Last week I spelled NFTs as NFT's which was an error on my part. I'm still learning.  This space is quickly expanding and showcasing a new path for creators to monetize. Think Logan Paul's $5M NFT.

Creators are rapidly starting to identify new monetization opportunities without relying solely on brand partnerships. This means more money with less effort.

Today's Highlights:

• David Dobrik's Dispo raises $20M at $200M valuation.
• Twitter rolls out Super Follow to give creators the opportunity to monetize. Read here for my thoughts and potential opportunities once other platforms release their Super Follow equivalents.
• Casey Newton gives a deep dive into how social networks got competitive again.

📰Talking Creators

David Dobrik Raises $20M at $200M Valuation for Dispo

We're living in crazy times. MrBeast is able to sell millions of burgers in 2 months and David Dobrik is able to raise $20M for his new social media app, Dispo (add me @antoniogaryjr), at $200M valuation. The days of laughing at your friend working towards becoming a full-time creator/celebrity are over. Creators are bringing in the cash after years of building their own distribution empire. You don't have to rely on media or paid traffic when you have millions of your own followers.

As the Chief Fun Officer, David Dobrik looks to bring the fun back in social media by removing the instant satisfaction of being able to post and edit your pictures. It's one part a nostalgic Kodak camera and the other part social media network.

Source: Tubefilter

🤳Talking Social & Platforms

Twitter’s ‘Super Follow’ creator subscription takes shots at Substack and Patreon

Say it with me, "the platforms that prioritize creators will win". After years of living in a comatose state, the Twitter product team took another step towards improving monetization with the announcement of "Super Follow". This comes after the acquisition of Revue for newsletters and beta rollout of Spaces (the Twitter equivalent of Clubhouse). With Super Follow, Twitter users will be able to monetize their audience by charging monthly subscriptions and member-only perks such as access to a creator's spaces, newsletter, Tweets, and more.

This is a trend that will continue as other platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, and Snapchat release their equivalents. It's amazing for creators but should be a warning for those building for the creator economy.
Source: Tech Crunch

Spotify debuts new tools for creators to make interactive podcasts

Read the first line of the last section and you'll understand. Spotify dives deeper into their podcast bet with the announcement of new tools focused on creators. This comes after their announcement of Spotify "hi-fi". A subscription experience offering high-quality audio.

1. The company is partnering with WordPress to turn written content directly into podcasts via its podcast creator platform Anchor.
2. In the coming months, Anchor will enable more creators to add videos to their podcasts. This functionality is currently available to music artists.
3. Spotify is also launching interactivity tools like polls and Q&A features for podcasters using Anchor.

These features and announcements almost feel like years too late. Especially when creators are now recording their Clubhouse conversations and releasing them as podcasts. The logical play for Spotify would be to lean into social features such as stories (previously tested) or a Clubhouse like experience. Maybe their data is showing something different; however, from the outside, the next level of growth for Spotify seems to align with social features.

Source: Axios

☂️Talking Drops From Creators

With NFTs growing week over week in popularity  (Logan Paul just sold an NFT for $5M). People are looking for novel ways to mint rare and collectible digital items. Depending on your coding chops, Raycast, founded by Thomas Paul Mann, inadvertently looks to accomplish that by helping you turn your code into a beautiful image.

Raycast

🧨Talking Marketing & Monetization for Creators

Super Follow & the monetization possibilities cross platforms

Super Follow and the soon-to-be-released equivalents, will alter the monetization possibilities for creators to monetize across the customer lifecycle. I wrote a thread highlighting some of those opportunities here.

🏄Things you want to know

• r/wsb is still surviving and thriving after GameStop bounces back.
• Netflix drops the latest trailer to Zack Snyder's 'Army of the Dead'.

Until Next Time

I hope you enjoyed this week's newsletter. If you enjoyed what you read, forward this email to a friend. Just tell them to subscribe. Lastly, I tend to post more short-form content across social, so if you don't already, follow me and say hi.