YouTube: Empowering the Creator Economy

Join us as we talk to Trond Wuellner, Director of Product Management at YouTube, an investor in more than 25 early stage businesses as an active member of the Hustle Fund Angel Squad, and a board member of the Sustainable Ocean Alliance. In this podcast, we talk about the growing creator economy and Trond’s previous experience at Google and YouTube, from learning about managing people from Sheryl Sandberg to his advice for aspiring product managers.

Growth in tooling and media platforms has created an explosion in content from the creator economy by enabling regular people to showcase their passions, whether it’s your friend’s Instagram of their meal at Zahav or Charli d’Amelio’s TikTok dances. While there was once an insurmountable editing barrier to creating professional content, creators can now use AI programs to remove pesky background noises; where it was once tough to monetize a growing channel, there are now programs to help convert virality into physical merchandise, vibrant fan communities, and other opportunities to earn. The next online sensation could easily be that podcast about cooking you’ve thought of starting!

Trond is at the forefront of these developments with his work at YouTube. We talk about the megatrends in the creator economy that are enabling an emerging “middle class” of participants, and how the effectiveness of tools has shifted the focus of media back to the storyteller and as a result returned the emphasis to authenticity and transparency. People are creators by nature, eager to tell their own stories, and now the growing ecosystem is allowing this community to think of themselves as businesses. The ability to monetize and adapt content to a captive audience is creating a flywheel effect that powers continued growth in the industry.

We also delve into Trond’s experience at Google and the most important lessons he got from Sheryl Sandberg about people management. We talk about the a-ha moments that led to his decision to lead projects on GoogleFi, reflections on his extensive experience in product management and most importantly, how to listen to your users. You won’t want to miss out on this episode!

Read more about Trond here: LINK