Building the Middle Class of the Creator Economy

This is a fascinating read.<p>I used to work at YouTube when YouTubers were just starting to become a thing. The idea that you could just upload a popular video and earn money automatically was mind-blowing. And YouTube is still the leading platform in terms of helping creators make money.<p>If we were to see millions or tens of millions of people making a living off their creativity, then there needs to be some dramatically different social platform. YouTube, TikTok, Instagram and the like are still largely similar to the old publishing model - you do well by serving a broad audience. That&#x27;s just impossible for the so-called middle class.

An irony that I don’t know how to quite articulate is that the goal for all platform companies (TikTok, Instagram, Roblox, YouTube) is to keep a free market within, but a total monopoly as a platform on the outset.<p>As much as you try for balance, power laws will exist and the creators of these very platforms know very well from their own experience that those who capture it will do massively better than those who don’t.