How To Build Scalable Creator Businesses?

In Colin and Samir’s latest video “Surviving 48 hours with Ludwig”, they start off with this concept of “Typical vs Creator Media companies”. They establish the premise (of the concept) by Ludwig building 2 such companies: Mogul Moves and OFFBRAND.

Offbrand is a creative studio focused on assisting content creators, particularly streamers.

They organize events and produce various types of content such as game shows, branded series, and other unique experiences.

Founded by Ludwig Ahgren, Brandon 'Atrioc' Ewing, Nathan Stanz, and Nick Allen, Offbrand aims to provide the necessary support, resources, and infrastructure needed to help creators realize their ambitious projects.

The company has partnered with high-profile clients like xQc, whose game show "Juiced" was developed with Offbrand's assistance.

Mogul Moves on the other hand is a media entity led by Ludwig Ahgren and operates under the respective brand name.

It’s more of an exclusive place for fans to acquire merch; but more than that, it is behind all of Ludwig’s media business.

Headed by Nick Allen, it oversees logistics (which includes: production & post-production for any creator-media company), distribution/packaging, sales (marketing the content) and pitching the channel to advertisers, and organizing available integration slots.

This kind of “diversification” can get any creator insane leverage to do whatever they want. Which Ludwig is very aware of; he wants to build up Offbrand to a position of sustainability where it’s not dependent on him making content to stay in business, so that he can bake bread!

When creators scale their operations and start hiring, they have to work super hard to sustain their business, or else everything falls apart as it depends on them (they’re the face of it).

This is the problem with creators building companies beyond just themselves. It’s about the dependency, it’s literally built on top of the creator. There is a lot of pressure on the creator to move it forward. 

All that is still manageable if you get a COO for your day-to-day operations who can take care of logistics, marketing, distribution, and sales; plus, if you’re planning to be creating content for decades.

But what if you want to retire someday, well, then you don’t have a job as it’s built around you.

This is why creators need to build diversification that sustains beyond themselves. Bifurcating their business into 2 parts: Talent-led and Product-led. This is how they can be around and ensure growth.

Talent-led: built on top of the creator.

Creating multiple distribution channels and media properties. The creator needs to constantly fuel the engine here themselves and be around actively.

Product-led: can sustain without the creator.

Media properties like newsletters, CBCs. Paid content, selling services and reach, investing (being a VC but also giving reach to your portfolio companies), and any type of product/service. 

Being constantly supported by advertising-based companies, through multi-channel partnerships you can charge/sell a lot more as the brand is not just partnering with the creator but will extend some version of it to the business as well.

This is how you can build longevity in your creator enterprise.