Evan Britton is the founder of Famous Birthdays, the de facto celebrity wikipedia offering 200,000 biographies with a focus on Gen Z social media stars and creators. Evan founded Famous Birthdays in 2012 and has profitably bootstrapped operations through ad revenue. Currently, the site registers 30 million unique monthly visitors, with versions in Spanish and Portuguese. Famous Birthdays also creates original content with celebrity creators by hosting Q&As, games, and challenges. The site’s content on all four of its social channels (YouTube, TikTok, Twitter, and Instagram) has been receiving more than a 100 million views every month. In this interview, we talked to Evan about:- The origin of Famous Birthdays- Identifying the phenomenon of digital creator fame- Why he chose not to compete with Cameo- Which platforms and content drive Famous Birthdays searches- Why user curiosity has migrated from traditional celebrities to digital creators- What creators can learn from what’s popular on Famous Birthdays- The risks posed by deplatforming - Why he’s not interested in outside funding, and how he managed to bring an ad-based business model to a bootstrapped business- His advice to founders who want to bootstrap a businessBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: https://meansofcreation.substack.com/

In another special hangout episode, Li, Nathan and MOC producer Adam Keesling talk through the week's passion economy news and take live questions from the MOC community.In this episode, we talk about:- The intersection between Nathan and Li's recent writing on why content is king and building a creator middle class- Why Li built Side Hustle Stack, and its surprise appeal to Gen Z - How to mitigate risk in the Passion Economy- Sahil Lavingia's new essay "No Meetings, No Deadlines, No Full-Time Employees," and whether we've been brainwashed by capitalismBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com. 

Chris is best known for inventing the now ubiquitous hashtag, but his work over the last 15 years spans social technology, product design, synthetic media, founder culture and mental fitness. Currently, Chris helps founders and creators with their Product Hunt launches. His insight into social technology stems from his experience at big tech companies like Google and Uber, combined with his role in popularizing social innovations like coworking and unconferencing. Chris has shared his unique perspective in popular Netflix documentary The Social Dilemma, and in books like No Filter by Sarah Frier and Billion Dollar Loser by Reeves Wiedeman.In this interview, we talked to Chris about:-How his “aversion to money” has evolved over time-Why he’s spending his time helping makers build and problem-solve now-Why he left the Bay and “became a nomad”-Where he sees the general ethos of the Internet shifting next-How he thinks about monetization like his relationship to fitness-The “transitional period” we are in between economics of scarcity and abundance-How much responsibility gig companies should have for their employees, and the issue with collective bargaining-What the passion economy needs to keep growing healthily-His hope for new platforms that enable creators with smaller followingsBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: https://meansofcreation.substack.com/

This week on Means of Creation, we talked to Nadia Eghbal!Nadia’s work has focused on the reputation-based economies that drive creator and open-source developer communities. She currently is the Head of Writer Experience at Substack and previously helped build open-source developer experiences (independently and at GitHub). Nadia also published a book earlier this year, Working in Public, which explores open source developer communities and their implications on the creator economy. In this interview we discussed:- Similarities and differences between open-source software maintainers & other types of online creators- The implications of the parasocial relationship between online creators and fans- Creator burnout in software & other content verticals, and what platforms can do to help- What her job as Head of Writer Experience at Substack entails- How creators and writers balance the tension between monetization and audience growthBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com.

Since 2001, Eugene Wei has been publishing a blog and newsletter called Remains of the Day, where he writes about technology and media. The blog distills complicated consumer tech trends not just from a product design standpoint, but also from a user psychology perspective. His essays on Status as a Service (StaaS) and Seeing Like an Algorithm serve as guiding mental models for the tech community.  Eugene’s past experience gives him a unique historical perspective on the development of consumer technology platforms. Most recently, Eugene was Head of Video at Oculus and before that, he led product teams at Flipboard, Erly, Hulu and Amazon. In this interview, talked to Eugene about:How he first got interested in TikTokWhat other domains could become TikTok-ifiedHow his experience in film school impacts his work as a product leaderHow our chances in media have impacted how we relate to famous people (such as with The Queen in popular TV series The Crown), and how that extends to our relationships on social mediaThe impact of technology on modern film & television, such as with real-time VFXWhy he started writing and what he learned from the responsesIf he thinks the SF exodus is overrated or underratedAnd more!Brought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com

Indie Hackers is an online community that focuses on entrepreneurs who build profitable internet businesses. They describe themselves as individuals seeking financial independence, creative freedom, and the ability to work on their own schedule. Entrepreneurs in the community have built B2B SaaS applications, paid newsletters, and everything in between. Courtland started Indie Hackers in 2016 and it was acquired by Stripe 10 months later. He now works for Stripe operating Indie Hackers and hosting their podcast. As of February 2020, the site was seeing about 1.5 million page views per month and the community had grown to 80,000 members. Before creating Indie Hackers, Courtland spent several years working on software startups and graduated with a degree in computer science from MIT. In this interview, we talked to Courtland about:-The origin story of Indie Hackers-The best products and services that niche online communities can use to monetize -The types of businesses that have become more (or less!) popular to start during Covid-19-The traits of successful Indie Hackers-What the mainstream technology community misunderstands about Indie Hackers-The biggest issues Indie Hackers face-The most popular tools for Indie HackersBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com

In this special Q&A episode, Li and Nathan talk through the week's passion economy news, and take live questions from the MOC community.In this episode, we talk about:- Wes Kao and Gagan Biyani's new Cohort-Based Education startup- How platforms can enable larger swaths of their user bases to be more successful, as opposed to its most visible few - How affiliate models can help growth and monetization- Why there isn't a "best" algorithm for every platformBrought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com.

Aella is an OnlyFans creator who is in the top 0.08% of all creators on the platform. Founded in 2016, OnlyFans is a platform that is revolutionizing sex work, allowing creators to sell subscriptions for premium content, as well as earn tips from their fans and charge for pay-per-view messages.The website is mainly used for adult content, but also has a market with chefs, fitness creators, and musicians. In past months some well-known celebrities/influencers have joined the platform, including Cardi B and Bella Thorne. Per recent media reports, OnlyFans now has around 30 million registered users and around 450,000 content creators. Its growth is only accelerating during the pandemic; earlier this summer, the company said it was seeing a 75% month-on-month increase in signups since March. Aella started creating content on OnlyFans earlier this year but has been involved with various forms of sex work for over 8 years. She also runs a private telegram group for OnlyFans girls, and was previously a data analyst for a crypto startup.In this interview, we talk about:- Aella’s backstory and what led her to becoming a creator on OnlyFans- What creators in other fields can learn from OnlyFans- What people misunderstand about OnlyFans creators and subscribers- Shifts in societal attitudes towards sex work- How the rise of OnlyFans affects the broader social platform landscape- What new software products are needed for this segment of creators- And more!Brought to you by the Means of Creation newsletter: meansofcreation.substack.com

Joe Albanese is the cofounder and CEO of Stir, a startup that’s building tools to help creators run their businesses. In the new era in which power and influence are shifting from institutions to individuals, Stir is addressing the needs creators have in running their businesses and optimizing their finances. Last week, Stir launched a public beta of its core product and also announced its $4 million seed round led by Homebrew, XYZ Capital, and Ludlow Ventures, with participation from some heavy-hitting angels in the creator economy, including Casey Neistat, Jack Conte from Patreon, and our own Li Jin.Stir's core features include a dashboard of various revenue sources ("Mint for creators"), a calendar view of different income streams, and collaboration tools. Stir has also launched various Drops over the past few months, which include products like Presubscribe FYP.RIP, OnlyTweets, and more.Before starting Stir, Joe was Head of Product and Design at Bitwise, a Product Designer at Facebook, and an early employee at Yik Yak.In this episode, we talk to Joe about: - the backstory on how he ended up building for creators in the first place and major learnings so far- why collaborations between creators (“collectives”) are important in the passion economy- why they’ve been creating DropsRelated links:https://www.usestir.com/https://twitter.com/BearUNLV/status/1275143945417142277Brought to you by Means of Creation: http://meansofcreation.substack.com/

Li Jin and Nathan Baschez interview Taylor Lorenz, a technology reporter for the New York Times covering internet culture. Her reporting is consumed avidly by venture capitalists, founders, and anyone curious about how the internet is shaping culture and how humans express themselves. She has written about topics like TikTok cults, a Discord community called the Gen Z Mafia, Triller poaching talent from other platforms, TikTok mansions, and other very online topics. Before joining The New York Times in 2019, she was a technology and culture writer at The Atlantic and The Daily Beast.Here on Means of Creation, we’ve been following her work for a very long time. She understands more about the creator ecosystem than basically anyone else. In this conversation, we talk to Taylor about:- What we can learn from influencers/creators about the future of entrepreneurship in America- Why creators are finally getting the recognition they deserve among VCs and technologists- The term “passion economy” and whether it’s an apt phrase to describe the growing contingent of people who are making a living online- The tensions between tech VCs and journalists- Citizen journalism and the evolving media landscape- How privilege plays out in the passion economy - And more!Related links:everything.substack.commeansofcreation.substack.comShow theme music: Compassion by Stefan Kartenberg