Good morning. Food creator Andrew Babish just launched a new show with Vox, In the Booth with Babish—where he interviews chefs and celebrities to “make a meal out of conversation.”

We’re excited to tune in, even if he missed the opportunity to call the series Boothing with Babish.

Shoutout to David Gorvy, director and friend of the Press, for the punchline.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Today’s lineup:

Yesterday, Twitch lowered the barrier to entry for its monetization program, now allowing creators with 25 followers and 4 hours of streaming time to earn while streaming (the previous threshold was 50 followers and 8 hours). 

Why it matters: Early monetization is connected to a creator’s longevity with the platform, according to Mike Minton, Twitch’s chief product officer. 

This is a step to raising engagement for smaller creators, and engagement has been a hot topic on Twitch. In an effort to push their streams to more viewers, many streamers (both on and off Twitch) have turned to viewbotting—paying for automated accounts to artificially inflate viewership on a stream. CEO Dan Clancy recently implemented viewership caps for repeat offenders, though creators have been skeptical of its effectiveness. The platform is also focusing on discoverability through its short-form feed and auto-clipping features.

While Twitch’s new policies are not a catch-all for platform issues, smaller creators with earlier access to monetization tools might be less motivated to pay for views in order to get discovered.

Business comedy creator Natalie Marshall, aka Corporate Natalie, is going corporate. Marshall recently launched a B2B creator marketing agency, Expand Co-Lab, taking on the role of CEO. 

The business: provide creative strategy and content to B2B brands with a collective of 50 creators, taking a cut from the brands.

We chatted with Marshall on how she’s scaling as startup as CEO while still creating as Corporate Natalie →

Posting consistently. Marshall films 1-2x a week and batches her content, so she can publish daily workplace comedy skits on Corporate Natalie across channels. The other three days, Marshall focuses on Expand, leading sales outreach, scripting, and strategy. 

Hiring for blind spots. For Expand Co-Lab, Marshall hired a COO to lead operations. "I'm able to make hires where I fall short,” Marshall told us. She also has a longtime brand director and newsletter editor working on Corporate Natalie, so ideas are never one person's problem to solve—which means the daily promise of posting a video is never really at risk.

Building structure around what works. Brand strategies for Expand are formed based on data from Corporate Natalie. Collab posts on Corporate Natalie’s Instagram drove 50% more engagement than solo branded content. That insight has become a key part of the business. 

"We've built this sponsored partnership methodology through Corporate Natalie," Marshall said. "How can we amplify that and expand it with other brands and creators?"

Big picture: While many brands like YouTube and Agentio are integrating AI into their creator sponsorship platforms, Marshall’s building Expand Co-Lab on the one thing she believes it can't replicate: creators in a room together, writing, and improvising. "I know that I love making content," she says. "And the day that stops is probably the day this will all end."

This week, thousands of tech creators (including our own Colin and Samir) are flocking to San Francisco for Google I/O—a conference showcasing new developments from the tech company, from scientific discoveries to robotics to self-driving Waymos.

Here’s what’s new for creators →

Tech creator Jacklyn Dallas told us about her standout feature on the ground in SF →

“[Gemini Omni’s] new video world model is mindblowing because they taught their AI physics just from video training data versus pre-programming it with fundamental physics,” Dallas told us. “It’s a big deal for AI video generation.”