Secret Weapon for Founders: Creator Middle Class

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

I’m on the struggle bus trying to position that OWM will move the creator economy into the ownership economy. I’ve spent two weeks building my investment deck because all I see is brands becoming content creators and creators trying to build brands, and when everything is content, a new operating system is needed. 

I’ve always said a rip-and-replace strategy is easier than a conceptual sale. You have a baseline for what was: the pain and cost of something you’ve used before. But when something is new and novel, it’s more belief than anything else. You have to get people to believe this is where the world is going and want to be a part of moving in that direction.

All the big agencies with venture teams struggle to support more than the top .01% of their roster, and yet every creator is coming to their manager talking about building some new kitty litter or iced coffee or whatever they see as an opportunity or passion. They want to be building the brands they’re talking about, not just paid promoters. 

At the same time, every founder has “influencer” top of mind, but doesn’t have access to the most impactful creators or the know-how to structure deals that will provide the highest ROI. 

The convergence is an opportunity. Not some creator launching a brand, but being a part of one that no one knew existed. You think they started it because it’s the first time you heard of it, but most of the time, it’s a great operator who didn’t understand how to break through the noise.

That’s the power of storytelling. Of attention. And I think people misunderstand what a creator is. The algorithms don’t reward followers but what creates reach, and creators don’t get reach by accident, it’s because they understand at a level you never will, how to make great content.

So wish me good luck as I take our thesis to market and look to pour gas on the $500B creator economy maturing into more than just being an #ad. Or if you’re interested in writing a check or want to help, I only want to work with good people doing hard things. Everyone else is just noise.

– Jeff

📆 WHAT WE WILL HIT ON THIS WEEK:

→ The middle creator class is rising: why the surge of niche, profitable creators is becoming founders’ newest (and most underrated) growth advantage

→ The creator economy’s infrastructure moment: Agentio raises $40M Series B led by Forerunner to make creator marketing on YouTube as scalable as paid media

→ TikTok launches a Bulletin Board: giving creators a direct channel to their most loyal fans

The Rise of the Creator Middle Class — and Why Founders Should Care

For the last decade, brands chased viral creators like they were buying Super Bowl ads. Big numbers. Big followers. Big budget burn.

But the most important shift in the creator economy isn’t happening at the top.
It’s happening in the middle.

There’s a fast-growing wave of niche creators, 10K to 100K followers, quietly building profitable, predictable, high-intent audiences. They’re not chasing fame. They’re building real businesses. And the market is finally catching up.

This “Creator Middle Class” is becoming one of the most powerful new growth levers available to founders.

The creator economy isn’t top-heavy anymore. It’s stabilizing and scaling in the middle. And for the first time, the math actually works in their favor. How?

1. 10K–50K high-intent followers is enough to run a six-figure business.

Why? Because conversion beats clout. At that scale, subs, digital products, affiliate links, and brand deals actually move.

2. Multi-Stream Monetization = Creator Stability

These aren’t creators living invoice to invoice. They’re running diversified revenue stacks: Patreon, workshops, downloads, courses, community subs, merch, events.

It’s stable. Which makes them way more reliable than macro creators riding algorithm waves.

3. Better ROI, Period

Why burn $50K on one macro influencer… when 10 mid-tier creators can give you better targeting, stronger trust, and actual conversions? These folks are building repeatable, margin-positive businesses, and getting sharper every year.

Platforms Are Cracking Open, And the Middle Class Is Why

For years, platforms catered to the edges: celebs at the top, hobbyists at the bottom. Now? They're building for the middle.

The tools are finally catching up to where the real value lives:

• YouTube’s monetization is more creator-friendly than ever

• TikTok’s rolling out real revenue share

• Patreon, Substack, Kajabi, Beehiiv, Ghost are booming because they reward depth over reach

Why? Because they’ve finally realized: Reach ≠ Relevance.

It’s not about being viral. It’s about being consistent. Trusted. Intentional.

4 Reasons Founders Should Bet on the Creator Middle Class

1. Niche Creators Convert

These aren’t passive followers, they’re high-trust communities. Mid-tier creators move with intention, not noise.

When they speak, people act. When they recommend, people buy. That’s lower CAC. Higher retention. Founder fuel.

2. They Build Systems, Not Spikes

Big creators bring flash. Mid-tier creators bring infrastructure. They don’t show up once. They build loops. Community, consistency, repeatability. Exactly what early-stage companies need to scale smart.

3. They’re Accessible and Aligned

You don’t need a Fortune 500 budget. You need a real relationship. With niche creators, founders get more impact per dollar, faster iteration, clearer feedback loops, direct access. It’s not just more affordable. It’s more effective.

4. They Are the Next Growth Layer

Not celebs. Not viral stars. The creators who matter most right now:

• Are specific

• Are credible

• Move decisions with precision

• Stay close to their communities

They’re not loud. They’re effective. And when you partner with them, you get access no paid ad can touch.

You don’t need the biggest creators. You need the right ones: builders with niche, profitable, high-trust communities. The Creator Middle Class is the new engine of the internet. And the founders who build with them, not just buy from them, are the ones who’ll win.

Creator Marketplace Agentio raised $40M Series B

Agentio just locked in a $40M Series B led by Forerunner, landing them at a $340M valuation. Creator marketing isn’t fringe anymore. It’s performance media.

Agentio isn’t matchmaking for vibes. They’re building a machine that moves numbers, like 5.3× better ROAS and 90% net-new customer rates compared to other video ad spends. Brands using Agentio aren’t just “testing creator”, they’re watching it outperform traditional media, and finally getting a system that scales.

Why this matters: 

The creator economy is finally getting real. The chaos of spreadsheets, DMs, and one-off “maybe this works” campaigns is being replaced with actual infrastructure, tools that make creator distribution feel as clean as paid media, just with more trust.

Agentio automates the hard stuff (discovery, matching, tracking, approvals), so founders get reach without the operational hangover. And the early numbers are obvious: creators + real tooling outperform traditional video every time.

Once platforms start treating creators like a growth engine, with attribution and repeatability, the only question left for founders is this: are creators just vendors to you, or partners who deserve a real stake in the distribution they’re powering?

TikTok Made It Clear: Community Is the New Distribution

TikTok just dropped Bulletin Board — a new channel where creators can post updates, drops, and exclusives directly to their followers. No feed guesswork. No algorithm roulette. It’s basically a broadcast layer, built for clarity over clout.

Why this matters: The creator economy is graduating, from chasing feed views to building real communities. For the first time, creators get a direct line to their people. No algorithm. Just a clean channel where loyal fans see what matters, instantly.

It’s a new advantage for founders. You’re no longer competing in a chaotic feed.
You’re partnering with creators who already own high-intent audiences that listen and act. It’s community-powered distribution.

Creators become the channel. Bulletin Board becomes the launchpad. Their audience becomes your early adopters.

The winners won’t be the brands with the biggest ad budgets, but the ones who co-build with creators who’ve earned trust.

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