No Congrats. 3 Questions You Must Ask

📔 Jeff’s Diary (yes I’ll let you read it)

For everyone who’s come up to me and said congrats, stop it. I’ve accomplished absolutely nothing but put one foot in front of the other. Building is hard, but staying long enough to step back and look at what you’ve built; that’s even harder.

The last 2+ years have been the hardest in my life, but I wouldn’t change a thing. I’ve learned more about the world and myself in the last 2 than in the last 20, and because of that, I believe everything happens for a reason.

As you get older, you accumulate friends and knowledge and a sense of the world that only comes with time. And if you look hard enough, you can see the patterns…. Whether we live in the matrix or some vast void of infinite energy, follow the signs that you see and feel.

What you want to happen can happen if you make it happen. And I’m not some motivational get up and attack the day kinda guy, or have some mystical feather hanging above my bed. But I can tell you that persistence and positivity are ingredients for success, and that once I saw the world differently, I could, in some crazy, weird way, know exactly how things were going to end.

So when it all feels overwhelming and the world is betting against you, and the pressure becomes so thick that you want to give it all up, you just gotta put one foot in front of the other, and keep walking.

Keep your head up, and take it all in. Failure and hardship are what make you, you. Because life is a lesson learned, and what should happen, will happen.

Watch this video if you want another perspective.

– Jeff

📆 WHAT WE WILL HIT ON THIS WEEK:

→ Every founder must know: 3 questions every founder should ask when considering long-term partnerships

→ Industry moves: OpenAI’s Sora now lets creators control and monetize their content. Roblox launched Moments, a short-form video app to boost creator payouts.

→ First exclusive webinar tomorrow: learn what OWM is all about + get the framework to start building with creators

3 Questions Every Founder Should Ask When Considering Long-term Partnerships

All you’re doing with equity is shortening the time to trust. Paying a creator to talk about your product is exchanging cash for trust. Creators built that trust over time with their audience, so if they’re able to tell their fans they believed so much in what you’re building, they’re now an #owner that transfers trust.

1. Do they understand the vision?

A product is not a company, and explaining the features of today’s launch is not explaining the why. Creators are native storytellers, and your brand has a story to tell. When you explain what you’re building and why, look at their eyes and interest. Do they see the world that way? Ask simply, “Do you see the same future?”. When someone is brought into the world, you’re building, that they themselves want to live in, the sparks fly, and they’ll be excited to share every step of the way there, not just how many dials your toaster has.

2. Is that audience your customer?

Trust with the wrong audience is awesome if you want to buy impressions, but it’s not going to convert into sales. You need to make sure that you have the data on their audience, and do a quick gut check on their top engaged content. Who’s commenting? Quickly click on their profiles. If you target moms 35-45 with two or more kids, and every one of the comments is from a single guy in Miami, you may want to dive deeper into the data to ensure you’re not talking to a large audience of people you don’t want to invite to the party.

3. Will they be around for the next 5 years, like your business?

Creating is tough. It’s a grind. And as a founder, you need to make sure they’re in it for the long haul. They’re will be pivots and evolutions, but are they committed to their craft, and are they so passionate about creating that it’s not today’s job but next year’s Christmas card? Ask “Where do you see yourself in 5 years?”. It will reveal a lot about the creator, and whether they’re already feeling “burnt out,” and will give confidence (or lack thereof) that they’ll be around as long as you are willing to exist!

🎥 OpenAI Gives Creators Control (and a Cut) in Sora

OpenAI announced that creators and rights holders will soon be able to block or permit the use of their content in Sora, its AI video app, and earn revenue when their work is used.

Why this matters: For founders, this signals a shift: creators are becoming the owners of content. The same evolution happening in AI is happening in brand-building. Ownership is the new influence.

🎮 Roblox Launches “Moments” and Boosts Creator Payouts

Roblox just rolled out Moments, a short-form video app designed to rival TikTok, and it’s giving creators more ways to cash out. The platform also raised how much Robux can be converted into real money, signaling a bigger bet on creator monetization.

Why this matters: The lines between “creator platform” and “business platform” are disappearing. As Roblox doubles down on paying creators more, it’s clear: platforms are starting to act like partners, not middlemen.

This Friday: Learn The Creator Partner Framework With Jeff

After the session, you’ll get access to The Creator Partner Framework, the way to think about creator equity and leveraging incentives, into action.

📅 Every Friday at 2:30 PM EST

Ask your questions, and see how founders and creators can truly win together.

Andy's here. Waiting to answer the questions you're afraid to ask in public (and yeah, he's actually NOT a paid spokesperson but our network of badass execs open to answering questions...for free).

Got a question for Andy 😉? Drop it here — nothing is off limits. Trust us, he’ll GET the answer.

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