Good morning. And happy April Fool’s Day. If anyone has ever heard a legit good April Fools joke, lmk in a reply.

–Hannah Doyle

The D'Amelios Launch a VC Fund

In the last two months TikTok’s first family partnered with Lightricks, a developer of video and image editing apps, and started their own VC fund, 444 Capital. 

“It excites us to be able to create and build an audience. Startups are the same way,” Marc D’Amelio told us. 

“Whether that’s big companies like Lightricks that are geared towards creators, or helping a new generation of women-led startups, we want to shine a light on more people and have a part in changing the startup field.”

The D’Amelio Family By the Numbers:

16 million+ → how many followers the D’Amelio family has across their social channels, not including the sisters.

$1 million → how much they plan to give per investment through their VC fund, making around 20 deals this year.

$25 million → spending target for their VC fund. 

Lightricks is the D’Amelio family’s first company they’ve taken an equity stake in as a collective. “Lightricks even invited us to work directly with their product and engineering team as part of continuous feedback meetings with their product and creative teams," Charli and Dixie D'Amelio said. "So we’ll have a chance to help guide the Lightricks product roadmap."

Our Take

The D’Amelios are part of an emerging trend of creators-turned-investors, including Cody Ko’s Dumb Money Capital and others investing in creator companies like Creator Now, Juice, and Able.

These creators may offer more than the investor celebrities that precede them, like Ashton Kutcher and Jessica Alba, given the deeper relationships they have with their audience and their ability to drive long-term value.

A Comedy Troupe Starts a Live Show on TikTok

Last month the comedy show Stapleview launched on TikTok, where creators write, stage, and perform live sketch comedy Thursdays at 6pm PST. Think Saturday Night Live, but on TikTok.

Monday is spent writing scripts and shooting pretaped sketches. Tuesday morning, the 19 cast and crew members gather in the writers room and read scripts. Wednesday is rehearsal. And on Thursday sketches, like winning athletes and empath doctor, are performed live on TikTok. 

The pretaped sketches go on social and in the middle of Thursday’s show, which buys time for wardrobe changes. So far, the pretaped sketches and clips from the live show have received up to 5 million views.

The project was created and is produced by Sam Grey, who was a producer at the studio, Broadway Video, founded by SNL creator Lorne Michaels. 

Our Take

Some of the biggest creators have found success by reinventing legacy media formats. MrBeast remade Survivor, Emma Chamberlain’s vlogs feel like an episode of Seinfeld, and Pat McAfee has redefined the sports talk show.

Stapleview applies the concept of SNL to a social platform, bringing in a production team with traditional media experience to support them. We wouldn’t be surprised if one of the members makes their way to SNL.

Sponsored by Shopify

The Future of Creator-led Brands...

… is meeting audiences where they are. Shopify has been leading the charge when it comes to e-commerce for years and they’re bringing Creators into the future with their latest tool, Linkpop.

Linkpop is a link-in-bio tool that’s shoppable. Creators curate a selection of products that visitors can buy directly from their store without ever leaving the link-in-bio. This is all powered by Shopify’s fast and secure checkout.

You don’t need a Shopify store to start a Linkpop, and this taking the friction out of not only the customer’s experience but the creator’s too.

Whether you’re on Instagram, YouTube, TikTok or Patreon, Linkpop works where you do. Best of all, it’s 100% free to use.

Step into the future of commerce with Linkpop.

Jacksfilms Makes a Party Game

Last week, the comedy creator announced the release of Be Funny Now, a free online game based off his YouTube series Yesterday I Asked You (YIAY). It involves answering a prompt with a picture or phrase and having others vote on the funniest response. 

Jacksfilms spent four years on the project, getting the idea from seeing fans continue to play YIAY in the chat after his livestreams on Twitch. It’s now available to presave for play later this year.

Our Take

Never underestimate the power of "free". Wordle showed us how far a shareable online game can travel when there's no cost to play. For Jacksfilms, this is an opportunity for his 4 million+ followers to share the game with friends and expand his brand reach beyond YouTube.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Gaming creator CrankGamePlays kicks off his in-person tour.

• TikTok launches a gif library.

• Logan Paul makes his WrestleMania debut tomorrow.

• Reserve a spot at this new creator conference, early bird ends today.*

• Amanda Rach Lee releases a tote bag and pencil case.

• Airrack launches Pizzafy sauce. 

*This is sponsored advertising content.

Was this forwarded to you? Sign up here. 

Want to advertise in The Publish Press? Go here.

Have an idea or creator to share? Submit here.