Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan Kay

Safwaan Kay

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Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan Kay Podcast

Everything you need to know about the business of creators: - Interviews with creators about their businesses - Deep dives into niche creator businesses - Brainstorms with billion-dollar CEOs on how creators could be monetizing their audiences better

APR 23

Josh Kaplan: How to Monetize Your Knowledge

This script features an in-depth interview with Josh Kaplan, CEO and co-founder of Smooth Media, a platform dedicated to supporting and scaling the revenue of knowledge creators further along in their creative journey. TIMESTAMPS: 00:00 Unlocking the Potential of Knowledge Creators00:27 The Genesis of Smooth Media: From Morning Brew to Creator Support01:39 Why Focus on Knowledge Creators and Established Talents?04:11 Brand Partnerships and Newsletters07:26 The Business Model Behind Supporting Creators07:53 Equity10:23 Learning from Industry Dive, Morning Brew, etc.22:37 Strategic Priorities23:51 The Future of the Creator Economy26:46 Final Thoughts: Advice for Creators

30 min
APR 22

Bryan Reisberg: Making Millions From His Corgi

Brian started Little Chonk because he wanted a better way to carry his dog around. He noticed that pet carriers were not good enough, so he decided to make his own. The idea took off during the pandemic when more people got pets and wanted to take them everywhere TIMESTAMPS:00:00 The Origin Story of Little Chonk02:51 Designing the Perfect Pet Carrier08:38 The Launch: A Viral Success08:44 Challenges of a DTC Business18:33 Expanding Beyond Social Media Sales21:49 A New Chapter: The Penguin Book Deal23:55 Living a Dream: Building a Life Around Passions24:38 Looking Ahead: Future Aspirations26:04 Finding Brian and Little Chonk Online

27 min
2023-07-31

Hunter Hammonds: Building A $100M Portfolio of Creator-Led Brands

Hunter Hammonds is the founder & CEO of Assembly, a holding company of creator-led businesses. And every month for the rest of the year, he's launching a new business with a creator. In this video, he breaks down: -His newest agency, HeyFriends! with Ali Abdaal -Why he partners with creators -How he thinks about moats (& building the machine of Assembly) TIME STAMPS 00:00:00 - Introduction 00:00:50 - Announcing HeyFriends! and the partnership with Ali Abdaal 00:01:21 - HeyFriends as a YouTube agency and the focus on unlocking effortless growth 00:03:06 - The challenges and complexities of succeeding on YouTube 00:04:12 - The ambition and scale of HeyFriends and similarities to Offmenu 00:05:19 - The process and structure of HeyFriends and the two categories of target customers 00:09:23 - The benefits and advantages of partnering with creators for launching businesses 00:12:12 - The focus on building moats and the competitive landscape of productized agencies 00:15:39 - Why the productized services model was chosen for Assembly and the vision for the future 00:19:01 - The operational excellence and the principles that guide the management style 00:26:12 - The focus on building a massive business and the plan for acquiring or investing in businesses 00:31:12 - The approach to launching multiple businesses and maintaining focus 00:37:51 - The importance of communication, thinking, and recruiting as a manager 00:44:34 - Responding to questions from the audience about talent acquisition and scaling revenue Follow Hunter on Twitter: https://twitter.com/_hunterhammonds

48 min
2023-07-25

The Neuron: The Economics of Industry Newsletters

Pete Huang and Noah Edelman are the brains behind the Neuron, a daily AI newsletter. They've grown to over 100, 000 subscribers and have readers from Salesforce, Microsoft, Apple, and more. In this episode, they share - how they grew their email list to 100, 000 subscribers with 90, 000 of those being organic - how they're planning to monetize beyond ad sponsorships - and the economics of newsletter businesses TIME STAMPS: 0:00 - Intro 01:03 - The importance of brand in the post-AI world 02:48 - Balancing competition and creating unique value 05:33 - Overcoming challenges and staying focused on work 08:20 - Creating content for LinkedIn and TikTok 11:45 - Using paid ads and SparkLoop for growth 21:04 - Choosing to focus on courses instead of events 27:33 - Considering pricing and business models for courses 31:54 - Exciting developments in AI, such as AI in education and contextual understanding 37:57 - Pete's billion-dollar idea for old people 40:27 - Where to find them online

44 min
2023-07-17

Greg Isenberg: Building the Y Combinator for Creators

Greg Isenberg breaks down why he's partnering with creators to launch products, how he's doing this, and why now is exactly the right time to do it. TIME STAMPS: TIME STAMPS 0:00 - Intro 0:30 - Relationship between Mr. Beast and Night Ventures 0:56 - Greg shares reasons for focusing on creators building audiences 1:26 - Greg explains the moment in time for creators 2:05 - Challenges faced by creators 3:27 - Greg predicts the future of creators like Mr. Beast 5:20 - Michael asks about building a YC for creators 5:31 - Greg shares his approach to building a creator's incubator 7:14 - Safwaan asks about the balance between early and late development 7:58 - Greg outlines the stage where he is interested in focusing 8:31 - Safwaan and Greg discuss incubating companies with creators 9:34 - Safwaan and Greg talk about returns for their holding company 10:47 - Michael comments on the shift in product advertisement and promotion 11:20 - Greg discusses the benefit of communities in promoting products.

15 min
2023-07-17

Greg Isenberg: Turning 300k Followers into an 8 Figure HoldCo

Greg Isenberg uses 300, 000 Twitter followers to start an agency. Now, his agency is a cash-flowing engine that allows him to incubate and invest in multiple businesses for his personal holding company. In this video, we cover how he uses his audience to start an agency, the first thing you should do when you start a personal holding company, and how he works on so many different things without getting distracted. TIME STAMPS 0:00 - Intro 0:26 - The personal holding company thesis 1:05 - The opportunities of product studios 1:20 - What does the McKinsey for Community look like? 1:55 - Greg talks about working with big companies 2:05 - The decision to create a product design agency 2:30 - The issues with agencies & how Greg solves them 3:25 - Importance of starting with a cash flow generating business for a PHC 4:40 - Greg talks about how cash is being used in business 4:55 - Importance of not having LPs 5:50 - Discussion about trade-offs between starting an agency and getting capital from LPs 6:20 - Drawbacks of venture capital investments 7:50 - The value of creativity in a holding company setup 8:20 - Discussion about the freedom and fun in creating a company 9:15 - Benefits of a personal holding company for creative individuals 9:55 - Focus and dealing with too many ideas 11:10 - Importance of themes in focus and execution 11:30 - Greg shares his themes for the year 12:22 - Conclusion

13 min
2023-07-10

Talent Managers: The Truth About Working With Creators

Cole and Cody are the founders of Up North, a talent management company for creators. We talk about how they signed their first clients, how they operate, to what they’re looking for in creators they work with. We also discuss the challenges of working with creators, partnering with creators to start businesses and more. 0:00 - Introduction 0:40 - Starting to manage talent 1:45 - Understanding individual goals 4:55 - Challenges of managing content creators 5:40 - Being a therapist or manager 10:00 - Looking for talent and collaboration 11:50 - Launching businesses with creators 14:45 - Revenue breakdown for brand sponsorships 18:20 - Balancing time and resources 20:40 - Valuation and acquisition of talent management agencies 22:55 - Revenue breakdown for talent management 24:10 - Team structure and functions 26:55 - Philosophy of building and working 28:35 - Predictions for the next 1-5 years in the industry 31:30 - Advice for young creatorsTwitter:Cody: https://twitter.com/Cody_Hock Cole: https://twitter.com/upnorthcole Safwaan: https://twitter.com/safwaankay Michael: https://twitter.com/mikekarnj Listen on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NxaIMJydhpHoRy2g7eAvn Listen on Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-led-brands-with-safwaan-kay/id1688957922

33 min
2023-06-26

Megan Lightcap: How to Invest in Creators

In this video, Megan Lightcap, an investor at Slow Ventures, discusses the concept of investing in creators. She explores the idea of borrowing against future equity and how it can be a valuable opportunity for creators. Megan addresses common misconceptions about owning a piece of the creator and explains the structure of deals with creators, including the use of holding companies. She shares insights on the different types of investments in creators and the stages of raising capital for them. Megan also highlights the potential outcomes and liquidity for investments in creators. Lastly, she discusses the need for a rebranding or reframing of the creator economy and shares her plans for marketing and awareness strategies in the future. TIMESTAMPS 0:00 Introducing the video 1:37 Exploring the concept of investing in creators 2:00 Examining the idea of borrowing against future equity 6:00 Describing the structure of a deal with a creator 6:40 Discussing the thought process behind the deal structure 8:35 Exploring the potential uses of capital for creators 9:45 Addressing misconceptions about owning a piece of the creator 10:55 Defining the bounds of the creator holding company 13:15 Reviewing different types of investments in creators 15:00 Discussing the stages of raising capital for creators 17:00 Exploring the potential outcomes and liquidity for investments in creators 22:10 Arguing for a rebranding or reframing of the creator economy 23:45 Identifying the opportunities for creators in niche markets 27:20 Discrediting the misconception that creators are not business people 29:40 Outlining Megan's focus on go-to-market strategies and KPIs 31:30 Explaining Megan's plans for marketing and awareness (licking the cookie) 34:25 Discussing when creators should consider starting a company 36:30 Sharing Megan's plans for the next 12 months 39:30 Highlighting where to find Megan online LINKS Megan: https://twitter.com/mmlightcap Slow Ventures: https://slow-prod.herokuapp.com/ Michael: https://twitter.com/mikekarnj Safwaan: https://twitter.com/safwaankay Listen on your favorite podcast app Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0NxaIMJydhpHoRy2g7eAvn Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/creator-led-brands-with-safwaan-kay/id1688957922 Youtube: https://youtube.com/@creatorbrands

40 min

Everything you need to know about the business of creators: - Interviews with creators about their businesses - Deep dives into niche creator businesses - Brainstorms with billion-dollar CEOs on how creators could be monetizing their audiences better

Creator

Safwaan Kay
Years Active

2023 - 2024
Episodes

17
Rating

Clean
Copyright

© Safwaan Kay
Show Website

Creator-Led Brands with Safwaan Kay