Platform maketh the Creator OR Creator maketh the Platform

“The ‘creator economy’ is an economy built by creators, but not for creators. - Ahad Khan

….and this is the Spotlight Story of the week

The thing about the Creator Economy is that a very, very, very small fraction of Creators make an economy out of it!

The platforms make the real $$.?

But, would the platforms make it as big as they have, if not for the creator's content? After all, it's the content that gets the views - and the views get the brands to advertise? Or, would the creators even exist if not for the platforms? After all, storytelling has been around since ancient times with no ad dollars ever!?

However, for every $100 TikTok earns, Creators make $6.25!?This earning gap is humongous!

This feels like the classic ‘Who came first - Chicken or the Egg’? In this case, the Platforms or the Creators???

Perhaps, this is why the growing focus on creator-first platforms like Kajabi's new campaign and Fancom can be attributed to the increasing unreliability of their better-known cousins like Facebook, TikTok, YouTube, X etc. With frequent platform changes, bans, or even shutdowns, creators are seeking greater autonomy and control over their audiences. This shift is evident in the growing number of creators, including Mega creators like Hannah Stocking with 50 million followers across platforms exploring alternative unconventional platforms and building their own communities

The future of the Creator Economy is up for grabs with innovative Platforms and enterprising Creators all ready to make a dash and splash!?

Spotlight Story (Bonus!)

The latest leak of thirty pages of uncovered documents in a lawsuit by 14 AGs against TikTok owner ByteDance suggests the company has aggressively pursued children’s use of its app despite knowing its widespread dangers.?

This sparked an online debate of epic proportions. While, one school of thought is understandably livid with TikTok, as its executives were aware of the addictive quality of the app, citing internal research that it took less than an hour (35 mins to be precise) to become addicted. The other side of the debate claims that while the platform definitely deserves the bashing, the onus of primary responsibility of the child's well-being lies with the Parents and (even) the Government - It is akin to penalizing the cigarette company because some under-age kids take to smoking. This cannot absolve the parents of their responsibility.?

In any case, this is certainly very bad news for TikTok which is already in an existential crisis in the US following Joe Biden signing a law that bans TikTok unless ByteDance agrees to sell to a non-Chinese company by 19 January 2025, after the US presidential election in November.

Research Reports?

• Shoppertainment is a USD1 trillion opportunity in APAC with six key high-growth markets—Australia, Indonesia, Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and Vietnam. Indonesia’s creator economy was found to sit at almost 12 million creators who produce 500,000 to one million pieces of content monthly, the highest in Southeast Asia. This, and more in the? 'State of the Creator Economy” released by GroupM-GOAT Indonesia.?

• Snap and BCG's latest report highlights the massive potential of India's Gen Z market. With a population of 377 million Gen Zers and 90% of Snapchat's DAU aged 13-34, this demographic represents a staggering $2 trillion opportunity by 2035.?

More context? Read posts from - Ajit Mohan, Saket Jha and Lynn Dang?

Trends

• Wondering what's the next video creator craze? Look no further - ‘cos you wont see a face! Hullo! faceless creators

• Here are the Top 50 most viewed channels worldwide - Indian YouTube channel T-Series still ruling the roost. Infact, 15 channels from India and 13 from the US make it to the top 50 worldwide list

Around the Globe

• Yes, it’s that time of the year - Predictions Time! Here are some of the 2025 Creator Economy predictions from the Agency's eyes.?
• YouTube is embracing Gamification by letting users earn and display Badges for doing things like being an early subscriber to a creator’s channel or being a top listener of their favorite artist, amongst other activities
• “During a gold rush, sell shovels” and AI is Gold in today's world! No surprise then that Braintrust, a one-year old startup with a valuation of $150Mn is making a business out of being other software’s AI consultant.?
• Switzerland recognizes that Sixty percent of TikTok users say they’ve visited a new place after seeing it featured in travel content by bringing 80 creators to the alpine resort village Saas-Fee.?
• Lori Goler, Head of People is the latest to exit from Meta, following high-profile departures in the past few years such as Sheryl Sandberg, David Fischer, Marne Levine and Fidji Simo?

AI X Creator Economy

You all might have heard about the recent talking, dancing, and serving Optimus robots at the recent “We, Robot” Tesla event - touted by many as the most significant invention of all times. However, the euphoria was short-lived with controversies around the robots being human-controlled. Well, frankly, I feel kind of relieved with the knowledge that the Robots were not fully in control autonomously! - The Human race still has some time before being taken over!! :)?

In another AI fallout, Hundreds of content moderator jobs in Malaysia got replaced by AI moderators.

While people losing jobs is almost always an unfortunate casualty, could it be a silver lining in some cases??

My Corner

The more time I spend in Dubai, the more I am convinced that this is the land of opportunities! This week I attended the GITEX GLOBAL (and met the non-dancing, talking Optimus) at Expand North Star. Met with some stalwarts headlined by the OG of Creator Economy Shabir Momin, a disruptive Creator Economy entrepreneur Kris Sharma, a walk-talking Linkedin legend Surabhi Shenoy, the visionary Robin Joffe , the brilliant Marcus Davies with Amit Rele and the trailblazing social entrepreneur Arad Malhotra. I also met with tens of brilliant changemakers Suzie, Mahmoud, Paul, Mahmood, Guillaume, Sean, Nawaf and so many more (Founders and Investors) at the monthly TacoStars event - Rockstars all!?

Dad Joke of the Week

Toasters were the first form of pop-up notifications!!?????

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I have held leadership roles in big tech sales & partnerships across Asia Pacific-Japan, North America, and Latin America. I’m a seasoned entrepreneur (EdTech) and a military veteran. I am a business author on the evolving Content and Creator Economy and a LinkedIn Top Voice on Team Management and Creator Economy.

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Stay curious, keep exploring!