The Sunday Digest: Follow the Creator Economy

Happy Sunday!

Means of Creation has been on fire lately. The dynamic duo of Li Jin and Nathan Baschez are firing off semi-weekly essays digging deep on what you need to know about the Creator Economy with posts on how U.S. policy affects creators, how Apple is holding back the creator economy, and how the internet is changing the way musicians build and monetize their audiences.

And as if that's not enough, they've also been publishing in-depth interviews with creators and operators on the Means of Creation podcast.

If you're a creator, an entrepreneur, or investor Means of Creation will keep you up to date on everything you need to know about the creator economy. Make sure to follow for the latest updates in your inbox:

What We Published

5 Articles + 2 Podcasts

Why Finance Doesn't Make Sense Anymore

by Evan Armstrong in Napkin Math (11-minute read)

Wondering why Evan bothered to do a series of wildly popular explainers on the income statement if he's just decided the whole thing doesn't mean anything anyway? As usual with the mind behind Napkin Math 2.0, the truth he's found here is complex, contradictory—but, thanks to Evan's clear and hilarious writing, not altogether confusing. Running us through the history of financial systems from the Sumerian Ledger to Net Income itself, he explains that our present financial systems are in need of an update—which is why they aren't always entirely accurate.

How One Student Built a Study Discord Community With 150K Members in 15 Months

by Fadeke Adegbuyi in Cybernaut (10-minute read)

Fadeke follows up last week's head-turning deep dive on Study Web culture by talking to one of its trailblazing figures: Nadir Matti, the law student who founded Study Together, a small Discord community for students to...well, study together,—a few months before the pandemic had everyone studying on their computers. In conversation with Fadeke, Nadir discusses the impetus to start Study Together, why he chose Discord, and where the community is going in terms of monetization, user experience, and team building.

The Creator MBA

by Li Jin, Nathan Baschez & Yash Bagal in Means of Creation (10-minute read)

Conventional wisdom tells us that social media users and businesses are divided by their online goals: socializing vs. selling. But creators—by selling themselves—"are increasingly blurring that line," write Li and Nathan in this exploration of how creators will have to learn to act as businesses. Taking the strategy behind their own newsletter as an example, our favorite creator-studying duo have etched out a truly useful primer for creators who know that, "while great content is the most important thing, it isn’t everything."

How to Lose $2B in One Day

by Nat Eliason in Almanack (8-minute read)

After another week of upheaval in the world of Decentralized Finance, Nat Eliason once again graces our digital pages by recapping the meteoric plummet of two new coins. What does it mean for the DeFi world at large? As always, read Nat to find out.

r/NoSurf: A Subreddit for the Very Offline

by Fadeke Adegbuyi in Cybernaut (6-minute read)

For this week's Cyberbits, Fadeke—who identifies as the person who has "seen the TikTok before it hit the group chat"—turns her eye on a segment of the Internet dedicated to leaving it all behind (for the most part). Exploring Reddit and Discord communities where members tell tales of losing their smartphones and curbing their surf time, Fadeke delivers a peek at another fascinating corner of the web—along with the usual collection of fresh and archived threads, reads, and more.

Celebrating Every Day + Managing burnout by...working more?

🎧 Talk Therapy with Dan Shipper & Nathan Baschez (19-minute listens)

One year and 82 pods into their Every journey, Dan and Nathan look back at the evolution of their working relationship. Their memories of those pressurized, fast-moving early days may be slightly different, but they both agree that bonding over the stresses of getting their baby off the ground has strengthened their own self-images, too. Later in the week, they used that self-knowledge to discuss the importance of following your excitement when choosing what to work on. These episodes are one of the best double features in recent Talk Therapy memory.

Podcast accessibility a concern? Worry not—we've got full transcripts of all our new podcasts available, too. Just click the "Read Transcript" button at the bottom of the post on our site.

Community Calendar

What's going down in our Discord this week.

• Monday, June 21st, 9am-11am EST/6am-8am PST: Focused Work Pomodoros with Dan Shipper

What’s Going On

News you might have caught or missed.

• Spotify Buys Exclusive Rights to ‘Call Her Daddy’ Podcast
• New Yorker Union Reaches Deal With Condé Nast After Threatening to Strike
• Andreessen Horowitz launches content site called Future
• Uber and Lyft drivers call for federal intervention in their gig worker labor fight

What We’re Reading

Our favorite writing from beyond Every.

• The Amazon that Customers Don't See (The New York Times)
• Name of the Game (Real Life)
• The Decade-long Odyssey of Blake Griffin’s Dunk-Contest Kia (The Ringer)
• We Weren't Supposed to Hear Bo Burnham Like This (Vulture)
• Does Tech Need a New Narrative? (The New Yorker)