First Edition: TikTok is Vine 2.0
Except this time, influencer culture has become more normalized.
Welcome to the first edition of FaintFlex, my weekly commentary on new media & personality-driven startups. This is my attempt to organize the countless discussions I have about the influencer economy daily, ignited by my fund’s investment in esports organization & lifestyle media brand 100 Thieves.
I expect the structure to evolve over time, but for now, the plan is to just have fun giving you a glance into my week’s most interesting discoveries & observations. Not all of the subjects will be necessarily venture-backable (yet) or endorsements, just interesting.
So to kick things off, here is what’s been on my mind this week:
Teens are using TikTok to build distribution on Instagram
Vine was the launchpad for many of the biggest internet-famous teen personalities we know today. Megastar YouTubers like Logan & Jake Paul and David Dobrik originally leveraged Vine to scale their followings and eventually build media empires (weekly vlogs & now podcasts) on platforms with more staying power. Both were driven to “slapstick” entertainment, as it is one of the few ways to engage & quickly scale a predominantly teen fanbase. And now they can make $800k in a month from merch alone.
Then you have former comedian Vine stars like Demetrius Harmon & Angelo Ziegler, both Michigan natives and frequent collaborators who collectively grew their Instagram & Twitter followings to nearly 3 million.
Instead of slapstick hyper-growth content, they prioritized intimacy with their fans by supplementing their hilarious iPhone-style comedy skits with being outspoken mental health advocates.
Although smaller compared to Dobrik, I witnessed the weight of Demetrius’ connection to fans first-hand while visiting his “You Matter” merchandise pop-up this past Valentine’s Day. At least 600 people waited in line for hours in the frigid cold for the chance to buy merch and potentially meet Demetrius. If on average each person spent $40, that’s $24k in one day, not to mention the online presales he ran a week before (photos below).
At only 21 years old, they’ve proven to understand how to build meaningful connections with their fans. Demetrius has the potential to build something bigger, so it’ll be interesting to see what his crew creates next as they evolve with their audience.
So who will be the next teen stars to build meaningful media empires?
I don’t know yet, but I do know they are likely to come from TikTok, the ByteDance-owned short video app covered in depth here. TikTok, when it was known as Musical.ly, has already produced internet celebrity (& now singer) Baby Ariel.
And last Sunday, I discovered a new artist go viral from teens using his song Old Town Road to engage in a country-themed TikTok challenge, a day before Genius covered it.
Just like Vine, there are already dedicated Instagram accounts like @Whats.her.at.police (WHAP) that exclusively compile & repost TikTokers.
You can get a glimpse at how rapidly TikTok fame is translating to Instagram by viewing the screenshot “receipts” WHAP includes on each of their video reposts and comparing the featured account followings then and where it is now.
I even spotted a new TikTok talent management company called Vol (which can’t confirm yet but might also be ran by a teen). You can see their talent roster by viewing the 29 accounts they follow on Instagram.
If there’s only one thing teens learned from growing up watching influencers, it’s how to become one. And TikTok is helping to make their dream become a reality.
Most will become irrelevant once the TikTok wave fades, due to their artificial followings from content that lacks substance. However, I’ll be on the look out for the few who use it to create real communities around their crafts & interests.
Startup Spotlight: Down to Shop
Down to Shop is an entertainment-driven product discovery app that drops funny new episodes every day. This past week, DTS announced that the app is now open to the public.
I randomly came across it on Twitter and decided to check it out. They are essentially modernizing what St. Louis-based YouTube channel Vat19 does but for a mobile-first audience. Users can gain “clout points” based on how long they watch each video to use for future in-app purchases.
They’ve already tapped into different personalities to create shows with, like underground rapper BabyCalf. Their Instagram strategy is also worth studying.
As DTS builds their user base, it could become a big distribution play for earlier-stage brands and lesser known products looking to reach Gen Z audiences in a new fun way.
I personally don’t like that you can’t pause, rewind, or search, but I’m sure they’re doing it for a reason. And we’ll see if scripted content like this will reach scale and achieve staying power. But if the success of Brat is any indicator, they definitely have a shot.
Down to Shop was launched by a mobile-first content studio called Thing Thingy that was backed by Greycroft.
Interesting News
Marie Kondo is raising $40M to build her brand. She’s already been backed by Sequoia.
Former Snap Head of Content Nick Bell joins Human Ventures to focus on “attention economy” digital-content startups.
Lazy Marketing
Checkout Uldouz and her game-changing #sponcon with Happy Tea here, here, here, here, here, and here. Looks like Martha Stewart has some competition in CBD world.
Favorite Read
GQ’s profile on Virgil Abloh and his journey to build a creative mafia. So many gems in this one.
Thanks for reading! If you enjoyed please share with someone else you know would too.
- Aaron