Lumanu

I've known Vickie for years and am constantly amazed at how Village Marketing has balanced creator relationships with operational efficiency, which ultimately translated to the exit to WPP. We spoke with Vickie recently and she shared her thoughts on the evolving influencer landscape and why Lumanu was such a critical part to Village Marketing's success. ?? How influencer marketing has evolved 1 / The scale is staggering. What started as gifted products has evolved into sophisticated business relationships. As Vickie notes: "For an agency to be successful today, you have to be able to scale to hundreds of millions of dollars, not millions or tens of millions of dollars." 2 / Payment terms are extending dramatically. Major brands now request 120-day payment terms - creating a critical need for flexibility, especially for smaller creators. "That's hard when you're a small business, which creators are. To get paid on 120-day payment terms is a lot to ask." 3 / Data ownership has become a strategic imperative. Agencies must protect their competitive advantage: "Our point of differentiation and our value is our data set. And that is not just which creators we're working with but how much we pay them." ?? Keys to succeeding as an agency in this new landscape: 1 / Relationships are built on respect - both creative and operational. In Vickie's words: "There's nothing worse than having a relationship that is going so well from a creative perspective and then harming it because of a late payment." 2 / Operational excellence is non-negotiable. Village manages 100,000+ invoices annually - traditional systems weren't built for this volume. "If you have five emails back and forth on every single invoice, and you're doing 100,000 invoices a year, you are an incredibly inefficient team." 3 / Technology choices matter. Keep creator management and financial operations separate. As Vickie explains: "I need the operations of my agency to not be tied to the operations of what every individual client wants or needs. For me, it needs to remain church and state." These insights highlight why agencies who want to scale need to solve for both creator relationships and operational efficiency. You simply can't have one without the other.

Big move by Visa yesterday: They're officially classifying creators as small businesses within their network. ?? This means creators will now have access to the same financial tools, credit products, and business resources traditionally reserved for small businesses. After years of the creator economy operating in a financial gray area, one of the world's largest payment networks is stepping up to bridge the gap. My Take ?? ?? ?? Why marketers should care ?? ? More financially stable creators = more consistent content production ? Better business tools = more professional, reliable partnerships ? Easier payments = smoother campaign execution and reporting ? Institutional backing = reduced risk in creator partnerships & fraud ? Access to capital = creators can take on more ambitious brand projects Why creators & managers should care ?? ? Access to capital: Creators can now tap into Visa's full suite of small business financial tools, credit products, and working capital solutions. ? Business legitimacy: By recognizing creators as businesses, Visa is helping legitimize the creator economy at an institutional level. This mindset shift opens doors for better financial services across the board. ? Growth acceleration: With access to business credit, reporting tools, and payment controls, creators can invest in their business growth without being strapped for cash flow. PS, I love Visa's holistic approach. That's the right way of doing it, rather than just launching a PR announcement and calling it done. ? Launching a mentor-matching program for aspiring creators ? Hosting their first Creator Summit in Tokyo ? Building partnerships with major platforms across NA, EU, and Asia ? Providing financial education and business skills training S/O to Darren Parslow and the Visa team for recognizing that today's creators are tomorrow's SMBs. The creator economy isn't just growing—it's maturing. And now it has the financial infrastructure to match. Thoughts? How do you see this impacting your creator marketing strategies for 2025? #CreatorEconomy #InfluencerMarketing #Finances

?? Thrilled to have had the opportunity to network and speak at the Origin Venture CXO Summit in beautiful Park City, Utah, alongside my co-founder Paul Johnson, Head of Sales Jeff Galas, and Head of Product John Garcia. It was an incredible event, filled with valuable insights and great conversations with fellow legendary operators. Some key highlights from the summit for me: 1?? I had the privilege of sharing my thoughts on the framework we use at Lumanu to evaluate when & how to double down on winning tactics—whether in product development or strategic partnerships. 2?? Andy Dunn, co-founder of Bonobos, gave a powerful talk on the importance of mental health. His advice? Every founder should have a therapist—not just an executive coach! Also -- I *LOVE* his new venture Pie, the IRL social app we all need in an increasingly remote workforce. Can't wait until they're in NYC! 3?? David Rabie, Founder and CEO of Tovala, shared how his team drove efficient growth through a ton of macro headwinds in the ready-made food vertical—proof that smart strategy and great execution can lead to success even in challenging times. 4?? Paul delivered a masterclass on how to nail B2B influencer marketing on LinkedIn, offering actionable strategies that we used ourselves to drive meetings and engagement with Fortune 100 accounts. Thank you to everyone who made this summit such a great experience! Looking forward to applying these insights and continuing to grow from the wisdom shared by this community. #CXOSummit #GrowthMindset #Lumanu