The Creator Economy is Broken for Creators
Life isn’t easy for this guy. Let’s dive into it.
Hi - Let me introduce myself, or re-introduce myself to my loyal readers (aka my Mom. Hi Mom!). I’m Andrew Lukas, Co-Founder and CEO of Trovio. We’ve had some twists and turns and even a different name once, but the mission has always been the same. Make the creator economy actually work for creators. And now is the time to actually do it.
I want to start by acknowledging how difficult it is to be a creator today. Not only are you dealing with constantly changing rules and algorithms, but now there is AI. AI is allowing content to flood all of our feeds. Some of it is funny, I myself have loved playing with Sora, some of it is extremely bizarre, and some of it is allowing people to cut corners, be lazy, and put out content that seems like it should be engaging but goes nowhere. And you deal with this all, AFTER you have already filmed and created your content.
Let me just talk about that process for a second. I made a pledge to myself that if I was going to run a company on behalf of helping creators, I needed to feel every aspect of what it was like to live in their shoes. And holy shit is it painful! I hate my voice, my hair, my topics, my angles, and worst of all, nobody is watching.
Now, if just posting and fighting the noise is this hard, what happens when you add on everything else a creator is trying to do? Like, grow an audience, land brand deals, and create a career out of something you love.
It’s chaos - and its unnecessarily layered and complex. Let’s talk about how we got here and creators are stuck in a loop.
The Creator Cycle
Let’s take a super quick look at how a new creator gets started.
They decide to take the leap and start posting. Normally, this about things they love or their daily lives, or something that just feels natural.
If they have success - a following starts to emerge. Again, these are normally natural fits or matches and there is organic symmetry between creator and follower.
Now that the creator has started to feel those dopamine rushes when they see the views climbing, the likes piling up, and the comments coming in, it begins to take hold.
At this point they might start to experiment with ways to make money. Maybe they sign up for the Amazon affiliate program, or get a LinkTree for affiliate products you feature, or even maybe get a small “brand deal,” like a free meal for reviewing a restaurant or something of that nature.
Finally - the majority of creators take the only step left to them, which is to hire an agent to really grow into those bigger brand deals and really make the kind of money they read about other creators making.
It’s this 5th step I want to take a closer look at. I’ll try to keep it brief, I can get really passionate here and therefore long winded but I’ll edit it down as much as I can!
Why Do Creators Hire Agents?
There could be any number of reasons a creator chooses to take this step. I’ll cover the ones that I think are most common.
They simply want bigger brand deals and influencer agencies are an easier/quicker path to get there than fighting for it on their own.
They want to grow faster. They are a smaller/newer creator and they think having a creator agency behind them will give them the tools and resources they need to grow faster and some legitimacy to their accounts.
The idea of having an agent is just… cool? Movie stars have them. Rock stars have them. And, why not me? This isn’t a knock - I totally get it. But, I do think that’s partly what drives this decision.
Finally they don’t want to think about the business side of creating. They love filming, creating and engaging, and they simply want someone to take the rest and just do it for them.
Is there a downside to having an agent?
Again - I’ll keep this brief and without all my editorials. Even though I really want to. But, Yes. Here are some of the most prominent downsides.
They operate in a black box. They talk with brands - they often force you off of the email chain, and then come back and present to you the ‘best offers’ they found.
The creator loses their voice in the representation. The influencer agencies represent how the creator shows up to brands
The fee is high. The average is around 20% meaning some are even higher than that. On every single deal. This means the agents are really incentivized to only bring deals to the creator that help them meet their own numbers.
Let’s travel back in time for one second
Ok, so I’m hoping by now you realize that this cycle of hiring influencer agencies isn't always the best thing for a creator (there are definitely upsides, don’t get me wrong), but it’s just the world we live in. It’s how it works.
Well, it wasn’t that long ago that another industry operated the same way. Imagine it’s 1992 for a second and you wanted to book a flight to take your family on vacation. And before you ask, no, I was not old enough to book a flight in 1992. Thank you very much.
If you wanted to book a flight you had to call a travel agent. This person was able to see inventory of the airlines and work with them to get you booked where you wanted to go. Did they check every available flight? Did they offer you the best price? Did they find the seats you actually wanted? Who knows! Just book it and go, because if not, you don’t go on vacation. Oh, and the travel agent gained commission either from the airline, you, or both.
Sound familiar? That’s EXACTLY the world we are asking creators to live in. With the airline example, technology evolved and we were able to put inventory out on websites. Lots of websites. So, now prices were competing for the consumer.
The same shift that ended the travel agent monopoly is about to end the creator agent monopoly. That’s what we’re building with Trovio.
Trovio - The Creator Digital Agent
At Trovio we are building a tool so that creators can have all the access (and way more) to the functions an agent would have but without the big fees, and with full transparency at every stage.
Our always on agent can help you:
Direct access to the right follower: Know exactly who in your audience is most valuable and how to reach them off-platform, so you’re not fighting the algorithm every time you post.
Consistent income prediction: Stop guessing how much you’ll make next month. See clear revenue projections based on your audience, content, and monetization strategies.
Know what your audience wants next: Your followers tell you what content to create through real data. No more throwing spaghetti at the wall hoping something sticks.
Double the clicks on affiliate links: Stop burying affiliate links in a static bio. We proactively send the right offers to the right followers at the right moment, dramatically increasing conversion.
Easy access to brand deals: Get in front of brands that actually align with your audience and values. No connections required, no 20% commission, no gatekeeping.
Creators shouldn’t have to be huge to begin taking advantage of these features - and can customize the ones they need and adjust as they grow.
If you’ve made it this far, you’re a champ! (Yes, thank you, Mom.) I’m excited to share more and more about how we are going to flip the creator agency world on its head and finally put creators back in control of the very economy they created.
Never hesitate to reach out in the meantime if you have thoughts, comments or just want to chat. I answer all my emails personally and love hearing from you! andrew@gotrovio.com.
The creator economy doesn’t belong to gatekeepers - it belongs to the creators.
