How to Survive the Great Retrenchment and Crypto Winter, plus Good Stuff from Snap and More Twitties

5/9/2022 - Here’s what’s new and what caught my eye this week:

TikTok To Start Sharing Revenue with Creators:? Funds are so yesterday.? Actual revenue sharing with creators is clearly the way to go.? Props to TikTok for starting to share real ad revenue with creators.? Their new “Pulse” product will initially allow those above 100k followers to cash in, while giving advertisers access to the top 4% of engaging videos.? It’s a start – and the devil is in both the details and the expansion of the program – along with how much they’ll actually be sharing.

Patreon Creator Census Highlights:? Patreon just released the results of its first “census” of its creator-customers.? The insights are applicable both to the Patreon-curious and those looking to build owned fan communities using emerging Web3 capabilities.? Exclusive/early access, shout-outs, archival access, and ability to shape content are among the top benefits patrons want.? Coming up with a cute and unique name (Nerd Fighter, Phish Head) significantly increases retention. The survey also shows that Patreon has significant upside - less than one in five respondents live outside of North America and Europe.? As an aside, THANKS Patreon for being up-front on your methodology and not implying broader applicability.? Unlike “he who shall not be named” from two weeks ago.

The Great Retrenchment Begins:? Unless you live under a rock, you know the market is down significantly.? But that’s also translating into headwinds for creator economy and web3 startups too.? The first big shoe just dropped: Cameo laid off 25% of staff.? Expect more layoffs from overvalued startups in the months to come. Good startups will settle for down rounds, others will either shut down or sell for a song.? That means promising tech and talented teams will be available to companies with deep pockets and low burn.? VC Tomasz Tunguz shares key metrics to watch to know who’s vulnerable. We will know pain, but great companies will be built – and the good times will be back.

NFT Crash – Picking the Positive out of the ??):? You’ve been warned – and now crypto-winter is? upon us with sales down 92% from the peak. ? Yuga Labs and Square Enix seem to be the Webvan and Pets.com of this hype cycle.? But just as the dotcom crash in 2000 led to epic success of Facebook, Google, Amazon and many others, a herd of NFT unicorns will emerge throughout this decade.? Utility is essential – and Peter Yang explains how subscriptions will emerge as a key NFT category. Pitchbook thinks sports fandom offers a way out.? Beeple (the progenitor) leans into emotional connection. Again, we will know pain, but expect emergent value in unlikely places.? Watch this space for more.

Interesting Moves from Snap:? I continue to be impressed with Snapchat’s vision.? They aren’t afraid to make big bets – like the Snap Spectacles from 2016 and the new Snap Pixy Drone, “your flying friendly camera”.? The company is leaning into AR – and dismissing the metaverse as “ambiguous and hypothetical”.? It’s also opening up Spotlight – it’s TikTok Clone – to more users with improved tools and a “BeReal” style dual camera feature.? I don’t see them beating TikTok, but they are already bigger than Twitter and offer a compelling and more positive social platform than many others.??

QUIBIS:?

• YouTube Super Thanks tipping tool now available to all creators
• 7 Habits of Highly Successful Creators
• YouTube Go was a thing?? Well not anymore.
• Zuckerberg’s recent Facebook post reveals a shift to AI-based algorithmic recommendations, called a “Discovery Engine”, to better compete with TikTok.
• Elon won’t fix Twitter.? Elon won’t buy Twitter.? Elon converts Twitter to Web3.? Elon is a Bully.? ???
• TikTok UK releases an informative guide on how to work with creators.? Worth downloading.
• TikTok replacing Discover tab with Friends – and hoping to transition Meta friends to TikTok too (I saw this yesterday and thought it was a Meta incursion!).
• WSJ Reveals TikTok’s Hard-Charging Corporate Culture.
• Good interview with the head of search at Brave on why and how they are building a better engine – hint it involves focusing on “GI” not “GO”.?

CRYPTIS:

• Americana’s new “Something Token” lets you turn a physical product into an NFT – but I don’t get why it’s a token instead of a validated RFID chip that’s sold at a fixed price.
• Inside a Twitter hacked NFT scam account.
• Discord dilemma: Are NFT servers communities or pump-and-dump schemes???

VIDCON Programming Highlight:

I’m sitting down with Phil Libin, co-founder of Evernote, at VidCon in June.? I can’t wait to learn more about how his new company mmhmm can liven up your video calls and presentations. Plus, we’ll talk about how video will revolutionize business interactions in the same way that the dot-com era disrupted commerce. Buy tickets now!

Tip of the Week:? Read Wally Weilbaecher's great piece on why you have to STOP asking viewers to subscribe on YouTube – and what to do instead. (PS, congrats to Wally on his new job at Superbam!)

What We’re Watching:?

• The Try Guys killed this dance on TikTok.
• Watch @clintonaverytharp refurbish a chair.
• Former Featured Creator Emma Chamberlain interviewed Met Gala attendees for Vogue –– spend 24 hours with her to see how she prepared.

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