1. The economic status of creators
The most successful creator economy startup is OnlyFans. OnlyFans (porn), Substack (newsletter subscriptions), Cameo (video products), Kajabi (courses) have all been successful because they served creators' distribution/monetization needs that the big platforms ignored.
Vertical SaaS. Software investing is a cutthroat, tough world with strict performance standards. The creator economy has so many macroeconomic factors working against it that I’d be willing to bet that over the long term we’ll see less than five startups that fill the backend needs that actually succeed.
People who succeed in the maker economy tend to work at least 40 hours a week but earn less than they would from a regular job. This reality is often hidden from audiences, intentionally or unintentionally, which further fuels the creator economy as it attracts people towards this “dream lifestyle.” This is a shame, because the world I want to live in is one filled with many small businesses rather than many large, powerful businesses.
I am convinced that there must be room for small to mid-sized SAAS companies that serve small businesses and creators where you can only run with a smaller budget, minimal features, and a very narrow niche.
There are more YouTubers than bloggers, and more podcasters than newsletter authors. In addition, their needs are strong: editing audio and video requires sophisticated tools, while editing text only requires a text box.
VEED also comes to mind. And Riverside. And Descript.
So… your market 100% needs the tool * Very large market * No free alternatives to your tool = a path to success.
ConvertKit is perhaps a good example. Almost 100% of writers want to send email* There are a lot of writers* Almost all email tools cost money
Target the small creator niche, pick a problem that most of them tend to ignore, and then offer a SaaS-based solution with a free alternative. I don't think creator economy SaaS is immune to these things. Maybe a service or consulting business, but not SaaS.
I remember a friend of mine told me about a survey where about 30% of Gen Z kids said they aspired to be YouTubers.
Even if the creator doesn't make money, it's possible to make software for the creator. For example, music production tools. There are many premium DAWs, plug-ins, instrument packs, effects pedals, etc. available for aspiring musicians to purchase at hobbyist prices (e.g. $50-$500 each). I know a few aspiring music producers who make very little money from music streaming royalties, but they do pay for the tools. So these tools can be successful even if creators don’t make money from them—as long as they’re useful to aspiring creators and not just relevant to successful creators (like accounting software).
The power law distribution ensures that the vast majority of income comes from the most successful authors. The author explores how technological innovation affects musicians, visual artists, and writers.
What if the billionaire is actually an anomaly in the system? Simply because most people are not billionaires (or even simple millionaires), most people are only 3 paychecks away from bankruptcy. Maybe there’s only one Elon, one Zach, one Bill Gates… they’re the anomaly, not the norm, and there’s probably a reason for that.
The U.S. Bureau of Labor and Statistics shows that about half of small businesses survive more than five years, and 33% survive 10 years or more. That doesn't mean they're successful by venture capital standards, but it does suggest that numbers can be misleading.
2. About marketing
You've heard it a thousand times, but here it goes again: The most important factor in Twitter growth is: Consistency
He spends a day or two every month creating memes. He spent the first half of the first day searching meme sites, reddit, etc. and taking screenshots of the memes that inspired him. He then goes through the content and creates 30 memes for the month based on his previous tweets and comments on Twitter.
Twitter is not a content media platform. It is a social media platform. You have to socialize and make friends who will cheer you on.
He spends time every day seeking out and interacting with people who write in his field.
As I said before, he's not trying to sell anything. At least, not directly.
Humans love stories. Whether he's talking about his business or making hilarious memes, he's telling a story. His secret to writing great stories is simple: problematic situations, emotional pain, resolutions and lessons.
He never really talks about his product—he talks about his journey. He said it allowed people to see themselves in his story and relate to it.
As you might have guessed, Dagobert is all about building a personal brand, not a company brand.
People prefer to see a face rather than a logo. They want behind-the-scenes content rather than product updates. That's why he said it's 10 times easier to build.
3. About spare time
I like reading (right now The Hobbit), working out, walking and breathing fresh air :), and as for gaming, I recently finished The Evil Within 2. Really good game!
I tried online poker at the time because it was a skill-based gamble rather than a luck-based gamble. Defo was interesting for a while so I wanted to give it a try.
4. About creativity
The way to get entrepreneurial ideas is not to try to think of entrepreneurial ideas. Just look for the problem, and it’s best if you have the problem yourself.
The best startup ideas tend to have three things in common: they are something the founders themselves want, something they can build themselves, and few people realize they are worth doing. This is how Microsoft, Apple, Yahoo, Google and Facebook all started.
Develop an MVP (Minimum Viable Product) for your Micro SaaS app idea
And if I put the same effort into writing a piece of SaaS code that solves some common problem and publish it on AWS (so that I don't have to worry about production), then The same effort will bring infinite rewards.