Six months ago, we had barely any idea what the creator economy was. Today, I'm ranked #10 among Brazil's top creator economy influencers by Favikon. What a journey it's been!

Sometimes the best business ideas come from the most unexpected conversations. Mine came from listening to my teenage daughter's friends talk about their career aspirations. "We want to become content creators," they said with the same certainty my generation once reserved for wanting to become doctors or lawyers.

That conversation sparked everything. Mel and I immediately dove into deep desk research about the creator economy: its business models, problems, and opportunities. What we discovered was a massive, rapidly evolving industry that was simultaneously misunderstood and underserved. We booked flights to Dubai for the 1 Billion Followers Summit, not really knowing what we were getting into.

The Power of Being Outsiders

At the Dubai summit, we were the clear outsiders. Not creators ourselves, not providing services to them, just two curious people with business backgrounds asking hard business questions to creators, talent managers, and lawyers. Questions they didn't always want to answer. Or didn't know how to answer.

But that outsider perspective became our superpower. We weren't constrained by "how things are done" in the creator economy. We could see gaps and opportunities that insiders had become blind to.

Thank you to Leanne Perice from Made By All, Tyler Chou the Creators' Attorney, and Ken Hertz for sitting down with two complete strangers in the hotel lobby and engaging in deep conversations that opened the path to where we are now. You were the first to take us seriously, and we're forever grateful.

The Rollercoaster Begins

What followed was a journey that felt less like a gentle ride and more like the Jurassicoaster: ups and downs, twists and turns, always exhilarating, sometimes terrifying.

Sergio and Oliver from Immigrant Foodie gave us our first "yes": validation that we were onto something. Chelsey Mori gave us our first "no": equally valuable feedback that helped shape our vision. Both responses taught us that in the creator economy, authentic feedback is gold.

Building the Village

Every successful venture needs its village, and ours has been extraordinary. Laura Edwards from Wild Vision, Joanna Riley from Censia AI, Bia Granja, and Alfredo dos Santos became not just advisors but dear friends who guided us through the maze of building a startup in an emerging industry.

Patrik Wilkens curated incredible dinners where we met game-changing people like Andrea Casanova, Alex from Wild Vision, Ruslan from Mr Beast, and Bobby from influencers.club. Patrik, we're still looking forward to hosting you in Lisbon. That invitation stands!

The team at Unicorn Factory Lisboa (João Rosado, Catarina, and Rafaela) welcomed us into an incredible ecosystem. The mentors we met there, including Ralph, Tim, and Luke, provided insights that shaped our product development in ways they probably don't even realize.

Finding Our Design Partners

The creator economy isn't built in boardrooms; it's built in collaboration with the people who live and breathe it every day. Incredibly talented talent managers and agents like Monica Khan, Naomi Lennon, Alex Segal, Vinny from Evolved, and Miguel from Polaris Sports became our design partners, helping us understand the real pain points and opportunities.

Amazing creators like James Song and Paul from Woody and Kleiny didn't just give us feedback, they helped us understand the creator mindset from the inside out.

When YouTube launched Ask Studio, it felt like validation that we were asking the right questions about creator tools and infrastructure. Sometimes the market validates your thesis in ways you never expected.

The Unexpected Moments

Jeffrey Katzenberg, one of my business idols, turned out to be exactly as inspiring and classy in person as his reputation suggested. People say not to meet your heroes, but sometimes they exceed every expectation.

Brian Collins hosted us at Cannes, where we met Nefertiti and Saskia who went from strangers to "lifelong" friends in record time. The creator economy isn't just about business; it's about building genuine human connections.

Cveti and the whole HBS AI community provided intellectual frameworks that helped us think bigger about where AI and creator tools intersect.

Filipe Portela from Ground Capital made the crucial introduction to Astrolab, opening doors we didn't even know existed. Susana Pereira from the Creative Europe desk guided us through our Innovation Labs grant application (we're waiting anxiously for the response on October 24th.)

To the Doubters

To the VCs who questioned whether we had founder-market fit, I'm sorry (not sorry) to prove you wrong. This Favikon ranking tells you everything you need to know. When you go from zero knowledge to top 10 influencer in six months, that's not luck; that's founder-market fit in action.