The ‘Why Now’ for Knowledge Creators

There are a handful of important but fleeting moments in life when you know it’s time to carpe the hell out of that diem, to make hay while the sun shines, to ask yourself “if not now, then when?”

We’re in one of those very moments right now. And since we call ourselves the platform for knowledge creators, we wanted to dig deeper into why we focus on said knowledge creators…and, importantly, why now. 

First, what’s a knowledge creator? 

Knowledge creators educate and empower their audiences through smart, insightful, and specialized content.

By publishing their expertise freely and accessibly via platforms like YouTube or podcast feeds, knowledge creators have ushered in a new era of the internet—allowing anyone to explore diverse topics, develop skills, advance their careers, gain perspectives, overcome challenges, and grow.

This democratization of information has been among the most monumental developments of the internet age (aside from the Kevin James meme), unlocking massive opportunities for both creators and consumers alike.

So—why now?

Knowledge creators are building trust and meeting needs where institutions have failed to do so.

Traditional education hasn’t caught up to what’s most valuable to real people, so real people have stepped in to fill the gap.

Take Miss Excel for an example:

• Kat Norton (aka Miss Excel) creates better and more useful Excel and tech courses than any college professor ever could.

• She identified an incredibly in-demand skillset and became the best educator in the space, creating awareness for her courses through short-form video content with micro tips and tricks, all the while accruing a seven-figure Instagram and TikTok following.

• She added value for and earned the trust of her audience—then built a multi-million dollar business through selling courses.

The impact of knowledge creators has grown as wide as it has deep—we’re talking about knowledge creators making content on everything from Rubik’s Cube strategies to chiropractor career tips to the history of style trendcasting. You name a niche, and there’s likely a creator in the depths of the internet covering it.

Plus, now more than ever, people follow people. 

We are more likely to develop trust and affinity for a person than we are a faceless brand or stodgy institution. And the data don’t lie:

It’s good business.

It’s not just that knowledge creators provide immeasurable value to their audiences…the business opportunity is also vast.

We know how bad Twitter makes “I work in media” sound, but it’s really not the sh*t industry you might think it is. Layoffs and “restructuring” have primarily impacted the legacy brands unable to adapt to new realities and the mid-sized former darlings of the 2010s that got too bloated too quickly.

In this media ecosystem, knowledge creators are uniquely positioned to build scalable, sustainable media businesses by focusing relentlessly on a niche audience. That’s valuable, and we’re bullish on knowledge creators’ ability to capture that value without falling into the traps of media companies that came before them.

To sum it up: This combination of truths make us confident that this is how the Information Age will evolve over the coming decades. The tech will change, the trends will shift…but the need for insight and the human desire to learn will always remain.

• Matt Wolfe of Future Tools dropped an incredible video about OpenAI’s new Sora model that got us so amped.

• Lots of cool developments for food knowledge creators these days: YouTube creator Ethan Chlebowski launched a new recipe site called Cook Well, Meredith Hayden (aka Wishbone Kitchen) started a new series called Dinner With Friends, and Pinterest debuted its first streaming show with cookbook author/creator Danni Rose.

• Pigmami, a fashion and beauty knowledge creator, helps her audience to think more critically about consumption and trends.

• Camille Bergin (aka The Galactic Gal), known for making accessible space and tech content as an ex-aerospace engineer, is officially a full-time content creator!

We’ve had the pleasure of working with Hannah Williams of Salary Transparent Street for almost a year and finally got to meet her here at our NYC HQ. ❣️