Good morning. Thanks to singer-songwriter Brendan Abernathy, we can’t shake the millennial earworm that is “Married in a Year.” And apparently, neither can the rest of the internet.

So, if you don’t mind, we’ll be dancing out in California…

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

How Kai Cenat’s Streamer U Is Changing Live Content

Kai Cenat just wrapped his four-day Streamer University event, where creators gathered to livestream and learn about building a creator business.

Viewers watched Streamer U for more than 23 million hours (or about 2,626 years total) on Twitch, where Cenat notched a peak concurrent viewership of 719K. 

The syllabus → 

• 120 creator students and 18 creator professors including Agent 00 and India Westbrooks livestreamed the event on their personal channels from the University of Akron campus in Ohio.

• Professors taught subjects from audience growth to monetization.

Here’s how Cenat’s Streamer U represents the next evolution of the livestream creator business →

For Cenat: He’s broken Twitch subscription and viewership records before, but Streamer U represented a new growth lever for Cenat.

“The whole goal of the event was for [Cenat] to be on other peoples’ streams, for them to get clips with him,” Rohan Kumar, who worked at Streamer University directing social content for AMP’s skincare brand TONE, told us. Cenat only streamed from his own channel for about five hours, but he appeared on nearly 140 different channels throughout the weekend.

For the students: Mohamed “CrispyMo” Aden grew his audience on Twitch from 400 to 11K and on TikTok from 600 to 31K during his time at Streamer U.

• Aden told us the event was a means of meeting and working with streamers of all sizes. For example: He and Wendy Ortiz made a TikTok together, and he’s in an active group chat with Streamer U students.

• “Tylil James, Wendy, and a bunch of other massive creators were helping a bunch of small creators not just with wisdom, but making content together which was super reassuring,” Aden told us.

For the industry: From the event trailer to staff, security, and travel arrangements, Cenat is investing in MrBeast-level production for his streaming events.

“As soon as [Streamer University] started it was the No. 1 category on Twitch until it finished. Other streamers were like ‘oh it caused the great view depression,’” Kumar said. “That’s the thing—you’re competing against Kai if you want to start streaming now.”

Zoom out: As more creators look to partner with streaming services like Netflix or Prime Video, Cenat is betting on creators as a distribution strategy—produce an original idea, tap into an audience, and grow from there.

“Y’all have the opportunity to make your platform as big as other [streaming] platforms,” Cenat said. “It’s the same thing.”

Steven Bartlett Powers His New Podcast With AI

Steven Bartlett, the creator behind The Diary Of A CEO podcast, has launched his latest show: 100 CEOs with Steven Bartlett, a deep dive into the lives of his biggest entrepreneurial inspirations and the 10 lessons his audience can learn from them.

What makes the new show distinct: 100 CEOs uses AI animation and voiceover to accompany a script written by Bartlett. Steve Jobs and Elon Musk were the show’s first two subjects.

Big picture: As AI becomes more prevalent across the creator economy—from LinkedIn cofounder Reid Hoffman’s AI twin to Kwebblekop’s transition to VTubing—Bartlett is utilizing the technology as a way to enhance his scriptwriting instead of replace it.

Sponsored by CTB

How Theo Von Landed One of Hollywood’s Biggest Stars

Ben Affleck doesn’t do many podcasts. So when Theo Von set his sights on interviewing him, he needed a trusted name to make the ask.

Enter Central Talent Booking. CTB has over 25 years of industry expertise helping podcast hosts like Theo book guests that drive reach, credibility, and watch time.

Thanks to CTB, Theo scored one of his biggest interviews of the year. The result? Affleck’s episode pulled in over 2 million YouTube views in its first week alone.

Ready to raise the bar for your show? Connect with Central Talent Booking and let them lock in your next big guest today.

How This B2B Creator Startup Raised $20M

FanBasis, a business operations platform for creators, recently raised $20 million in Series A funding. Left Lane Capital led the round in partnership with creators including Ryan Serhant and The Sidemen via their Upside Ventures.

Why it matters: The success of creator business startups has ushered in a new wave of creator-led ventures—one less focused on fan monetization, which dominated the startup scene in 2021, and more focused on creators as founders.

• “Version 1.0 of the creator economy was a lot of creators looking to monetize with fan engagement and a lot of people learned the hard way that it's hard to scale fan engagement,” Matthew Miller, partner at Left Lane Capital, told us. 

• “Creator economy 2.0 is catering to what we call these creator CEOs—indivudals [who] typically start with some sort of knowledge and skillset, develop a following, and have that engagement with their fans and ultimately look to turn that knowledge and fan base into a durable business.”

And tapping creators as investors helps. “We wanted to bring in an investor syndicate that will lead to potentially setting up new businesses and different ways we can apply their network,” Miller said. “It’s about having people in your orbit [who] could lead to interesting commercial relationships and different product tweaks.”

👀 Creator Moves

• Spotter Studio is hiring a contract YouTube strategist and host to scale the Spotter YouTube channel.

• Mythical is looking for a junior motion designer to create dynamic motion graphics for its design team.

• Gaming YouTube channel Aphmau is hiring an Austin-based thumbnail design manager to oversee its team of thumbnail designers.

Fiverr, the world’s leading marketplace for digital services, is partnering with creators to showcase the power of freelancing. Join the Creator Program and turn your influence into income.*

*This is sponsored advertising content.

➕ Community Tab

On Friday, we asked our Instagram followers to share anonymous creator economy hot takes. Here are some favorites:

• “The algorithmic shift on YouTube is incentivizing creators against experimentation.”

• “Short-form content is dying.”

• “Generative AI is more harmful than helpful to creators.”

Want to share your own hot takes IRL? Join us in Venice on Saturday, June 7, for Coffee With Creators. We’ll have coffee and light bites, a Q&A with Colin and Samir, and a room full of cool creators.

RSVP here to reserve your spot. Big thanks to Spotter Studio for making it happen.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Rotten Mango dethrones Joe Rogan on YouTube’s top podcast charts.

• Sidemen’s Inside is the first YouTube reality show nominated for the UK’s National Television Award.

• Ludwig announces that AT&T will sponsor all of his events for the next six months.

• X launches an X Originals account to promote original series and content.

• QTCinderella opens an LA brick-and-mortar for her DIY craft brand, Deco Deco.