🧑‍🍳 This one decision shapes your entire creator business

Most advice for creators assumes that bigger is always better.

More views. More subscribers. More reach.

But two weeks ago, Slow Ventures flipped that script. Their latest $64m creator fund isn’t for audience-maximizing influencers or mass-market entertainers.

They’re backing creators who build highly engaged communities in their niche before creating products for them.

It reminded me of something I noticed while working with startups.

In the startup world, people obsess over founder archetypes because the way a founder builds shapes everything about their company. They can spot a Delian, Sam, or Nikita from a mile away.

But when it comes to creators, we rarely talk about the way they build at all.

The winning plays that work for one type won’t necessarily work for another.

MrBeast can drop five figures testing thumbnails because he has an entire team running experiments.

But as someone who might not (or aspire to) be at his level, you’re better off making the best one you can and moving on.

Here’s what’s on the menu today:

🥣 Which track leads to the creator business you actually want — so you don't waste your precious time on strategies meant for someone else

🥣 How different creators scale their businesses (or deliberately don't) — and what that means for your revenue, team, and sanity

🥣 How this affects operators — if you're a creator operator like me, understanding the track a creator you're supporting is on changes everything about how you help them win

Megan Lightcap's team at Slow is betting on a specific type of creator — the niche-defining, community-first builders. But that's just one way to play this game.

Zoom out and you'll actually see four unique tracks creators are on.

The track you're on right now dictates how you monetize, grow, and sustain your creator business over time.

Some creators stay on a tight, self-run track, keeping full control over every part of their business. Others switch tracks to scale, hiring teams and building systems — even if that means giving up a little control along the way.

Solo Creators

Solo Creators are the indie filmmakers of our world — they write, produce, direct, and star in their own show.

They've got no big team or Slack channels buzzing with texts at 2 in the morning.

It's just them in their sweatpants at 2 in the afternoon creating exactly what they want.

This could be because:

🍳 They're just getting started

 🍳 They love the autonomy

🍳 They want to run a lean, high margin, low overhead business

How They Grow

They focus on productizing their expertise and/or leveraging audience growth via courses, workshops, memberships, sponsorships, etc.

When they need help, it’s a one-time gig, not a team hire.

Who They Work With

They might bring in specialists on a project basis. A designer to make their website pop or a copywriter to increase the resonance of their launch emails.

They buy outcomes, not ongoing commitments.

Revenue Potential

The revenue they bring in can be insanely high margin.

But it eventually hits a ceiling based on how much they can realistically produce without cloning themselves or developing a concerning junk fuel habit.

Thriving Creators

Thriving Creators have found atleast one revenue stream that works reliably — a newsletter bringing in sponsorship money, a course that keeps selling itself, or something else.

They’re still directing and starring in their show but now they've got people handling lighting, sound, and editing so they're not running around adjusting everything between takes.

They’re not building A24 but they’re definitely done doing everything by themselves.

Take Taylor Crane from Fractional Jobs who's the only employee but has a roster of reliable part-time hires. They help him run and grow his business without turning his days into an endless managerial migraine. This gives him exactly what he wants 👇

How They Grow

Their focus is on scaling smartly without breaking what’s already working.

Maybe that looks like experimenting with new acquisition channels for an existing product or bringing on some part-time support like a video editor, a fractional COO, or an executive assistant.

Who They Work With

If you're an operator who works part-time with Thriving Creators, your job isn’t to reinvent the wheel — it’s to keep it spinning efficiently. They're looking for someone who can:

🍪 Streamline and automate so they’re not constantly putting out fires

🍪 Help them monetize smarter so their revenue keeps growing without their workload exploding

Revenue Potential

While they're bigger than Solo Creators, their revenue still orbits around their presence.

If they ghost their audience for a few months, things will most likely slow down. But they have enough support from their team for the lights to stay on.

Authoritative Creators

Think of Authoritative Creators as showrunners.

They're building something bigger than themselves. They’re shifting from "How do I do this better?" to "How do I make this work without me doing everything?"

These creators have built businesses that don't require them to personally press publish every single day. They're launching, scaling, and hiring while figuring out how to lead instead of just create.

Pat Flynn didn’t start Smart Passive Income with a team. He was running the whole show as a Solo Creator, juggling community building, growth, and ops like a one man band.

That worked for a while until the reality hit.

Sometime in 2008, Pat spent 3 days recording his own audiobook with terrible equipment only to realize that some things are better left to professionals. In this 16 min podcast episode, listen to him talk about that, his initial reluctance to hire someone, and how he finally stopped avoiding the need to hire professionals and switched to the Thriving Creator track.

The real shift came in 2019 when he acquired Matt Gartland’s agency, Winning Edits, bringing Matt on as SPI’s President and Co Founder. Matt didn’t just polish things up — he helped turn SPI into a full-blown community-led media brand.

Then came these all-stars:

🏅 Mindy Holahan Peters who started as Solutions Manager in 2020 and has transitioned to being the Director of Data and Technology. She made sure SPI’s tech stack wasn’t held together by duct tape

🏅 Jess Lindgren who finally went full-time in 2023 after years as Pat’s part-time Executive Assistant

🏅 Kristen Campbell who came in as Associate Operations Manager in 2021 and is now the Director of Operations, making sure things actually run smoothly

With the right people in place, Pat got to step out of the weeds and into his zone of genius — focusing on strategy, community building, content, and expanding SPI’s impact.

How They Grow

Thriving Creators might eventually hit a point where demand outpaces their personal bandwidth.

They’ve got a proven model, multiple revenue streams, and an audience that keeps showing up.

But if they want to grow without burning out, they need to switch to the Authoritative Creators track. So they do two things:

1️⃣ Build a full-time team

Not just part-time freelancers, but key full-time players who own major responsibilities. Think ops, content, tech, and community.

2️⃣ Expand beyond their core platform

This could look like launching new products, bigger programs, and deeper audience experiences. Maybe it’s a high-ticket group coaching program, a software, or an in-person conference.

The goal? Providing more value to their audience without being the bottleneck.

It’s still their brand and vision. They just choose to be involved at a much higher level. I’ll talk more about creator involvement across STAN tracks in a bit.

Who They Work With

As you already know, this is where operators become essential. Instead of popping in for a one-off project or being involved part-time, they become core team members.

The best operators for such creators are those who can create their own recipes, not just follow instructions.

Revenue Potential

Money finally scales beyond personal output which means that the revenue potential is high but so are the costs.

More people, more moving parts, more leadership challenges to navigate.

Niche-Defining Creators

Most creators focus on competing in their niche. Niche-Defining Creators have more than just an audience — they have real influence.

They don’t just participate in the niche — they shape how it operates.

Their frameworks get referenced. Their business model gets copied. If you’re in their niche, you absolutely know who they are.

And if they disappeared tomorrow? Their absence would leave an unignorable void.

Take Emma Chamberlain who didn't just create another YouTube channel. She completely rewrote how casual, personality-driven videos work. Creators, brands, and even corporate marketing teams have all borrowed from her signature editing style and authenticity.

Or Kevin Espiritu from Epic Gardening who transformed a humble gardening blog into a media and commerce empire that dominates his space. Anyone wanting to build a content-first business in gardening would be a fool not to look at his playbook.

Then there’s Ramit Sethi who changed how personal finance is taught, moving away from boring budgeting lectures to behavior-driven wealth building that actually works. His approach has shaped entire coaching methodologies in the finance space.

Here’s how to tell if a creator is niche-defining:

🤯 Would the niche look fundamentally different without them?

If they vanished tomorrow, would the space feel the emptiness?

Emma Chamberlain? Absolutely. A great fitness coach with solid content? Probably not.

🤯 Are other niche players adopting their playbook?

In the last two weeks, I've seen 3 newsletters in my inbox breaking down Katelyn Bourgoin's newsletter growth strategy play by play.

If you notice someone’s ideas spreading like wildfire, that’s a clear sign.

How They Grow

By expanding their sphere of influence to deepen their niche footprint:

1️⃣ Turn their reputation into scalable products

Not just any product but niche or even vertical defining ones.

A best-selling book that becomes the go-to resource.

A certification program that sets the standard.

These products cement their authority and create new income streams that don’t rely on constant production.

2️⃣ License their expertise

Niche-Defining Creators get paid for their credibility itself.

But they’re not traditional service providers selling time-for-money work so you’ll find them monetizing at scale through keynotes, high-ticket consulting, or licensing deals where businesses and even creators pay to use their frameworks or methodologies.

Some even align themselves with brands — becoming the face of a product, company, or movement (even if it’s temporarily) to lend credibility and drive adoption.

Who They Work With

For operators supporting Niche-Defining Creators, the role goes beyond execution.

It includes co-creating strategies that can set new industry standards, leading initiatives that have ripple effects across the niche, and making sure that the creator's vision is effectively translated into impactful actions.

Revenue Potential

The highest of all 4 tracks but also the trickiest to pull off. The impact is undeniable but it takes serious effort, time, buy in, and impeccable execution to make it happen.

Some chase this for the exit potential. Others are more interesting in building something with lasting impact that outlives their active involvement.

Creator Involvement

As creators outgrow tracks and switch to the next one, the level of their day-to-day involvement typically decreases.

But not all creators follow a linear path — some leap to the next track while others find their sweet spot and stay there indefinitely.

If you zoom out, you’ll see it

Every creator you know, including yourself, is building differently.

Some find the freedom of solo empires thrilling.

Others are extending their reach (and impact) with a small but mighty team.

You’ll also find those who are ambitiously building their own little media empires while the rest of us are just trying to remember to update our websites 🥲

The STAN framework is just one way to think about your business.

But where you take it from here? That’s entirely up to you.

You just read 1978 words. That’s a lot of brain calories. Stare at something far away and blink 20 times.

Before you go, two quick things (the second one’s important):

🍮 Do you want this to be added to the menu?

Normally I invite guest chefs creators to share their signature frameworks with us but today’s post was a chef’s special from me.

🍮 Are the upcoming featured frameworks relevant to you?

This month, Veronica Llorca Smith and Brenna Mulvaney are joining us to share their Substack newsletter growth frameworks. If this topic isn’t a core focus for you right now, click here to opt out and I’ll make sure you don’t receive the 2-3 emails I’ll be sending about it. You’ll still stay subscribed.

— Linda