Good morning. It’s January 9, and you know what that means. It’s National…*checks notes*...Balloon Ascension Day.
So, get out there and…release those balloons, I guess.
Epic Gardening Doubles Down on Memberships
Epic Gardening, hosted by Kevin Espiritu (left), launches a membership program / Epic Gardening
Commerce brand and YouTube channel Epic Gardening is turning over a new leaf in 2026—starting with a membership program.
Context: Since launching as a blog in 2013, Epic has sprouted into a multi-million dollar business with over 10 million followers across social and an commerce brand selling raised beds, garden tools, and seeds in over 5,000 stores and online.
Ecommerce currently makes up the majority of Epic’s revenue. Last fall it acquired GrowVeg, a UK-based garden planner, which it integrated into its membership benefits.
“The membership is a way for us to get away from as many brand deals and give more value to the people supporting us,” Epic Gardening founder Kevin Espiritu told us.
The membership (which users can sign up for on Epic’s website) includes free seeds, shipping, a planning guide, and expert advice for $50 per year.
Fast forward: “I think it sets us up for some sort of future in which a lot of the value comes from the membership being paid every year. Almost like a Costco-style model, but we don’t know if that will play out or not,” Espiritu said.
Zoom out: Espiritu says Epic Gardening is targeting $50 million in revenue by the end of the year. The company is strengthening its retail business to get there, while moving its content away from one-off brand deals and toward official partners (think: a preferred soil or feed company).
Why This $50M Creator Fund Chose Abu Dhabi for HQ
Dillon Lawson-Johnson (left) and Criswell Fiordalis (middle) invest in creator-led businesses from Abu Dhabi / Photography courtesy of Guggenheim Brothers Media
Private investment firm Guggenheim Brothers Media (GBM) recently partnered with United Arab Emirates investment firm Ethmar International Holding to launch an Abu Dhabi-based fund investing in creator-led businesses. We spoke to one of the founders to understand why ➡
Quick context: GBM has previously backed creator brands including comedy studio and talent management company Stapleview and membership club The Lighthouse.
The new fund, led by UTA and Lionsgate alums Dillon Lawson-Johnston (great-grandson of the founder of NYC’s Guggenheim Museum) and Criswell Fiordalis, will range between $50–70 million.
The GBM-EIH fund is targeting creator businesses that have proven product-market fit but would benefit from operational help. “We’re looking for someone established who needs institutional help to come and scale it,” Lawson-Johnston told us.
Why Abu Dhabi? “It’s a place where real institutional capital is combined with long-term vision and ambition to grow something over time,” Lawson-Johnston said. “When we think about the creator economy and these creative businesses, this chapter really demands and needs that type of institutional capital.”
Bigger picture: The Middle East is increasingly courting creators and the creator industry. Today, the 1 Billion Followers Summit kicks off in Dubai featuring creator speakers PrestonPlayz and MrBeast. Last March, Nas Daily opened a hotel in Dubai. And MrBeast recently hosted a theme park pop-up in Saudi Arabia in partnership with the country’s annual event, Riyadh Season.
Worth noting: The UAE and Saudi Arabia have been linked by the UN Human Rights Council to alleged human rights violations and unlawful business practices. Over the last decade, these countries have made efforts to repair that image by investing heavily in industries like entertainment and tourism.
Discord Heads to Wall Street
Messaging and video platform Discord goes public / Discord
Community messaging platform Discord has confidentially filed for an initial public offering, according to Bloomberg. Discord, which has 200 million monthly active users, is working with Goldman Sachs and JPMorganChase on a listing.
Context:
Deliberations are ongoing, and the company could decide to not proceed with a listing, the report said.
Looking ahead: Following the success of Reddit’s IPO in 2024, Discord going public has the potential to see similar gains. Discord was last valued at $14.7 billion in 2021.
🔥 Press Worthy
Hannah Stocking is starring in a musical microdrama.
Lifestyle creator Spencer Pratt announces his campaign for LA mayor.
YouTube allows users to exclude Shorts from search results.
Hunter March from YouTube channel Poppies is co-hosting Netflix’s new mobile game show, Best Guess Live.
TikTok will be broadcasting live clips of the FIFA World Cup this summer.
Music creator CG5 teases an album inspired by video games.
📚 Thank You for Pressing Publish
The content we’re looking forward to reading, watching, and listening to this weekend.
Read: For Vox, Max Read and Jonquilyn Hill unpack “how millennials fell out of love with the internet”—asserting that they are no longer the protagonists of the digital world.
Watch: Move over Rainbolt. Linguistics creator Zay Dupree can accurately pinpoint where his US followers are from by listening to a clip of them speaking.
Listen: Are knee-high Uggs and high-low skirts making a comeback? Emma Chamberlain predicts which fashion trends we might see this year on her latest episode of Anything Goes with Emma Chamberlain.
