Slow Upload
A Banker And A Creator Walk Into A Bar
Last week, we attended VidCon Baltimore, the first East Coast installment of the well-established creator and fan conference. The event was much smaller and more industry focused than its West Coast counterpart – and included an invite-only Industry Leadership Summit that inspired spirited discourse among key stakeholders in the creator ecosystem.
Admittedly, we are relatively new to the conference series (this marked our third VidCon), but we were struck by this iteration’s more serious tone and “traditional” speakers. While creators still represented a meaningful contingent, the other attendees (and topics) reflected a maturation taking place in the industry writ large.
Labor: The Leadership Summit’s first discussion focused on Creators.org, an effort to organize the industry around career preservation and sustaining the creator economy. The conversation recognized unsuccessful, past organized labor attempts, and encouraged new tactics that, if successful, would 1) elevate the status of creators among policy makers in Washington (potentially even defining a new labor class), and 2) drive accountability among brands and platforms in equitably supporting creators (like DEI).
Recognition: Social platforms (and candidates’ strategic use of them) have long had tremendous influence over voters during election cycles, but the Biden administration has deliberately partnered with celebrities and creators to inform and influence the public (look no further than the vaccine messaging). Christian Tom, Biden’s director of digital strategy, took the stage to describe the impact of working with individuals like The Jonas Brothers, Olivia Rodrigo, and Vivian Tu. We’ve seen empirical evidence of the importance consumers, brands, and enterprises have attributed to creators, but it was encouraging to see the White House do the same.
Capital: Perhaps most striking was a panel titled “Private Money and the Creator Economy,” which centered around creator funding, deal structures, time horizons, exits, and the overall macro outlook. The moderator was joined by two investment bankers and a private equity investor – a group that had likely never heard of VidCon even a few short years ago. As evidenced by the panel itself and speakers in attendance, the industry is clearly approaching a stage that invites serious private capital formation. Last December, we wrote that creator financing was going mainstream, and that the prior 12 months had seen an emergence of capital providers across equity and debt-like investors. This movement is certainly here to stay and has caught the attention of not only capital providers, but also, importantly, capital advisors – a first step toward what may be an industry complete with growth investment, roll-ups, M&A, sales, and eventually IPOs.
The differences we noticed during last week’s convention were subtle, but meaningful. As we consider the small shifts we’ve witnessed in the creator ecosystem, even in the face of a sluggish macro economic environment, we are more resolute than ever in the inevitability of its importance. Rome wasn’t built in a day (just ask TikTok), and we’re excited to play a small part in the creator economy’s continued evolution.
About Slow Upload
An exploration into individual- and creator-first companies: how they are built, underwritten, and financed. From the Slow Ventures Team, Sam Lessin, Megan Lightcap, and Caroline Cline.