Good morning. This Tuesday, 14 competitors will take the dance floor for Season 34 of Dancing With the Stars. Among them are Alix Earle and MomTok creators Whitney Leavitt and Jen Affleck.

With a 21% chance of a creator taking the win (not even accounting for the MomTok creators’ FYP-approved moves), we like our odds.

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Investment platform GigaStar, which connects investors to creators, just took a page out of its own book, crowdfunding over $4 million on WeFunder as part of a $10 million Series A. GigaStar plans to tap a few VCs to raise the remaining $6 million.

What is GigaStar? “Essentially, we built a platform that connects the creators with their followers and fans to be able to invest in their YouTube channel in exchange for a percentage of the future revenue of the channel,” GigaStar CEO Hazem Dawani told us. Creators who sell shares of their channels to fans have seen a 20–30% increase in viewership and engagement, according to GigaStar. 

Creators who receive investments can use the money however they see fit—hiring more team members, renting studios, buying equipment, or running giveaways for higher engagement.

Here’s a snapshot of the business, by the numbers:

Big picture: Right now, most creators either crowdfund through websites like GoFundMe (which doesn’t offer those who donate a long-term stake in the channel) or private equity firms. 

“GigaStar is building a rare bridge between creators and investors, unlocking an entirely new asset class,” GigaStar investor Ryan Sullivan said.

About two weeks ago, automotive media company Donut wrapped its four-part series crossing America without using any highways. 

The series, which is at 2.5 million views across four videos two weeks in, highlights a more methodical path for creators who want in on the series boom taking over YouTube these days. Why?

Because it was all planned, filmed, and edited ahead of the time. Unlike Ryan Trahan or IShowSpeed, who’ve edited their own series as they’re making it and traveling cross-country, Donut did it all in advance. The team told us that was possible thanks to their partnership with off-roading company OnX, which helped make the series feel like a true TV program.

“We have our idea and we would reach out to brands that we think would be able to help facilitate it by having a name attached to it,” Donut Head of Creative Max Maddox told us. “That’s basically what happened here.”

With partners on board, Donut could plan ahead for what comes next. And in this case, it’s another series launching in the fourth quarter—which the Donut team worked on throughout their trip across America.

The goal? Create television-level viewing experiences, including episodes triple the length of Donut’s typical videos. “We wanted to lean into the increase of TV viewership, and longer content in particular gets viewed on TVs more,” Maddox said. “We've had a couple of videos that we published this year specifically because we thought it would do really well on TV.”

Sponsored by Microsoft

Most creators are used to working solo. But last week, hundreds came together at Press Publish NYC to connect and share ideas.

Microsoft Copilot led the charge with its Co.Lab Studio. The interactive area became a hands-on space where creators used Copilot to research topics, test their scripts, and gather feedback in real-time. Instead of getting stuck, they spoke their thoughts out loud and let Copilot help refine, expand, and shape them instantly.

On stage, Microsoft AI CEO Mustafa Suleyman shared a vision for AI as a partner—not a replacement—and reminded creators that the future of media is about authenticity, audacity, and human connection.

Couldn’t join us? Copilot-powered session recaps are landing soon.

Until then, explore how Microsoft Copilot can unlock your creativity.

Try Copilot today.

Vimeo is going private in a  $1.38 billion cash sale to Bending Spoons, an Italian tech company that also owns WeTransfer and Evernote. The acquisition is set to close in late 2025, coming on the heels of layoffs at Vimeo “in a bid to operate more efficiently,” Variety reports. 

Roblox is beta testing Moments, a feature that uses vertical, short-form UGC clips to promote game discovery. Users 13 and older will soon be able to capture, edit, and add music to their Moments—and viewers can instantly join highlighted games.

Reddit Pro introduces new tools for publishers. In an effort to reach a wider audience, publications on the platform can join the waitlist to get article insights, auto import tools, and AI-powered community recommendations. The Associated Press, NBC News, and The Hill are among the first publications to try the new features.

“The platform has [...] become our top social referral traffic source, accounting for a rise of social media traffic to the site,” Sarakshi Rai, Deputy Managing Editor at The Hill, told Reddit.

The recaps and big takeaways we’re looking forward to checking out this weekend, because our PPPNYCD (post-Press-Publish-NYC-depression) is still very real.