Lift Off

Happy Friday.  Did you hear that Clubhouse is no longer invite-only? Over a year after its initial launch, the live-audio app officially left beta and is now available to everyone on the App Store. The company has its work cut out for it amidst competition from platforms like Twitter and Facebook. Today, Max is breaking down the latest creator headlines and platform news.

In Today’s Issue 💬

→ The details on Rhett & Link’s new $5 million creator accelerator

→ A look at Mr. Beast’s new Spanish language YouTube channel

→ Exploring Dislikes, Twitter’s newest test feature

Rhett & Link Launch A Creator Accelerator  

The iconic YouTube duo is investing millions into up-and-coming creators

Who needs venture capital anyway? Earlier this week Mythical Entertainment, the company founded by YouTube OGs Rhett & Link, launched the Mythical Accelerator. The accelerator, which totals $5 million in funding, is completely self-financed and allows the pair to claim minority ownership stakes in up-and-coming creators from various platforms. The launch comes over two years after the duo spent $10 million to acquire Smosh, the long-running YouTube media company founded by Ian Hecox and Anthony Padilla.  

Alongside the announcement came the team’s first creator investment: engineer turned comedy YouTuber Jarvis Johnson. The duo were drawn to Johnson thanks to his diverse array of advertiser-friendly content, with the creator’s reach spanning hundreds of millions of views across multiple YouTube channels, a Twitch stream, and a podcast.

By The Numbers 

• 25 billion → The total number of views Mythical has garnered across all its content

• 130 million → The combined amount of followers Mythical has across social media

• 10 → The number of different brands and products under the Mythical Entertainment company

Our Take

By expanding their influence outside of their own content, Rhett & Link are finding ways to make the success of other creators part of their own business. It’s a win-win for fast-growing creators and established names. 

If you want to learn more about the Mythical Accelerator, check out our exclusive Q&A with the team at the end of this newsletter 👇

MrBeast Launches a Spanish Language YouTube Channel

The YouTube giant is re-releasing his greatest hits in a whole new way

Beast has gone global. Earlier this month perennial YouTube legend, MrBeast, launched MrBeast en Español, a separate channel that’s re-releasing all of the creator’s greatest hits dubbed in Spanish. In under 30 days, the channel has already amassed over 164,000 subscribers and 1.77 million views. The majority of the traffic has come from a Spanish re-release of the creator’s popular Buried Alive video, which originally garnered over 100 million views on his main channel.   

The content is translated externally through a partnership with Unilingo, a start-up focused on helping creators reach fans in their native language. The start-up has worked with other major creators in various languages, including science/education channel Veritasium and list-centric WatchMojo. 

Our Take

The most successful creators won't be limited to one language or region. In order to truly create for anyone, content needs to be able to be consumed by anyone.

Twitter Is Exploring Dislikes

The social app is testing thumbs down for tweet replies 

Positivity has flown the nest. Twitter confirmed earlier this week that the company is testing a dislike button for replies on the app. The dislikes, which will only be visible to Twitter, will be used to help the company “understand what types of replies you find relevant.” While the company quietly tested out a version of dislikes in 2016, the current test is significantly more prominent across the product.

Our Take

Negative content looms larger than positive. If creators aren’t thoughtful about how they represent themselves on social media, companies could take action to limit their reach and visibility.

🔥 In Other News

• Yes Theory is hiring a Head of Operations

• Substack funded a podcasting network

• Influencer Marketing is projected to grow to $3.7 billion in 2021

• The Battle of The Platforms boxing match lost a reported $10 million, and the creators want to get paid

• YouTube acquired Simsim, a creator shopping recommendation platform

We chatted with the team behind Mythical Entertainment to get the inside scoop on their newly launched Mythical Accelerator. If you want to learn even more about what the team is looking for and Jarvis’s plans for the future, check out below (The following interview has been lightly edited and condensed for clarity)

What defines the ideal creator for the Mythical Accelerator Program?

Our ideal creator shows abundant talent as an entertainer and has a clear, differentiated voice that cuts through the noise of the Internet. They've already built a multi-million-subscriber / follower fandom online and are making significant revenue on at least one monetized platform, likely several. 

They care deeply about and listen to their fans, respect the intellectual property of others, and want to create content that makes a net positive contribution to popular culture. Most importantly, they've got to have the ambition to build a lifetime business based on their unique creative vision.

What kind of support can creators in the Accelerator expect from the Mythical team?

We've set up the Creator Accelerator to advise investees across all aspects of their growth story, whether they desire high-touch help with creative development, corporate finance, navigating Hollywood, or a nuts-and-bolts playbook for production, people management, DTC ecommerce, you name it.  

Mythical is uniquely qualified to offer this guidance because Rhett & Link, as some of the first creator-entrepreneurs on the Internet, have spent the past 15 years learning countless important lessons (sometimes the hard way) about running a media business while also being its principal onscreen stars. 

What new content, investments, and ideas can we expect from Jarvis in the next phase of his growth backed by Mythical's Creator Accelerator? 

We're excited about supporting Jarvis's efforts to expand his core channels, develop his Sad Boyz platform, and build shows & formats for digital and traditional platforms. We’re excited to bring Jarvis, Jordan, and perhaps other creators to come to all smart, savvy audiences who ought to know their brilliant work. 

Above all, during this next phase of growth, our mutual goal is to build a healthy and sustainable business for Jarvis and his employees at Sad Boyz.

Have a creator you want us to interview for The Publish Press? Hit Reply and Let Us Know!