Deep Notes: The Creator Economy
Introducing Deep Notes
Welcome back to another edition of New Economies, which is rooted in my experiences working in venture. We’re living in extraordinary times—the most exciting era ever for technology, with groundbreaking trends emerging constantly that will redefine how we live and work in the future. Join me on this journey—subscribe to New Economies to stay ahead of the curve in technology. We’re just getting started!
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Introducing Deep Notes
Today, we’re excited to introduce Deep Notes—a new series dedicated to in-depth explorations of the latest and most impactful technology trends on the horizon. These are the insights worth noting, as they have the potential to shape the future in significant ways.
Each edition of our monthly Deep Notes focuses on a single category we believe deserves close attention, featuring:
30-50 slides in a deck format that provides a comprehensive view of the broader technology trend.
Insightful analysis and graphs on the data that is moving the latest technology trend forward.
Proprietary data on the latest trends, developments, startups, and investors to watch.
Our perspectives on emerging challenges and opportunities within the category and where the trend is heading next.
To commence Deep Notes, we are covering The Creator Economy, a category which we have been analysing for the past four years.
This is good timing as yesterday, I gave a keynote talk at 1 Billion Followers Summit in Dubai, where I covered why the creator economy is here to stay, the challenges it faces for startups and creators and why fewer startups are building than before. However, the creator economy is not going away, it’s just going through a period of consolidation.
Deep Notes: The Creator Economy
The creator economy is the widely growing ecosystem of over 200 million creators who are monetizing their individuality in myriad ways. These creators range from people producing content on platforms like Instagram, Meta, OnlyFans, TikTok, Twitch, and X to those launching paid communities or courses on platforms like Mighty Networks and KLIQ. Anyone can become a creator, and if you haven't already tried, there has never been a better time to give it a go.
We take a closer look at how the category is evolving and moving forward.
What to expect throughout our Deep Notes
Throughout our first edition, we cover the following chapters on The Creator Economy:
For the first time, the creator economy trend this year remains unchanged from the previous year: AI, community building, and revenue diversification.
In contrast, past years have seen significant shifts in core trends: Web2 creator platforms in 2021, the rise of Web3 in 2022, and the introduction of AI following the release of ChatGPT in late 2022/early 2023.
As 2025 develops, the emphasis on AI, community engagement, and revenue diversification continues to shape the creator economy.
There are now 200 million creators globally
We have come a long way since the term 'weblog' was coined in 1997; however, we’ve seen a significant increase in the number of people becoming creators, especially since COVID, and the number of creators in existence is only going to continue to grow from here.
On top of this… 75% of Generation Z aspires to become business owners, signalling a significant shift in the future of work.
How has the Creator Economy evolved over the years?
2021 was the year of covid with hundreds of startups launching to support creators. In just 12 months, $6 billion went into creator startups. At the time, the majority of these startups were supporting creators for them to interact with their fans.
In the same year, we saw a growing trend of NFT marketplaces which we thought may develop into the next trend for the following year.
(2022)
Web3: NFTs, community tokens, and the metaverse.
During the year of 2022, the creator economy trend went from the creator chat platforms to blockchain. Throughout the year, the trends for creators and investors were: Community tokens, NFTs, Metaverse, play to earn (Gaming) and platforms within The Ownership Economy.
(2023)
Ownership & the introduction of AI
As we headed into 2023, the trend for creators changed yet again…
Before publishing our 2023 Creator Report—the third edition—we had identified what we believed could be the next major trend: Ownership and Community. However, just weeks prior to its release, ChatGPT launched, followed by a surge of Generative AI platforms. It became clear that this new wave of technology would redefine the trajectory of the creator economy over the next 18 months.
2025
AI, Community & Revenue Diversification
Fast forward 18 months and for the first time, the creator economy trend for this year, remains unchanged from the previous year: AI, community & revenue diversification.
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