Top 50 Creator Economy Thought Leaders

Recently the creator economy, where creators and influencers can monetize their content, has been booming and we have the top 50 creator economy thought leaders that we think you should know about. 

1. Taylor Lorenz

• The New York Times

A reporter for the Styles section of The New York Times in Los Angeles, Lorenz looks at culture and technology, specifically internet culture and online trends surrounding young adults. She was included in the Fortune Magazine’s 40 Under 40 Media and Entertainment list in 2020 and has previously written for other news sources such as the Daily Mail, The Hill, Business Insider, The Atlantic, and The Daily Beast. Adweek also featured her on their 2020 Young Influentials Who are Shaping Media, Marketing, and Tech list and her career is only continuing to grow.

2. Amanda Perelli

• Business Insider

Perelli, a media reporter focusing on social media influencing, looks at how social media can help business owners expand their businesses and create a name for themselves.  She writes a weekly newsletter, Insider Influencers, where she provides industry news, up-and-coming influencers/businesses, as well as explaining how people in the influencer and social media industry make their money.

3. Josh Constine

• SignalFire

Next on the list of creator economy thought leaders is Constine, the principal investor and Head of Content at SignalFire, a venture capital firm. He worked with seed-to-A round startups and mainly specializes in social networking, creators, and communication. He graduated from Stanford University with a self-designed degree in cybersociology to understand how people react online. He previously was the Editor-At-Large at Tech Crunch and wrote blogs about tech giants and startups for them.

4. Dan Whateley

• Business Insider

Whateley covers social media, specifically TikTok and YouTube, for Business Insider focusing on the creator and influencer economy. Over the COVID-19 pandemic, he worked on the way that social media changed throughout that time and how it will help creators and influencers specifically.

5. Alice Lemée

• Freelance

Lemée is a freelance copy, content, and ghostwriter from Brooklyn, NYC who focuses on online creators, tech companies, and entrepreneurs. Previously she has worked with consumer tech startups who later got millions from investors and her work has also been featured on publications like The Daily Beast, The Startup, and Visualize Value.

6. David Perell

• Founder of Write of Passage

Perell, based in NYC, is the founder of Write of Passage, a company where students learn how to publish their writing and sell their ideas to a professional network. He was also the founder of North Star Media, where they worked with other founders and CEOs to communicate with their audiences in a captivating way.

7. Julia Maltby

• Flybridge

Maltby is an investment associate at Flybridge, a capital firm from NYC and Boston as well as XFactor Ventures. She works on pre-seed, seed, and series A investments for different tech companies including Codecademy and Firebase.

8. Vlad Stan

• Galileo

Stan is both the Co-Founder and CEO of Galileo, a self-directed online school alternative for students all over the world. Before he was one of the top creator economy thought leaders, Stan was also previously the Co-Founder and CEO of several different other companies including Futuristico, Startupkit, Doersapp, and Geekcelerator.

9. Sam Yam

• Patreon

Yam is the Co-Founder, President, and CTO at Patreon, a company that allows fans and supporters to support their favorite creators online. He founded the company in 2013 and since then they have grown to over 187,000 creators and have raised a total of $257.1 million.

10. Ryan Gum

• Teachable

Gum is the Senior Growth Product Manager at Teachable, where he works on product experimentation, go-to-market changes, and helped create a new line of business for the company. He focuses on creators and being able to create/build products for the creator economy and has even created a whole course on it.

11. Niel Robertson

• Influence.co

Robertson is the Co-Founder and CEO of Influence.co, an influencer management company based in West Hollywood. He was also the Co-Founder of several other companies including Blocknative Corporation, Ramen, VigLink, tenXer, and Trada.

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12. Wes Kao

• Maven

Kao is a Co-Founder at Maven, an online school system based on cohorts and community to further build careers. Kao has also helped to build courses for other creator economy thought leaders like David Perell’s Write of Passage, Tiago Forte’s Build a second Brain, and Morning Brew.

13. Kate Ward

• One Day Entertainment

Ward is the Director of Operations at One Day Entertainment, an entertainment and media company that combines digital content with music, tv, and fashion, where she helps represent a media entity (Yes Theory) that believes the best part of life is out of your comfort zone. Ward is also the Founder and Content Partner of By Kate Ward, where she works as a digital ghostwriter and copywriter for influencers and entrepreneurs.

14. Daniel Koss

• Creable.io

Koss is the Founder and CEO of Creable.io, an “all-in-one” workspace for creators that gives them full access to the creator economy. He is also the Founder and CEO of Yxterix, Switzerland’s most influential Influencer Marketing Agency, where he helps to create campaigns for Swiss brands.

15. Tim Lenardo

• Jetfuel

Lenardo is the CEO and Co-Founder of Jetfuel, a marketing and advertising site that helps advertisers find thousands of influencers to promote their apps and services. Lenardo was also previously the CEO and Co-Founder of Real Labs and worked as a Software Engineer at both Instagram and Facebook.

16. Natalie Furness

• Don’t Be Shy

Furness is the Head of Marketing Automation at Don’t Be Shy, a Business to Business (B2B) marketing agency that works on content-led, digital marketing strategies. She is also the Fractional Head of Marketing at Isosconnect, where she works on performance marketing strategy and digital ads.

17. Adam Davidson

• Author

Davidson is the author of the book The Passion Economy which looks at ways to succeed in the new 21st century. He co-founded the Planet Money program at NPR and is a contributing writer at The New Yorker. Davidson has previously won the Daniel Schorr Journalism Prize for his work on the war in Iraq,

18. Jesse Clemmens

• Facebook

Clemmens is a sales and services leader where he builds high-performing teams at bigger companies. He works on partnerships at Facebook including people management, change management, go-to-market strategy, and process development.

19. Dan Parry

• Tectonic

Parry is the Co-Founder and Head of Product at Tectonic, a company that assists startups to get feedback and recommendations from their customers and consumers to grow and understand any issues. He also works as the Head of Product and No-Code CTO at EverMind where he has created and improves their product.

20. Sanjay Tripathy

• Armsprime

Tripathy is the Co-Founder and CEO at Armsprime, a creator platform based in India that helps influencers and creators engage with their fans and monetize that engagement. He is also a mentor and advisor at several other companies including OneValley and the Internet and Mobile Association of India.

21. Rex Woodbury

• Index Ventures

Woodbury is the Principal at Index Ventures, a company that helps entrepreneurs transform their business into something that is successful globally. Personally, he writes a newsletter about the ways that people and the internet intersect and react to each other to form today’s creator economy.

22. Jack Conte

• Patreon

The next of our creator economy thought leaders is Jack Conte. Conte, along with Sam Yam, is a Co-Founder and CEO at Patreon. He is also a Producer, Musician, Songwriter, and Filmaker at Pomplamoose, a musical duo on YouTube.  

23. Roberto Blake

• Creative Awesome Media

Blake is a creative entrepreneur based out of Atlanta, Georgia who works at Creative Awesome Media as the Owner and Creative Director. Creative Awesome Media is a digital agency that provides production, content strategy, and social media management for influencers and creators. He is also a YouTube Partner and Video Marketing Consultant where he creates videos on empowering, educating, and encouraging students and small business owners.

24. Tyler Steinhardt

• My Climate Journey

Steinhardt works on content for the podcast My Climate Journey, hosted by Jason Jacobs, and talks about climate change and how to help. He specifically works on their content strategy, podcast development, and marketing to help with growth. Steinhardt is also an Advisor for CirlceIT where he helps to design a simple, secure, and sustainable way to recycle and repurpose old technology.

25. Austin Schlessinger

• Deloitte Consulting

Schlessinger is an analyst at Deloitte Consulting, a management company based out of Washington DC that helps to transform companies from followers to leaders. He develops frameworks for AI and looks at data analytics for over 1,400 initiatives.

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26. Jarrod Dicker

• Po.et

Dicker is the CEO of Po.et, a media technology company that has helped to create a universal way to manage ownership and attribution of creative digital assets. He is a writer, entrepreneur, and tech executive who helped to bring blockchain tech into the media.

 27. Rob Salkowitz

• Rob Salkowitz Associates

Salkowitz is a Storyteller and Strategist at Rob Salkowitz Associates, a strategic consulting firm that uses creator economy thought leadership and advisory services to help their startup customers. He is also a Senior Contributor for Forbes in the Media and Entertainment section, where he writes stories and posts about pop culture, entertainment, and other similar things.

28. Dave Rubin

• Independent

Rubin is a political commentator with a show called The Rubin Report where he speaks to authors, activists, journalists, and more about today’s political climate. He is the author of the book Don’t Burn This Book which shows Rubin’s path to success in the creator economy.

29. Barrett Brooks

• ConvertKit

Brooks is the COO at ConvertKit, an email marketing software, and has previously also been the Director of Marketing where he is a big creator economy thought leader across the company. Brooks works to help grow the company and bring together all aspects.

30. Hugo Amsellem

• Jellysmack

Amsellem is the Vice President and Creator Accelerator at Jellysmack, a global creator company that works with talented video creators. Based in Paris, France, Amsellem is also an Angel Investor where he invests in companies like Creative Juice and Flooz.

31. Jorge Barba

• The Big Bang Group

Barba is currently the CEO of the Big Bang Group and a Technology Strategist and Advisor at Idoo Group. He has previously started 5 different companies and assisted in the startup of 8 more.

32. Matt Ragland

• 1000 Rounds Media

Ragland is a Creator at 1000 Rounds Media, where he specializes in analog productivity and digital workflow. He has a YouTube channel where he talks about productivity and time management for creators to create their best work.

33. Arvid Kahl

• The Bootstrapped Founder

Kahl is a writer from Berlin, Germany for The Bootstrapped Founder, a blog about helping creators and start-ups succeed, is both an entrepreneur and writer. He was previously the Founder and CTO of FeedbackPanda before he sold it. He now has a book out about his business process and writes on his blog to help others.

34. Ian Borthwick

• SeatGeek

Borthwick is a Senior Director of Influencer Channels at SeatGeek, a mobile ticketing marketplace meant to help fans sell their tickets, where he works with the brand’s endorser and influencer marketing teams.

35. Chris Harry

• Creator Club and Independent

Harry is an interview creator for Creator Club a blog that helps creators and influencers. Harry also writes his newsletter where he shares tips and tricks for his readers on how to be a better creator.

36. Gil Kruger

• Clash App Inc

Kruger is a Creator Partnerships Consultant at Clash App Inc where he helps to create a new monetization platform for both creators and fans. At Clash App, Kruger works with digital media and entertainment while searching for the next generation of creators and influencers.

37. Sean Anthony

• Productized Profits

Anthony is the Founder of Productized Profits where they assist creators and entrepreneurs in the creation of digital products. He is also the CEO of Growth Response, an email marketing service for companies to help scale sales profitably.

38. Anuj Gosalia

• Terribly Tiny Tales

Gosalia, based in India, is the Co-Founder and CEO of Terribly Tiny Tales (TTT), a micro-fiction platform, where he brings together content and technology to share stories. He has previously started two other companies, Not Like That and Bechain Nagri, where he learned enough to create TTT.

39. Dan Di Federico

• Finity AI

Di Federico is the Executive Director and Co-Founder at Finity AI, a B2B company, where he leads the company in strategy and marketing as well as assisting customers in building brands. He is also the Executive Director at Paper.li, a personal marketing tool that helps small businesses and creators succeed.

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40. Sandy Lin

• On Deck

Lin is not only one of the top creator economy thought leaders, she is also a Founding Fellow at On Deck, an online learning platform, as well as a content creator on TikTok where she has found a community of entrepreneurs. She has become a creator economy thought leader through her partnerships and community as well as being an Angel Investor.

41. Ollie Forsyth

• Antler

Forsyth works as the Global Community Manager at Antler, an early-stage VC firm where they invest in exceptional people around the world, where he helps to connect entrepreneurs with other co-founders and investors to succeed. Forsyth also hosts the podcast The Makers Podcast where he speaks about mental health and success.

42. Fernando Parnes

• Super.fans

Parnes is the Co-Founder and CEO of Super.fans, a tool that allows creators to experiment with new content and grow to monetize their works. He works through each community improving it and helping to create monetized content for even smaller creators. He was also previously the CO-Founder and CEO of BestBeing, a suite of tools and analytics to track company wellness and data.

43. Zack Honarvar

• One Day Entertainment

Honarvar is the Founder of One Day Entertainment, an entertainment and media company that combines digital content with music, tv, and fashion, where he is a creator economy thought leader and assists in management for digital creators. He is also the Co-Founder of Fan of a Fan, a merchandise company that helps create influencer/creator products to sell.

44. Derek Brown

• Bunches

Brown is the Founder and CEO of Bunches, a company that provides a messaging service for creators to chat with their audiences, where he works within the creator economy to manage and market the app.

45. Li Jin

• Atelier Ventures

Jin is the Founder and Managing Partner at Atelier Ventures, a VC fund that invests in the passion economy as well as platforms/services that make the internet more accessible, where she helps look for up and coming influencers and creators who are looking to monetize their unique passions or desires. She is also an Angel Investor and a creator economy thought leader.

46. Nicholas Johnson

• Spotter

Johnson is the Chief Revenue Officer at Spotter, a data technology company that helps the creator economy, where he builds financial solutions for content creators so that they can quickly invest back into their brand and grow the creator economy. He is also an advisor to several companies including SportsMe, Content Economy Co, Pushly, and Open Slate.

47. Peter Yang

• Reddit

Yang is a Senior Group Product Manager specifically with Creators at Reddit where he helps creators build their communities and monetize content online. He also works with Reddit Talk’s live audio conversations and has a newsletter about the creator economy.  

48. Ben Terry

• Access Ventures

Terry is the Chief Creative Officer at Access Ventures, a creator-centered investment company, where he provides creative assistance to customers and helps create stories that highlight what the company is doing. Terry is also the Managing Partner at Hidden Ventures, another investment company, and the host of CreativeMornings, a breakfast lecture series that was designed for creative communities.  

49. Clara Lindh Bergendorff

• FirstMinute Capital

Bergendorff is one of the creator economy thought leaders working at FirstMinute Capital, a venture capital firm, where she helps to find startups and founders to invest in while exploring the future of commerce as a creator economy thought leader. She is also an investor and board member at several companies including Robin Games, Grid AI, Kyra Entertainment, and Asystem.

50. George Strompolos

• Independent

Strompolos currently works as an investor and board member at several companies in California including KCRW and Flexport. He also was the Founder of Fullscreen, a social media creative talent and advertising services company, before it was bought out by Otter Media and AT&T/Warner Media.