Good morning. John Cena officially retired from the WWE this weekend after becoming a 17-time Wrestlemania champion. Hundreds of “Attitude Adjustments” and “you can’t see mes” later, thank you for your 26 years of service, John. 🫡

— Hannah Doyle & Syd Cohen

Creators Are Marketing the World’s First Sperm Race

Yes, you read that correctly, and it’s exactly what you think it is. This Friday, two competitors from UCLA and USC will face off in a biometric smackdown, with the main event being an actual sperm race between the competitors' samples. And creators—who can maximize the event’s element of surprise—are key to its success.

First: Why is this happening? 17-year-old Eric Zhu founded Sperm Racing to destigmatize the male fertility conversation for younger men. “We’re trying to change the paradigm from this being a very taboo concept to a less taboo concept, and that could open up to a lot of new interesting projects,” Zhu told us. He’s raised over $1 million from investors, and Friday’s competition will be Sperm Racing’s first major event.

Here’s how Sperm Racing partnered with creators to go viral.

Although the race has been covered by TMZ, Vice, and KTLA, the team used its $2,000 marketing budget to reach creators’ audiences. “Getting in Forbes is nice, but it doesn’t really mean anything if it doesn’t go viral,” Zhu said. 

Instead, they have relied on meme accounts, creators, and artists—like filmmaker Wesley Wang, who made the event trailer—to push the message to a Gen Z audience. 

And it worked. Within 24 hours of Sperm Racing announcing the event, it nearly sold out. “We only launched 1,000 tickets initially, so we were surprised at how many people were buying tickets to see a sperm race,” Zhu said. The race will also be livestreamed on Sperm Racing’s website.

Zoom out: “If you abstract on every single sport out there [...] it’s actually not that interesting,” Zhu said. “What makes the sport interesting is all the different angles, the storyline that goes along with it.” Zhu is taking stylistic inspiration from UFC and leveraging memes and creator-first content to attract viral attention to a first-of-its-kind niche. His ultimate goal, though, is to push a men’s health message along with those likes and shares.

P.S. There’s no way we’re missing this. Stay tuned for the Publish team’s POV from the race next week.

The Diary of a CEO Turns Down $100M Deal

Entrepreneurship creator Steven Bartlett launched The Diary of a CEO podcast in 2017. By 2024, the franchise had tallied more than 1 billion streams and generated $20 million in annual revenue. And today? Bartlett shared that he’s turned down a nine-figure podcast deal in favor of the independent creator path.

Bartlett’s POV: 

• The deals his team was weighing, which Forbes estimated were valued in the $100 million range, would have added at least 300% more ads to the show, per Bartlett’s estimations. 

• A major deal would also mean less control over where the show appears, Bartlett shared on X over the weekend.

• Bartlett said his team ran the math—and concluded the show monetize more effectively independently than locked into a multi-year deal with payouts tied to performance targets.

So he’s betting on himself—and his team. Bartlett said Flight Story, the media company behind The Diary Of A CEO, now employs nearly 100 people full-time and has “every capability in-house,” including strategy, data, production, partnerships, newsletters, and more.

“We looked at what [larger media companies pursuing a deal] did in terms of testing, experimentation, innovation, and I felt like I was looking at the past,” Bartlett told Forbes. “When I see what happens here, I'm looking at the future.”

Gaming Creator SMii7Y Invests in Gamer Supps

Gaming creator Jaren “SMii7Y” Smith, known for his Mario Party and Grand Theft Auto gameplay, recently invested and became part-owner in energy drink brand Gamer Supps. He’ll work with the brand to launch new projects, like its first canned beverage product.

Context: Gamer Supps partners with VTubers, podcasters, and creators like Shylily and Meat Canyon on custom flavors, product drops, and merch. The powdered energy drink currently ranks third on CreatorIQ’s top brands by earned media value, following Red Bull and Coca-Cola. 

And? Smith’s previous collabs with Gamer Supps have driven eight figures in revenue, according to the brand. 

👀 Creator Moves

• Travel creator Drew Binsky is looking for a full-time video editor to put finishing touches on story structure, sound design, and music.

• Airrack is hiring a thumbnail designer with a strong portfolio of thumbnails and mock-ups.

• Ecommerce creator Davie Fogarty is looking for a business scriptwriter to write for 8–20-minute YouTube videos.

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.

🔥 Press Worthy

• Sidemen’s food brand, Sides, is releasing a line of ice cream.

• Gaming streamer Kyedae is taking an indefinite break from Twitch. 

• Cooking creator Olds Cool Kevmo is now cancer-free after being diagnosed with stage four melanoma 18 months ago.

• Jacksfilms starts a weekly newsletter for creator discovery called Credit the Creators.

• Lifestyle and comedy creator Drew Afualo signs with CAA.