Welcome to our "Build in Public" series, where we're taking you along for the wild ride that is building GYST, the AI virtual Chief Revenue Officer for the creator economy. Buckle up, it's going to be a bumpy (but hilarious) journey!

The Creator Economy's $500 Billion Problem

Did you know that the creator economy is projected to reach almost $500 billion by 2027, according to Goldman Sachs Research? Yet content creators face significant challenges, with studies showing that about 50% of creators earn less than $500 monthly and face persistent issues with content ownership, attribution, and platform dependency.

Day 1: When "Meh" is the Loudest Sound in the Room

There we were in Dubai at the 1 Billion Followers Summit this January to test our business hypotheses for the first time. We arrived armed with what we thought was a brilliant idea: be the one-stop shop for creators using AI to develop their content.

"Creators are juggling too many tools!" we proclaimed, waving our hands like we were directing air traffic. "We'll streamline their workflow so they can focus on their audience and business growth!"

We pitched. We gestured enthusiastically. We waited for the applause.

And then...

Nothing!

Well, not actually nothing. More like polite nods and the dreaded "interesting" response, the business equivalent of being told you have a "nice personality." Picture that awkward moment when you tell a joke at a dinner party and everyone just takes another bite of salad.

The creators, talent managers and VCs we spoke to weren't exactly doing backflips of excitement. The only spark of interest came when we mentioned blockchain technology to protect their content. Even then, their eyes had that glazed "I'm nodding but have no idea what you're talking about" look that blockchain discussions often inspire, similar to when someone explains the plot of "Inception" after you've missed the first 30 minutes.

The (First) Midnight Pivot

Nothing says "startup life" quite like a complete business model overhaul in your hotel room at midnight, fueled by room service coffee and the distinct feeling that you've just wasted your flight to Dubai.

Armed with coffee and the sting of rejection (wonderful motivator, by the way), we tore our idea down to the studs and rebuilt it overnight. No pressure hehehe.

As the Dubai skyline glittered outside our window, we asked ourselves: "What problem actually kept coming up in conversations today?" The answer was clear: content protection, attribution, and monetization, not another creation tool.

By sunrise, we had a new vision: an all-in-one platform where creators can protect, monetize, and scale their content seamlessly by integrating AI, blockchain, and advanced analytics.

The new pitch:

* Secure ownership with blockchain technology, ensuring transparency and control

* Distribute to multiple platforms with one click, maximizing reach

* Monetize with advanced analytics and AI recommendations, unlocking ad revenue, subscriptions, and direct sales

Day 2: A Better Reception (But Still Some Blank Stares)

The new pitch generated some instant buy-in from business-minded industry insiders. Tyler Chou (The Creators' Attorney), Leanne Perice (Made By All) and Melissa Laurie (Oysterly) were nodding for real this time; not the polite kind, but the "I'm actually interested" kind, the nod that says "you might actually be onto something here."

But the creators themselves? Still looking like we were explaining quantum physics in Aramaic. We needed to translate our tech-speak into creator-speak, and fast.

When All Else Fails, Talk About Pie

In a whim, we developed a bakery analogy that finally broke through:

* Protect the pie:

Secure ownership rights and ensure transparency using tracking technology that automatically blocks unauthorized content use or charges licensing fees. No more having your content stolen and reposted without attribution or compensation—like having someone steal your signature pie recipe, sell it as their own, and not even give you credit for the secret ingredient.

* Grow the pie:

Deliver actionable insights through AI analytics, helping creators showcase their content's measurable impact and negotiate better brand deals. Imagine knowing exactly which ingredients make your pies sell better, allowing you to charge premium prices for your in-demand creations.

* Bake new pies:

Open fresh revenue streams like performance-based royalties, licensing unreleased content for AI training, and even fundraising for channels by sharing profits with fans. Instead of just selling pies at your storefront, you're now packaging your mix for retail, licensing your recipes to restaurants, and getting fans to invest in your next big baking innovation.

Suddenly, eyes lit up. Heads nodded vigorously. Someone may have even said "Aha!" (though that might have been us). One creator actually pulled out their phone and asked, "When can I sign up?"

The Power of the Right Metaphor

It turns out that sometimes the difference between confusion and clarity is just the right metaphor. Who knew that comparing complex blockchain technology to protecting a delicious pie would be the communication breakthrough we needed? Our pie narrative had turned our complex technology stack into a relatable story that creators could see themselves in.

The summit became a whirlwind of productive conversations after that. We connected with incredible industry leaders like Jamie Gutfreund, Kathy Hackl, Ken Hertz, Ollie Forsyth and Leslie Morgan, each offering insights that would further shape our vision.

What We Learned

* First ideas aren't always the best ideas. Sometimes they're just the door you need to walk through to find the better idea waiting on the other side. In the startup world, we call this "failing forward": each rejection is just redirecting you toward something better.

* Speak your audience's language. AI and blockchain might excite us tech nerds, but creators care about results, not the technical wizardry that delivers them. As Chip and Dan Heath write in "Made to Stick," the "curse of knowledge" often prevents experts from communicating effectively with their audience. We had to "translate" our tech into creatorbenefits.

* Stories sell better than features. Our pie analogy wasn't just cute; it transformed our entire value proposition into something memorable and shareable.

Where to Next?

This pivot in Dubai was just the beginning of our journey to becoming GYST - Get Your S*** Together, the AI virtual Chief Revenue Officer for the creator economy. How we evolved from that bakery analogy to our current business model is a story for another blog post (Spoiler alert: it involves more pivots, earthquakes, pine trees falling on the backyard, and several existential crises.)

Stay tuned for the next installment of our "Build in Public" series, where we'll continue to share the unfiltered truth about building a startup in the creator economy. The good, the bad, and the "why did we think this was a good idea again?" moments. Because if we've learned anything so far, it's that the path to innovation is rarely straight, often confusing, and always worth the journey.