Creator Businesses Reach New Heights

Throughout 2022, we here at the Press have covered the launch of at least 60 creator businesses across no fewer than five distinct categories. Some of the largest include the following:

January: Logan Paul and KSI’s PRIME electrolyte beverage

February: MrBeast’s Feastables snack brand

March: Mythical’s Sporked food media brand

April: The D'Amelios' VC fund 444 Capital

June: Mark Rober’s Crunch Labs education business

The breadth of those launches from some of the creator world’s biggest names solidified a major truth for us by the end of Q2: The creator-led business model was poised to infiltrate every sector of our economy. 

It makes sense that 2022 was a banner year, especially when you consider what teed it up: In 2021, creators breached the fortified walls of traditional media with stories like The D’Amelio Show premiering on Hulu right alongside The Kardashians and the TikTok-famous group Please Don’t Destroy joining SNL for its 47th season.

If that was the warm up, 2022 was certainly the year creators took to the field. Today, we have a creator-founded sports drink that sponsors a fútbol team, a creator-founded snack brand that rivals Nestlé, a creator-founded food media brand giving Bon Appétit a run for its money, and a creator-founded VC fund investing in other creators.

How does that happen? Creator-led brands differ from traditional entrepreneurial pursuits in one crucial way: they’re audience-first. For example, brands like Nestlé build a product and then find an audience for it. Creators do the opposite—build the audience first, then find out what product or service is right for that audience and sell them exactly what they want to buy.

Let’s use Feastables as a case study.

At a glance: Feastables was MrBeast’s second food venture after MrBeast Burger, but the second at-bat was far more involved—at least as far as production and competition go.

MtBeast’s manager, Reed Duchscher, explained the difference in creating the two brands in a video: “MrBeast Burger was more plug-and-play because we found someone that had restaurant relationships who was able to get us into 300 locations within 60–90 days,” Duchscher said. “[With Feastables], we had to be involved in the logistics and operations. It’s been a lot more work.”

So how’d he pull it off? MrBeast tapped former president of RXBAR Jim Murray to act as Feastables CEO and built out a team of 13 based in Chicago and San Diego, including a vice president of strategic initiatives and director of web development.

The investment—both of time and money—appears to have paid off: Feastables…

• Raised $5 million at a $50 million valuation from investors including 776, Shrug Capital, and Sugar Capital for its February launch.

• Partnered with Walmart for nationwide distribution.

• Reached $10 million in sales by May.

• Reportedly sold around 200,000 chocolate bars a week as of this month, with plans to expand distribution to outside the U.S.

But it’s easy to sell chocolate when you’re arguably the most well-known YouTuber there is (MrBeast made the cover of Rolling Stone and Forbes this year). So what about other creators?

It seems even an economic downturn hasn’t slowed the pace of growth for creator-led businesses outside of just creating content: Kids channel Moonbug made $1 billion in retail sales this year and Ryan’s World nearly $200 million. Dude Perfect is about to unveil its $100 million theme park and Keke Palmer is growing her creator production company KeyTV.

Our Take

Our industry is growing at a rapid clip, but we think 10 years from now, when we glance back at how it all started, 2022 will be a defining year for creator entrepreneurship.

Creators have reached a new level of familiarity with their audiences, from stocking grocery store shelves to sponsoring NASCAR drivers. And because creators build audience first and product second, they aren’t limited by stuffy industry boundaries that entrepreneurs before them have faced.

So as we look to 2023 and beyond, we see creators breaking into even more sectors, like auto and home goods, deepening brand affinity more than we’ve seen any company do in the past. For example, brands like Trader Joe's and IKEA have loyal customers, but they’re not people. Creators have authenticity and human connection in their corner—making consumers like us that much more likely to follow and purchase whatever it is they’re selling.

👀 Creator Moves

• Roberto Blake is looking for a video editor who is proficient in motion graphics and green screen editing.

• Funk Bros are hiring for a creative director to oversee operations and manage a team of 10.

• Golf Sidekick is looking for a YouTube strategist to help with analytics and reach.

🔥 Press Worthy

• An in-depth look at TikTok's real estate creators.

• Why day-in-the-life videos are so addicting.

• John Mayer appears on Call Her Daddy.

• Pinterest shares its 2023 predictions.

• Hans Zimmer made music for a MrBeast video.

• Danny Duncan is opening a mini golf course.

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