Why I’m Extremely Bullish on the Creator Economy
When Gen Z is asked what they want to be when they grow up, 57% say “influencer”.
Many see this as dystopian – a regression from the era of Millennials who wanted to become doctors, engineers, and entrepreneurs.
I disagree. I believe this is incredibly optimistic for the future of the economy, and for humanity.
The future economy is a Creator Economy.
In fact, Creators are entrepreneurs. Most people just don’t think of Creators that way yet.
Here are the 4 reasons why the Creator Economy is taking over, and why this is a good thing:
- Advertising is changing
- The cost of producing content
- (Dis)trust in centralized institutions
- The “9-to-5 tradeoff”
And if this is your first issue (welcome everyone!) don’t miss the Build in Public update that I always include at the end of these emails 👇
Alright, let’s dive in. Firstly…
Advertising Effectiveness is Declining.
The advertising landscape is like a game of whack-a-mole. Advertise on Google. Stopped working? Move budget to Facebook. Then to Instagram. Then to LinkedIn. One startup I worked at even tried Bing.
There’s always a new wave to catch, and to be clear, paid ads will never go away completely.
But at the macro level, ad spend is getting more competitive, and less effective.
History is repeating itself. “Old-school” advertising (billboards, television, radio) was displaced by Big Tech. And now, Big Tech is slowly but surely being displaced.
The result?
More marketing dollars are being put toward Content Creators.
And while this is just the early innings for B2B Content Creators, I only see this trend continuing.
People want to buy from people. More attention, more trust, and more dollars are going to move from big tech ad spend toward supporting individual voices.
Production Cost is Approaching Zero.
The “make podcast equipment more expensive” meme is real.
If you’re out of the loop, it’s a satirical reply on social media commonly used in a response to banal podcast clips. The meme is poking fun and they’re basically saying that the podcast shouldn’t exist.
Make podcast equipment more expensive
— EYA (@isha1r) April 24, 2023
Like most memes, this meme points to a fundamental truth.
Anyone can create and distribute content from their smartphone.
On top of that, TikTok revolutionized social media by moving from the “Following Graph” (where you needed to have Followers to be discovered) to the “Discovery Graph” (where content is constantly being pushed to new audiences via the algorithm).
This is further lowering the barrier to entry for content creation.
More people will create content. And the best content will win.
Put another way, the Creator Economy is a permissionless and open free market of ideas.
Trust in Centralized Institutions is Declining.
There are countless anecdotes over the past few years I could pull from, but the data speaks for itself:
People don’t want to get their news from mainstream media anymore.
People don’t want to learn from university professors anymore.
People don’t want to drink Starbucks coffee anymore.
People are finding niche content, news, and education from Content Creators that they resonate with most.
More options = the freedom to find something / someone more suited to your personal preferences.
But that’s not all…
AI will pour gasoline on this fire.
David Friedberg of the All-In Podcast predicts that Creators will be able to create a whole new, unfathomable universe of content (29:23 to 31:07):
“Think about old school photographers doing black-and-white photography with pinhole cameras… and then they come across Adobe Photoshop. What they can do with Adobe Photoshop was stuff that they could never conceptualize of in those old days.”
– David Friedberg
I believe Generative AI will create a Cambrian explosion of content… and Content Creators.
Overall, this gradual decentralization creates a vacuum for creators to fill. And it will not be a “winner takes most” market, because human preferences are practically limitless.
The 9-to-5 Tradeoff is Getting Worse.
Longer hours, stagnant wages, less stability, tighter job market, rampant inflation…
More and more people are simply opting out of the 9-to-5 rat race. Instead, they’re choosing to do:
- Part time work
- Starting a business
- Independent consulting
- Freelancing / contract work
Content Creation is a launchpad into each and every one of these.
Side note: Many people also are leaving the 9-to-5 not by choice. As we discuss in our macroeconomics issues, the state of the economy is quite fragile right now due to the Federal Reserve maintaining the highest interest rates in decades. If you don’t know what this means yet, don’t worry – that is why Wealth Potion exists.
Despite the fragile economy, I strongly believe more and more are opting out by choice.
Even Creators who are creating content as a side hustle an additional income stream that will provide them with more optionality with regards to their career.
And as Creators earn more money, and they continue telling their friends… more will follow in their footsteps.
It’s the perfect network effect.
In Summary
Whether you like it or not, we are spending more and more time in front of our screens.
another day of staring at the big screen while scrolling through my little screen so as to reward myself for staring at the medium screen all week
— delia (@delia_cai) November 22, 2020
The demand for our attention is increasing.
It’s only natural for supply to increase in response, in order to capture that increased demand.
Mainstream media is failing to win over the hearts and minds of the people. And the “9-to-5 job” just isn’t what it used to be.
Meanwhile, technology and the internet is making content creation cheaper and more profitable.
That is why the Creator Economy is the future.
What do you think?
Build in Public Update
If you couldn’t already tell, I am extremely bullish on the Creator Economy. So I’m putting my money where my mouth is.
Introducing, the Wealth Potion YouTube channel.
I’ll be publishing long-form videos on the topics of Personal Finance, Macroeconomics and Entrepreneurship.
Check out the video above for more on why I’m making this decision, and what it means for Wealth Potion. If you’re interested, feel free to subscribe on YouTube.
I also officially “launched” Wealth Potion to my LinkedIn network, generating over 10,000 impressions and a ton of wonderful comments. To all my new subscribers: thank you, and welcome 🧡
I very much appreciate you and your support thus far.
We’re just getting started.
To your prosperity,
Wealth Potion
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