Pulse News

**Creator Economy**

**What TikTok Didn't Say at SXSW**

By Kaya Yurieff

Mar 11, 2025, 5:22pm PDT

I'm just back from the tech and arts festival South by Southwest in Austin. TikTok was there: it held a private, invite-only "leadership summit" on Monday as well as a happy hour. TikTok staffers talked up products such as Symphony, its suite of AI tools to make it easier to create content for the app. Executives scheduled to speak included Blake Chandlee, the president of global business solutions, and Esme Lean, head of small and medium-sized businesses in the Americas.

One topic that didn't come up? A potential ban of the app or President Trump's looming April 5 deadline for the company to reach a deal, according to people who attended. TikTok has similarly avoided discussing the looming ban at other recent conferences, including at CES in Las Vegas earlier this year. Other TikTok executives such as global head of business marketing Sofia Hernandez also steered clear of a possible shutdown. She appeared at an event on Sunday afternoon hosted by Chief, a professional network for women executives, on a panel discussing leadership and creative marketing strategies.

Meanwhile, some TikTok creators are taking contingency measures as the deadline for TikTok to separate its U.S. operations from China's ByteDance ticks closer. Chase Ridgeway, a 23-year-old who works in tech sales in Austin, told me he started posting on TikTok in October as a way to share with friends and family about what he's up to each day. He quickly amassed more than 100,000 followers on the app.

About six weeks ago, Ridgeway said he started posting the same videos on Instagram Reels as a way to hedge against a potential ban. It's been working: He now has about 75,000 followers on Instagram. But he still laments the potential loss of TikTok. "That community of people that I'm used to now interacting with every single day will be taken away," he said.

**Other SXSW highlights:**

- Ahead of the conference, Uber announced that Austin riders can now be matched with a self-driving Waymo vehicle on the Uber app. The companies partnered with creators such as football player Will Stone from the University of Texas at Austin to draw attention to the launch during the conference. The companies also hosted a party on Monday night.

- TikTok creator Jake Shane, who hosts a popular podcast called Therapuss, made a stop on his live tour in Austin timed to SXSW, drawing nearly 2,000 attendees. Lines to get in wrapped around the block. During the show, he shared funny stories about growing up and his experiences with therapists. Next, he'll make stops in cities including Oklahoma City, St. Louis, and Detroit.

- E.l.f. Cosmetics made a splash around the Austin Convention Center with a marketing campaign focused on the lack of diversity on the boards of publicly-traded companies. "So many Dicks, so few of everyone else," read one of the posters slapped around the conference. The campaign pointed out that there are more men named Dick (Richard, Rich, or Rick) than people from underrepresented groups, such as Hispanic women or Black women.

- Vox Media hosted a bustling party on Sunday night with some of its top podcasters, including Kara Swisher, Scott Galloway, and former tennis star Andy Roddick. Also spotted: Twitch CEO Dan Clancy and Vox Media CEO Jim Bankoff.

- Spotify hosted a pop-up house on Saturday with two panels featuring podcasters who also have added video to their shows, including Sara Foster and former "Bachelorette" star Rachel Lindsay. In the evening, Spotify threw a party and concert featuring Suki Waterhouse.

**Here's what else is going on...**

AI Startup Funding

Firsthand, which is making AI software to help brands reach consumers, raised $26 million in Series A funding led by Radical Ventures.

AvatarOS, an AI-powered virtual influencer startup, raised $7 million in seed funding led by M13.

Intangible, which makes AI-powered tools for creating 3D content for filmmakers and game designers, raised $4 million in funding from investors including Andreessen Horowitz's early-stage startup accelerator a16z Speedrun, Crosslink Capital, Karman Ventures, and angel investors.

Dubformer, a startup developing AI technology for dubbing videos, raised $3.6 million in seed funding led by Almaz Capital.

Platter, an ecommerce startup that helps brands build Shopify storefronts, raised $1.6 million in pre-seed funding led by Animal Capital.

**Deals & Debuts**

See The Information's Creator Economy Database for an exclusive list of private companies and their investors.

Spotter, a creator economy startup offering upfront financing to YouTubers, is hosting an upfront-like event with creators to encourage more TV marketing budgets to move to creator content. Called the Spotter Showcase, it will take place in New York on March 27, and will include participation from top YouTubers including MrBeast, Colin & Samir, Dude Perfect, and Kinigra Deon.

Substack said it now has 5 million paid subscriptions, up from 4 million four months ago and 3 million about a year ago. The company said Substack has "grown rapidly" in the past 6 weeks among video creators due to uncertainty around TikTok. It also touted its investment in video and audio features, saying now 82% of its 250 highest-revenue creators use audio and video as of February, up from more than half in April 2024.

Allure launched a newsletter on Substack called The Beauty Chat. The women's beauty magazine will publish editions weekly, recapping beauty news, launches, and gossip, using Substack's comments and polls features to speak with readers "more directly."

**ICYMI:** Creator membership startups Passes and Fanfix discussed a deal that would merge the two rivals in recent months, The Information reported.

**Creator Corner**

Alix Earle invested in SipMARGS, a canned sparkling margarita drink, which announced a relaunch and $3 million in new funding led by Palm Tree Crew.

Instagram chief Adam Mosseri hosted a dinner with top creators in Los Angeles, including David Dobrik, Loren Gray, Josh Richards, and Dixie D'Amelio.

Tara Palmeri, a long-time political reporter, is going independent with a YouTube channel, Substack newsletter, and podcast.

Michelle Obama is launching a new podcast with her brother Craig Robinson through Higher Ground, a production company she founded with former President Barack Obama. The siblings will interview high-profile guests including Issa Rae and Keke Palmer.

The Elevator Boys, a five-person German boy band who went viral for dance videos on TikTok, signed with CAA.

**Overheard**

Scarlett Johansson is one of the few high-profile actors who still doesn't have social media accounts. She's starring in Universal Pictures' film "Jurassic World: Rebirth," which will be released on July 2, but still isn't budging.

"I got an email from Universal, and they're like, 'Hey, would you consider joining Instagram in tandem with the release of Jurassic World: Rebirth'? [I] get a lot of pressure to join social media," she said in an interview with InStyle on Tuesday.

"If I was a person who really enjoyed social media, then I could totally get on the bandwagon. But I'm not. And I think the film will do fine."

**What's That Trend**

A livestream of a bald eagle nest in Southern California has gone viral in recent days, as hundreds of thousands of viewers tuned in to watch two chicks hatch after three years of unsuccessful hatching. The livestream, hosted by nonprofit Friends of Big Bear Valley, showed bald eagles Jackie and Shadow in their nest. The two became mates in 2018 and caught public attention for their "bold personalities," Sandy Steers, executive director of Friends of Big Bear Valley, told CNN.

Thank you for reading the Creator Economy Newsletter! I'd love your feedback, ideas, and tips: kaya@theinformation.com.

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