploring the potential uses of capital for creators 9:45 Addressing misconceptions about owning a piece of the creator 10:55 Defining the bounds of the creator holding company 13:15 Reviewing different types of investments in creators 15:00 Discussing the stages of raising capital for creators 17:00 Exploring the potential outcomes and liquidity for investments in creators 22:10 Arguing for a rebranding or reframing of the creator economy 23:45 Identifying the opportunities for creators in niche markets 27:20 Discrediting the misconception that creators are not business people 29:40 Outlining Megan's focus on go-to-market strategies and KPIs 31:30 Explaining Megan's plans for marketing and awareness (licking the cookie) 34:25 Discussing when creators should consider starting a company 36:30 Sharing Megan's plans for the next 12 months 39:30 Highlighting where to find Megan online LINKS Megan: https://twitter.com/mmlightcap Slow Ventures: https://slow-prod.herokuapp.com/ Michael: https://twitter.com/mikekarnj Safwaan: https://twitter.com/safwaankay Listen on your favorite podcast app Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NxaIMJydhpHoRy2g7eAvn Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-led-brands-with-safwaan-kay/id1688957922
Youtube: https://youtube.com/@creatorbrands
Andrew is helping creators with 100k+ followers make more money (for free). If you'd like his help, fill out this form: https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScfpBebrCXO6fIx1kNEFOVI5hLgf1tZzrdBYewcXIa_PyqFAA/viewform
Andrew Kirby is a Youtuber who helps businesses make more content and creators make more money. In this interview, Andrew talks about how he helped Hamza increase his income from $20,000 a month to $200,000 a month. We also discuss the importance of intrinsic motivation, focus, and leveraging internet tools to create value and achieve success. We also talked about how to price cohort-based courses to reduce churn and increase the overall value for customers.
Topics:
0:00 Intro
1:05 Andrew's background and journey in online marketing
2:05 Andrew's struggle to monetize his audience
3:00 Andrew's breakthrough
4:00 Why create a cohort-based course over other monetization models
7:40 Pricing strategies for cohort-based courses
9:35 Hamza's success story and the role of a paid community
13:25 The pricing structure for Hamza's paid community
14:50 "the bigger the head, the longer the tail"
20:45 Andrew's thoughts on Alex Hormozi's acquisition.com model and its potential
22:10 Andrew's potential plans to help more creators monetize
29:25 The power of leverage (code and content)
Follow Andrew:
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/andrewkirbyreal/?hl=en
Twitter: https://twitter.com/IAmAndrewKirby
Website: https://greatonlinegame.com/
Follow Safwaan:
Twitter: https://twitter.com/safwaankay
Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NxaIMJydhpHoRy2g7eAvn
Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-led-brands-with-safwaan-kay/id1688957922
We analyze @SugaSeanUFC 's UFC career and how he can grow his business to $100M. TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 1:30 Who is Sean O'Malley 4:00 Money or GOAT Status? 7:40 Crawl 9:08 Walk 11:30 Run
Zawwar Khan, CEO of Rel Brands explains: -The #1 mistake creators make when launching a brand (Ani Energy & Sway House) -How to make $1 million dollars in 24 months (as a creator) -The 3 paths to launching a brand TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 The #1 mistake creators make when launching a brand 1:47 How to make $1 million dollars in 24 months (as a creator) 4:35 The 3 paths to launching a brand
In this video, Zawwar Khan walks us through 3 frameworks for launching a business as a creator: 0:00 Repertoire Categories 3:54 Middle America Male Hobbies 4:56 3 Types of Creators (Lifestyle, Idea-based, Expert)
Zawwar Khan tells us about 3 creator businesses making millions: 0:00 Hairitage by Mindy McKnight 4:17 Divi by Dani Austin 7:28 Screwdriver by Linus Tech Tips
In this video, we sit down with Thomas Frank to talk about: -Why he gave up his 3m+ subscriber youtube channel to focus on Notion -What he thinks about our billion dollar ideas -How he thinks about wealth & spending his time Timestamps: 0:00 Intro 0:29 Why Notion 3:13 The business of selling templates 6:28 How he’s thinking about his old channel 9:24 What he thinks of our billion dollar ideas 12:41 “Rich Academic” 14:37 “FIWOOT” DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
In this video, we talk about: -Why Thomasfrank ignoring his 3m+ subscriber channel was the right move -3 ways Thomas Frank could become a unicorn creator -The rise of the B2B creators TIMESTAMPS: 0:00 Intro 0:37 Why Notion is a valuable niche 1:04 Who is Thomas Frank? 3:50 The future of Notion 4:17 The rise of B2B influencers 5:40 3 ideas for Thomas Frank 8:45 Billion dollar companies built on Salesforce 11:05 Financially Independent, Work on Our Own Terms (FIWOOT) 13:33 Interview with Thomas Frank DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
In this video we breakdown:
-How Ali Abdaal (@aliabdaal ) 10x his revenue from PTYA, his cohort-based course
-The economics of book publishing
-Mistakes he could've avoided when launching his stationery brand
-And how he can hire any CEO of his choosing
DISCLAIMER: THIS IS NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE.
TIMESTAMPS:
0:00 - Intro
0:28 - Ali Abdaal’s revenue sources
1:20 - Part-time Youtuber Academy, Ali’s high-end course
2:03 - Framework: Pricing against the demand curve
3:29 - Framework: Vitamins vs Painkillers
4:20 - How PTYA can 10x its revenue
7:22 - Entrepreneurial Operating Systems
8:48 - Ali Abdaal’s book
9:07 - The James Clear model: Build in Public
10:38 - The economics of book publishing
12:28 - The problem with Ali Abdaal’s stationery brand
13:48 - How to make sure a project never fails
14:52 - A better way for Ali to launch his stationery brand
15:54 - Framework: Building vs Partnering
17:29 - The Creator Playbook
18:13 - Jake Paul’s Betr
19:56 - How to hire a CEO
In this video, we brainstorm ways that Emma (@emmachamberlain ) expand her business empire AND solve her burnout problem. We talk about: -How Emma could sell Chamberlain Coffee for $500M -How she could become the Oprah for Gen Z -The Great VC / DTC Subsidy DISCLAIMER: NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE
0:00 Intro
0:50 Blazar Capital
2:30 Framework: Why starting businesses with influencers is like lighter fluid
3:30 4 things influencers help with when launching a business
5:35 What Chamberlain Coffee does well
6:46 When does it make sense to raise VC for a company?
7:42 The Great VC / DTC subsidy
10:10 What could go well for Chamberlain Coffee
12:45 In-person experiences
14:48 Substitutes vs Complements… Poopurri?
18:07 The solution to burnout
20:40 Becoming the Oprah for Gen Z
22:20 Framework: Make something people talk about
23:59 Framework: Transitioning from Founder to CEO
24:35 Framework: Transitioning from Youtuber to Creative Director
25:12 Emma Chamberlain x Girl Scouts
26:41 3 things Emma could do to sustain her career
