Thread by @gregarious

Most creator businesses end up with a long tail of customers, but the most successful have garnered the interest of the top. How do we make the #CreatorEconomy work for everyone? 🧵👇

The state of the creator economy requires a reset of our operating model. @andrewchen points this out succinctly

https://twitter.com/andrewchen/status/1427074247055183872?s=21

The Creator middle class was explored at length by @ljin18 and all of the problems she originally highlighted still exist! google.com/amp/s/hbr.org/…

As the space grows at an unprecedented pace, @stripe estimates 48% YoY in its recent report, these problems are only compounding stripe.com/blog/creator-e…

The economics of this space are confusing. On the one hand, there are billions of dollars being paid out

https://twitter.com/reedjd/status/1430243582854799360?s=21

But whose hands is that landing in? A familiar pattern emerges.. Consider some of the data from the Twitch leak…

https://twitter.com/adamperschke/status/1448656781849231362?s=21

What can creator technology companies do to even the playing field?

Here are 10 ways builders can help foster a well-balanced ecosystem of creators.

1⃣Eliminate Eligibility Rules - Social platforms protect themselves through eligibility rules and requirements - it’s no wonder most can’t natively monetize. Enable open enrollment to help every creator monetize sooner.

2️⃣Smaller, Faster Payouts - Minimums rule when it comes to payouts from the big platforms. Creator platforms can unlock creator revenue faster enabling quicker investment in their own success

3️⃣Scalable Take Rates - take rates can make or break a smaller creator. By offering scalable rates, lifetime limits, and other adaptations more creators can succeed faster. Look at what @TwitterSpaces and others are doing

4️⃣Maximize Monetization - Creators must go multi-SKU to be successful and sustainable. Social platforms are barely and slowly catching on, leaving room for creator platforms to be smarter and faster. More here:

https://twitter.com/gregarious/status/1387063693549084672?s=21

5️⃣Capture Communities - Creators are transitioning from audience-based hobbies to community-based businesses. They need the tools and resources to scale into this new line of work. Communities ain’t easy -

https://twitter.com/venturetwins/status/1450490355472683011?s=20

6️⃣Embrace Commerce - Creators must sell to succeed, whether they like it or not. That may be selling a brand, their own brand, or their fans. Commerce is converging with creators and we must make them better. Most creators can’t sell - future.a16z.com/creator-platfo…

7️⃣Circle Crypto - Crypto is still in its infancy for creators and requires a tremendous amount of creativity and calibration to make it successful, but the opportunities seem positive once a creator is ready to embrace it. @lijin18 breaks this down here:

https://twitter.com/ljin18/status/1454096370281943041?s=20

8️⃣Transition to SaaS - Take rates are attractive for creators and builders alike, minimizing risk and maximizing reward. However, as creators grow in sophistication, SaaS models may displace or supplement take rates

9️⃣Be Extensible - Builders can’t build everything, nor should they! Focus on the parts that matter most while appreciating and enabling the expressiveness creators through connectivity and integrations. More on this here:

https://twitter.com/gregarious/status/1438966286214578176?s=21

🔟Bring Back Data - everyone benefits from more data and for too long creators have been proxied in their access. Builders can give creators the data they need to be successful and profitable from Day 0.

As much as we expect creators to invest their time and energy in us, we must look at how to invest in them as well!

https://twitter.com/gregarious/status/1397995431787782144?s=21

Market dynamics often make it such that an outsized part of our revenue will come from a smaller percentage of our customers, but that does not mean we can’t actively work to widen the base and enable more opportunities for all.

Are you building for creators now? How do you plan to win the middle on down? Join us today to discuss it live!

created.show/r/46y2ds