@venturetwins: Creators are a critical distribution channel for most AI startups. But many don't know how to work with them effectivel…

Creators are a critical distribution channel for most AI startups.

But many don’t know how to work with them effectively.

I spoke with dozens of the top creators at Google i/o - some lessons learned and tips for startups

1. It’s increasingly creators vs. traditional media for launch distribution.

Last year, Google apparently invited ~25 creators and hundreds of press. This year, it was basically flipped: hundreds of creators, very little traditional press.

Why? Creators are driving more impressions and more conversion to product launches.

Traditional media can still matter for credibility, but a lot of launch coverage now turns into paywalled articles saying roughly the same thing as everyone else. Creators are often much better at making people actually care, click, try, and share.

2. Instagram is weirdly under-discussed for AI distribution.

Almost every creator I met - regardless of whether they started on YouTube, X, or TikTok - was heavily investing in Instagram. And a few said they’re now posting AI content there first.

The reason: it monetizes well, reaches a broad audience, and seems to drive more product curiosity with less reflexive hate than some other platforms. Also the cringey “comment ___ to get the link” format really works.

I’ve seen this myself: a lot of AI product content ends up reaching a much wider mainstream audience on IG. For startups, especially consumer or prosumer AI companies, I’d take Instagram much more seriously than the tech world usually does.

3. Creators are flooded with identical-sounding AI startup pitches.

Once creators found out I was an investor, one of the most common questions was: “How do you tell the difference between all these AI startups pitching the same agent / personal assistant / image generator?” That’s probably the biggest missed opportunity.

Most creator outreach seems to be written as if the creator is just a distribution slot. But the good creators actually care about the product and need to understand what makes it different.

For startups, it may be better to work with fewer creators who genuinely understand your wedge than to spray a generic campaign across a huge list.

4. Technical creators want to hear directly from the team.

I talked to several creators with large YouTube channels focused on more technical topics, and many were tired of getting outreach from agencies that couldn’t explain what the product actually does.

For the “big hitter” technical creators, founder / engineer / product lead outreach can matter a lot.

It doesn’t scale, but that’s partly the point. If someone is going to explain your product to a highly technical audience, they need more than a one-page brief and a promo code.

5. Startups need to get smarter about creator metrics.

I also heard a lot about how easy it is to manipulate the top-line numbers on your channel or account.

Views and comments can look impressive while driving very little real engagement or conversion.

A few metrics startups should probably ask for before paying meaningful dollars: % of viewers in the US / Canada, average view duration, link clicks, audience demographics, and examples of past campaigns that actually drove usage or signups.

Forgot to add - quality creators DEFINITELY pay attention to which companies run bot campaigns (and pay for an insane amount of low quality RTs / QTs on posts).

They don’t want to be associated with that.

Some might still work with you in the future - but will charge $$$.

Seeing a lot of this behavior recently, but IMO it’s not worth it (for both this reason + Nikita may nuke your account from orbit).

Hmmm I’d argue that for launches, most people want to hear from non-employees to understand if the product is good / usable outside of the company.

Employee posts can be great but everyone knows they have an incentive to hype up the launch…

So good to see you!!

Great to see you, too!!

I may revive calmingaislop

@venturetwins #5 Startups need to get smarter about creator metrics.

I am formally trained with 30 years of full spectrum curations and work flows. But I know that lazy intern on the social team counts your followers and decides you’re not a good partner.

A) This is getting the cart ahead of the horse, as folks with large followings are not going to give your product the immediate focus it needs

B) Focusing on amateur talent only gets you the basic features shown, and the posts online for your product all look alike. I was viewing multiple “Creative Partners” from one startup this morning. Every one of their postings is full of hallucinations. The last thing a startup needs/wants is for their product to be shown as bad.

C) This generation has got to stop counting single mouse clicks and stop treating that as value. one well curated professionally showcased video going viral, can out perform a dozen poor performing tire-kicker accounts who simply wanted the free credits.

D) misplaced focus. These startups need to assess potential, rather than current or actual or historic.
There’s too many new AI apps popping up or already established. The best bet is to address the needs and gaps in the industry. Deep pockets, huge budgets, un-tapped segments, appropriate tool for the job, these should be in their evaluation of where to focus attention. Example: 1 corporate client account will out perform all of the CPP’s the startup has in existence.

Counting followers is bad business, as many of those numbers are idle clicks, who merely followed so they could placeholder that topic or brand.

–/–

Community Engagement Industry Need Demographic Need . . .

Any first year MBA will tell you this is where to focus.

• Counting mouse clicks is what some intern does when they themselves have a small account.