Creators want equity, not just a fee

The creator economy is shifting from one-off brand deals to creators sitting on cap tables, with platforms like Cherub and agency JERi now brokering angel investment and sweat-equity roles for creators at the ground floor of startups.

The crux

Creators are becoming media companies with real balance sheets, and the publishers competing with them for attention are also now competing with them for equity-grade influence.

Sell-side read

The benchmarks being standardised, advisory at 0.1% to 0.3%, advisory-plus-services at 0.25% to 0.75%, long-term collaborator at 0.75% to 3%, are a playbook publishers can borrow when striking creator partnerships of their own.

Watch

Whether the deals scale or get predatory, JERi's Ross Yellowlees warns "some influencers might get taken advantage of" because equity terms vary wildly, and whether creators keep diversifying from execution fees into strategic equity. ---