Thread by @ljin18

New blog post! The next decade of work will be about passions, not gigs. New platforms and tools allow people to earn a livelihood using their creativity and unique skills.

Thread 👇
a16z.com/2019/10/08/pas…

In the past decade, “Uber for X” platforms gave millions of people turnkey ways to make money for various services, from driving to delivering items. Workers could easily monetize free time, but these platforms prioritized efficiency & consistency over creativity & individuality.

Gig work isn’t going anywhere, but now there’s an expansion of the type of work people can do, facilitated by Passion Economy platforms:

With new marketplaces and SaaS tools, it’s becoming easier than ever for people to tap into higher-level passions to earn a living.

New platforms share a few characteristics:
- They’re accessible to everyone, not just businesses & pros
- Treat individuality as a feature, not a bug
- Focus on digital products & services
- Provide holistic tools to grow and operate a business
- Open doors to new forms of work

New digital platforms enable forms of work that were previously inaccessible to all but the top creators.

People are now making a living as newsletter writers, video course creators, and virtual instructors & coaches:

What does the Passion Economy look like?
- The top-earning writer on Substack earns more than $500K/year from reader subscriptions
- Video course platforms like Teachable, Thinkific, and Podia are enabling creators to make a living from sharing knowledge online

We envision a future where the value of everyone’s unique skills, knowledge, and experience can be unlocked, augmented, and surfaced to consumers all over the world who can benefit from it.

If you’re working in this space, I’d love to chat!

See my related thoughts on the “enterprization of consumer”:

https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1169753411639640064