Good morning. NYC creators: Got plans next Thursday? Join us for an exclusive screening of Tejas Hullur’s latest YouTube video series, How To Become More Attractive, Scientifically, on October 17. We’ll have a Q+A with Hullur and his producer, plus time to mingle afterward. RSVP here.

— Hannah Doyle & Nate Graber-Lipperman

Dude Perfect’s New CEO and $100M Push

We have a special top story today. Dude Perfect’s new CEO sat down with our own Samir Chaudry to talk about the future of the brand. Here are the biggest takeaways, in Samir’s words.

Colin and I were there in Texas 10 years ago when Dude Perfect hired its first editor (hey, Chad). 

What continues to amaze us is how involved all five guys are in the company, even throughout their massive expansion—which includes hitting 100 million followers across social platforms, launching their own streaming platform, hosting a cruise, and debuting a slew of games and gear. 

After all this time, Dude Perfect just hired their first CEO, Andrew Yaffe, shortly after raising $100 million in growth capital from private investment firm Highmount Capital.

I got on a call with Yaffe to hear his vision firsthand.

Meet Andrew Yaffe: Yaffe comes from the NBA, where he spent the last decade shaping the league’s social and digital growth. He helped the NBA find fans in new ways, launching everything from an esports league to the NBA’s own streaming services. He’s seen what works in sports media and knows how to bring fans closer to the action, he said.

Yaffe’s plans for Dude Perfect:

• On his new role: “My to-do list is to help them prioritize...I view myself as protecting them from opportunities that take up a lot of time,” Yaffe said. 

• Changing how we watch: At the NBA, Yaffe learned a lot about what today’s fans want: more interaction and more customization. At Dude Perfect, Yaffe sees opportunities in connected TV, AI, and the “Twitchification” of sports to blend live-action media with digital innovation. “The broadcast hasn’t really changed in 75 years,” he noted.

• Taking Dude Perfect beyond YouTube: “We want to be the top family entertainment brand in the world,” Yaffe said, explaining the team’s plans to grow beyond the five original cast members, scale new verticals, and incorporate new talent. Yaffe wants to take the brand beyond YouTube with apps, tours, and a massive HQ in Texas. 

Our take: With Yaffe onboard and $100 million in the bank, Dude Perfect is a major step closer to realizing its vision of becoming the Disney of the YouTube generation.

Platform Roundup: X Switches Up Monetization, Adobe Adds AI Protection

This week, platforms released updates focused on two common creator pain points: monetization and generative AI content scraping. Here’s the rundown → 

X will no longer share ad revenue with creators based on how many verified users see ads in their post replies. Instead, creators will receive payouts based on “engagement from Premium users.”

• In the current model, many creators have reported low payouts. The new model aims to get more users to sign up for Premium and engage with other Premium users, though it’s unclear how much more they’ll earn.

• Revenue from “verified ads impressions” will stop November 8. X says that up to 25% of Premium subscriptions revenue will go “directly to creators.”

Adobe is releasing a free web app to help creators “protect and receive attribution for their work” and opt their work out of AI training. The Content Authenticity Chrome extension gives creators tools to attribute their website or social account to any image, video, or audio file—not just those made with Adobe.

• The app also aims to let creators opt their work out of AI training en masse instead of submitting individual protections for their content to each AI provider. 

• Content Authenticity will be integrated into Creative Cloud apps like Photoshop and Firefly.

Nutter Butter’s Unhinged TikTok Strategy

Since last year, Nutter Butter’s social accounts have been certifiably unhinged. From trolling creator Brian Jordan Alvarez to posting fever-dream videos of peanut butter-stained houses, their content has shifted from straightforward memes to nonsensical ciphers.

Is it working? Nutter Butter’s TikTok is getting 10–20 million views on multiple videos and recently topped 1 million followers. Though it’s unclear if their social success has translated to sales.

Business and marketing writer Rachel Karten interviewed a social strategist behind the Nutter Butter TikTok, revealing that the weird and off-beat content was part of its “strategic silliness.” (Check out Karten’s piece here).

One takeaway for creators? Karten quotes Ogilvy exec Rory Sutherland on standing out: "The fatal issue is that logic always gets you to exactly the same place as your competitors.”

🔥 Press Worthy

• Whalar acquires UK creator management company Sixteenth.

• Creator startup OTH Network releases a credit card that lets creators redeem products through sponsored content.

• LTK integrates AI into its creator gift guide tool to send notifications for price drops.

• The Harris-Walz campaign streams a political rally next to World of Warcraft gameplay.

• Former President Trump appears on Andrew Schulz’s Flagrant podcast.

📚️ Thank You For Pressing Publish

The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.

• Read: Bobbi Althoff tells Wired how she makes $300K per year—and why she’s changing her podcast.

• Watch: Pokémon creator EnlargedKai makes a video series that profiles Pokémon characters like they’re on Planet Earth.

• Listen: Adam Faze appears on The Prof G pod to talk about the start of his short-form video production company, Gymnasium, and how to monetize viral videos.