Every year I build a big presentation on the weird, creepy, and genuinely wonderful future of the creator economy. I took this year's to SXSW.  Each week I explore one of the key themes here in this newsletter, anchored by a current event. Today we’re exploring The Playable Creators.

Pump.fun launched a bounty platform called GO on June 4 that let users pay anyone to do anything. Literally anything.  Within hours, hundreds of challenges had been posted, with over $144,000 in unclaimed rewards.  Offers included $50,000 to someone to skydive into a World Cup match dressed as a memecoin mascot, $2876 to quit your job on camera and many more. 

I called this the Playable Creator at SXSW. The transition from parasocial (I feel like I know you) to robosocial (I feel like you know me) to playable (I feel like I control you) is now fully realized.  You can connect with a creator, fall in love with a robot and vote on what your favorite creator eats, who they date, and where they go on vacation.  GO just put a price-tag on control.

For utility creators, AI will disrupt you.  For performative creators, GO is coming for you too.  Creator longevity will increasingly accrue to those that inspire the audience to want the messy, weird, insightful and human you.   

Taylor Lorenz calls the broader pattern the Bounty Economy, lumping Pump.fun GO in with Polymarket, Kalshi, UGC marketing and more.  We’ve entered an era where paid performances are replacing spontaneous reality.  And the playable character is just the beginning. Cash for outrage has replaced reach-first, monetize-second. 

How much of what you posted last month could a stranger pay someone else to make instead?  And if your audience could buy a day of your life, what's your price?  And what’s left of you the next day?  (User Mag)

This was one of 44 themes I presented at SXSW earlier this year. Look for a new theme each week as we explore the creepy, weird and ultimately hopeful future of creators in our new AI-first economy.

I loved VidCon last week.  The content was useful for creators and the companies being built to support them, the invited creators and attendees continued to inspire and amaze me, and the sessions I moderated were insightful, honest and revealing.

But the big news coming out the day afterwards?  Our long national nightmare of Cannes and VidCon happening simultaneously is over.  Next year VidCon moves to the week of July 5^th, and the organizers assured me that the two events would never be less than two weeks apart.

It helps when both events are owned by the same parent, Informa.  Many people ask me why VidCon hasn’t moved.  Major convention centers are booked up years in advance…  when I ran VidCon we had the third week in June booked at the Anaheim convention center for nearly 30 years in advance. Big props to @Sarah Tortoreti and the team for figuring out new dates that work for school schedules, holidays and Cannes too.

I’m worried about VidCon starting 3 days after the July 4^th holiday, but only for the industry audience.  For everyone else, plan your holiday SoCal week now, with a VidCon stop July 8^th to 10^th!

Here are some of my top VidCon impressions:

Meta and TikTok No Show: Twitch and YouTube dominated the discussion by default, as the other two platforms were notably absent. Even DiVine, @Rabble’s Vine reboot, had more juice than those other short-form destinations. That let YouTube and Twitch dominate the discussion, created a huge opportunity for title sponsor Pop Shop to dominate the live shopping discussion and made me wonder just how much those other two platforms really value creators AND fans.

Embracing the Microfandom World: Instead of mass platforms and brands, the exhibit hall showcased the power of microfandoms.  Gorilla Tag, the VR phenomenon, built a show-within-a-show with an always rocking set of presentations and competitions.  Gaming creator JMANCURLY brought the weirdness with a 30-foot high inflatable avatar head and donut, led a spirited Curly Gang meetup and announced his new game and toy line. Korean beauty had its own pop-up mall where attendees could play games and win products.  You could celebrate dungeons and dragons, tabletop gaming, Pokemon, anime, horror and more across many booths, shops and stage shows.  My favorite was “Freckled Zelda” serenading me with her live performance of Epona’s song on her custom Ocarina… and talking Sharks draft prospects with her dad.

Smaller Conversations Provided the Best Value: From Town Halls and Roundtables to Wednesday’s invite-only Leadership Summit, shared experiences added as much (or more) value than workshops, panels and fireside chats.  The leadership summit was Chatham House rules, as 125 of top creators and execs discussed and debated the future of the creator economy.  Top quotes:

Unparalleled Access: So many experts shared their insight during round-tables, workshops and discussions.  Top YouTube strategist @Derral Eves, for example, pushed through back pain to lead a packed workshop and then stuck around for five hours answering questions and providing free insight to attendees.  YouTube execs shared insider secrets on how to manage algorithm anxiety and build strong audiences.  Creator coach @Josh Zimmerman says he spent 95% of his time at VidCon listening, asking questions, sharing insight and giving advice with and to attendees.

 Whether business building, raising capital, building channels or managing burn-out, speakers stuck around and delivered during the entire event, not just their time on stage.   And unlike in the past, when creators needed to hide away at the Hyatt, today’s more laid-back audiences enabled meaningful serendipity everywhere.  My favorite was casually chatting with top creator Tubbo about Mojang, events and gear…  and then getting a selfie with him

Jimmy Donaldson has been a strong advocate for creators.  From investing in VidSummit and enjoying collabing with global creators, my sense is that the health of creators and the creator economy is one of his pillars.  So I’m excited to hear about the new Patreon-style app Beast Industries announced at Cannes last week.  If it delivers on its mission of helping creators build stronger bonds with their communities and helping them develop a true living as a creator, then I’m all for it! (K-Enter Tech Hub)

Bazaarvoice released its 2026 Shopper Experience Index last week, claiming 97% of shoppers consult multiple sources before buying and that shoppers want “assistants, not agents.” The press release frames these findings reflect “today’s shoppers,” “consumers,” and predictability “across generations”.

I asked who they surveyed.  It wasn’t a random sample from the overall population, instead they talked to 1,531 members of “Influenster”, Bazaarvoice’s own reviewer and influencer community, which people join to get free products.  In other words an opt-in panel of people who already love reviewing things, surveyed by a company that sells review software.

It’s as if I surveyed a bunch of Mr Beast superfans and used that to predict global YouTube viewership trends.

There’s some directional value, but the attempt to project a community of product junkies to the entire global population is misleading.

Even trusted brands like Adobe are failing us on transparency.  Its new “2026 Creators’ Toolkit Report”, claims that 87 percent of creators have accelerated their business via “creative AI”.   When I asked for a full version of the research, fielded by “The Harris Poll” (a legit research organization), the company demurred, saying that Adobe “did not publish a formal report outside of the news announcement”.  I’m not the only one concerned with companies being fast and loose with how they interpret data.  Apple Insider called Adobe out as well for their narrow audience selection.  (Apple Insider)

I will analyze research here.  And I’ll also keep digging for statistical validity and completeness before I trust the results.  Numbers are powerful.  Numbers without context are worse than useless.  If I don’t trust them, I won’t legitimize their naked publicity stunts with a link.

LinkedIn’s new creator marketplace helps you find B2B creators to partner with.  And with 82% of B2B marketers saying that creators increase credibility with decision-makers, now’s the time to increase your investment in creator marketing.  Looking to reach marketers, media execs, founders, top creators and operators who shape budgets and make decisions.   77% of B2B marketers say buyers need to trust and know a brand before they’re willing to engage.  And guess what?  I’m open for business!

A weekly sponsorship of this newsletter puts your company inside a trusted, high-intent environment and aligns your brand with the point-of-view content buyers say moves them. If you want to speak to the people building the next wave of media, creators, and AI, this is where they show up every week. 

100% written by me. AI was used for light editing, grammar and spelling mistakes… and challenging my assumptions. No human or AI ghostwriters were involved (except for the cover art!).

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I've built and sold multiple creator economy startups, including Revision3 and VidCon, to top media companies including Discovery and Paramount. Subscribe for free to get this newsletter every Monday.

Let me know what you think – email me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading and see you around the internet.