What drives real growth in 2025: influencer freebies or creator equity?

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

We’re throwing a huge party in NYC on 9/30, not because I love partying (although I do), but because bringing people together is a superpower. Being the connector of friendships and business partnerships makes you sticky, and you should just connect people who can help each other because it’s the right thing to do.

Yesterday I was at the Slow Ventures Creator CEO Summit, hosted by Billy and Megan, who are an absolute force, and you can judge someone by who shows up for them. Everyone I met there was a hitter, someone of influence, of power, of respect. In a world of AI, taste will be a defining differentiator. And human curation of people all searching for human connection is what COMMUNITY is all about.

So yes, there will be incredible fireside chats, brands like Tom Segura’s Por Osos popping up an espresso martini bar, and of course a magician and surprises. But you’re going to show up because of the people.

It’s not about where you are, it’s about who you’re with. Hope to see some familiar faces there. Excited to finally launch OWM publicly to the world!

– Jeff

📆 WHAT WE WILL HIT ON THIS WEEK:

→ How to build real trust with your audience in 2025: stop shipping swag, start giving creators skin in the game

→ Creator spotlight: Sam Hurley can put 4.5M eyes on your brand and he’s ready to use that influence to help build the next big haircare business

→ YouTube’s new swappable ad slots show why short-term sponsorships erode trust and why long-term creator partners are the real growth engine

→ Condé Nast launches Vette: creator storefronts replacing messy affiliate links, giving founders fresh ways to collaborate

→ OWNERS ONLY (Sept 30, NYC): event for founders and creators building audience-first companies. You need to be there

Who’s Fooled by Freebies: Creators or Founders?

Too many founders still believe loyalty can be shipped in a cardboard box. Send a hoodie, toss in some samples, maybe a handwritten note and suddenly that creator will be a lifetime customer, right? Wrong. Half the time creators don’t even open the box.

Because freebies don’t buy trust. They don’t buy belief. And they definitely don’t buy loyalty.

Trust is a chain: brand → creator → audience. Each link only holds if the one before it is strong. The creator has to believe the brand’s story. The audience has to believe the creator. Break one link and the whole thing snaps.

Here’s the founder’s biggest problem: Creators can’t fake belief. They either see themselves in your story or they don’t. They either want to build with your product or they don’t. A free box will never change that.

Creators only promote what they genuinely use, what they’d invest in themselves, what they’re proud to say they helped build. That’s why the future isn’t in transactional one-offs. It’s in giving creators equity, advisory roles, ownership. Because when a creator owns even a sliver of the brand, they’re no longer just endorsing a product. They’re ready to fight for its success like it’s their own because it is.

You can’t fool an audience. They feel the difference. They can smell when it’s just an ad and they can feel when it’s real

So the choice for founders is simple: keep renting posts from creators who may not even try your product or lock in believers who will live your brand because they own a piece of it.

📺 YouTube Introduces Swappable Sponsorship Slots

YouTube revealed a new tool that allows creators to add sponsorship segments into videos as replaceable slots. Once a deal wraps, they can swap in a new brand without having to re-edit or re-upload the content.

Why this matters: For founders, this opens a new wave of creators chasing short-term ad revenue by constantly rotating sponsors. But here’s the trade-off: every switch chips away at audience trust.its People don’t connect with ads that feel temporary, they connect with creators who stand behind something long-term. That’s why now is the moment to lock in creators who are all-in on your vision. The ones who want to grow your business with you.

🛍️ Condé Nast to launch new creator shopping platform

Condé Nast is rolling out Vette, a creator-led shopping platform set to launch in early 2026. Creators will get their own digital storefronts, brands will dropship products and Vette will handle checkout.

Why this matters: Vette gives founders a brand-new platform to explore for collaborations. Instead of competing for attention in messy affiliate systems, founders can partner with creators who now own curated storefronts. That means more authentic product placement, tighter creator-brand alignment and a direct path to turning influence into sales. It opens the door to long-term partnerships where creators aren’t just driving one-off clicks but continuously championing the products they genuinely believe in. More platforms = more opportunities to build alongside creators.

🚀 OWNERS ONLY (September 30, NYC)

It’s a curated room of founders and creators building audience-first companies. No panels, no awkward icebreakers, just the right room with the right people.

If you’re serious about ownership and audience, this is the room you need to be in.

Hosted by Jeff Frommer, son of a cop and a teacher, who bootstrapped MALKA Media to 200 employees before selling it for $75M, and Andrew Yeung, an ex-Google/Meta product lead turned hospitality entrepreneur, whose Fibe events have already brought together 40,000+ founders, investors, and operators.

Learn how distribution is the differentiator in 2025 with us.

🗓️ Check Out the Full Calendar Here

Have an event we should know about? Stop hoarding all the good stuff for yourself! Submit the details here!

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).

Every week, Andy's ready to tackle the real shit that keeps founders up at night. No sugarcoating, no PC answers — just the truth.

Andy's sitting here with his mustache twitching, ready to drop knowledge bombs about creator equity that would cost you thousands with a consultant.

So drop your questions below. About valuations, term sheets, creator contracts, whatever keeps you up at 3am. The more uncomfortable, the better.

He loves this country and wants to bet on what makes it great – ownership and the generational wealth it creates.

He wants you to win, but he wants you to have fun doing it.

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

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➡️ Forward this to another founder who's struggling with creator partnerships. Ownership spreads one conversation at a time.

➡️ Need 1:1 guidance? Block time with me any Friday here. No pitches, just real talk.