Creator-led businesses: are they for you? 🤔

The argument for creator-led businesses

As some of the first members of the creator economy generation, we’re experiencing new chapters of the rule book every day.

We recently connected with Scott Van den Berg, a venture capitalist and founder of two successful companies that help influencers become entrepreneurs. 

He’s the financial mind behind Influencer Capital, which structures equity deals between startups and creators, and CELEB VC, an investment fund that grows brands founded by celebrities and creators.

Throughout our interview, Scott made one thing clear – creators have a lot to gain by launching businesses. Even better, we’re now entering a “second wave” of celebrity/creator-founded brands, and now is a great time to jump in. 

From predictions on the niche to advice for creators, here’s a closer look at our conversation!

Why invest in the creator economy?

While working as a consumer startup investor, Scott witnessed traditional brands struggle to remain relevant:

“Two decades ago, companies relied on TV ads and physical stores for legitimacy, but this approach is less effective today… Just five years ago, companies could pump millions into Facebook, Instagram, and Google ads and achieve great results. However, that is also not the case anymore.”

From shorter attention spans to inflation to ad blockers, traditional brands are now held back by logistical and financial hurdles. 

But you know who doesn’t suffer as much from these issues?

Creators.

“With access to viral channels and direct connections to millions of fans, creators can drive near-instant traction to their brands by simply posting on their social media platforms—something traditional brands have to pay millions of dollars for.”

Scott named success stories such as Kim K’s SKIMS and Mr. Beast’s Feastable. One of my personal favourites is Ryan Trahan’s Joy Ride Sweets, which may have one of the best YT promo videos ever (highly recommend checking it out!).

As the adage goes, follow the money. And Scott followed the money right into the creator economy.

A look at CELEB

This path led Scott to invest in celebrity brands for icons like Selena Gomez, DJ Khaled, Jake Paul, Sasha Pieterse, and more. Colleagues started asking how he accessed these exclusive rounds, so he decided to spread the love by launching CELEB. Now, other investors can co-invest with him for as little as $2,500 a startup.

Anticipated growth in this sector of the creator economy

As you’d expect, Scott is in this industry because he sees potential. So where is this heading within the next 3 years?

He predicts that more celebrities and creators will continue setting up their own companies (with so much success from their peers, why wouldn’t they?). 

But there’s a caveat. While the products in this ‘first wave’ of creator brands often had debatable quality levels, he doesn’t think the lack of thought-out brand planning will fly anymore:

“The consumers of today demand better products for themselves and the planet. That’s why I believe that the second wave of celebrity/creator-founded brands will integrate innovation and technology. As a result, these companies will have a real competitive advantage.”

Fuze’s recommendation: how to get a slice of the creator-led business industry?

Scott’s advice for creators isn’t what you’d expect – he doesn’t think everyone should start a business. Even those with 1M+ followers struggle to keep brands afloat. 

Instead, he believes it makes more sense for creators to do equity deals with existing brands to become co-founders. Lots of entrepreneurs need a popular face to promote their company, so there’s an opportunity for synergy:

“It allows a creator to just focus on what they do best and that is creating content and engaging with its audience, while the company is focussing on what they do best: operating the business.”

Want to learn more about Scott’s approach to creator-led business development? Follow him on LinkedIn or visit www.CELEBSyndicate.com to see his strategy in action. 

As always, if you’ve got this far, thanks for your time :)

If you would like to chat further, I'm putting aside time for one consulting call per week for creators / marketeers that are subscribed to this newsletter.

We'll speak for 30 minutes on a problem that you want to discuss and I'll follow up with valuable resources and an action plan to address the opportunity / issue.

I specialise in the area of brand partnerships, creator monetisation & creator marketing strategy.

Have a brilliant day,

Conor