A creator-led internet, built on blockchain | Adam Mosseri

Episode Summary

Executive Summary: Adam Mosseri argues that the internet’s next phase should shift power from platforms to creators. He says Web3 tools like blockchains, tokens, and smart contracts could let creators own audience relationships, move across platforms, and raise capital directly from fans, reducing dependence on any single company and restoring the internet’s original promise.

Main Topics: Power shifting from institutions to individuals (Priority: 5/5): Mosseri frames internet history as a long-term transfer of power away from gatekeepers and toward individuals, though with detours and new concentrations of platform power. Creators as the new center of the internet (Priority: 5/5): He argues that creators now drive culture, attention, and audience relationships more than traditional institutions like labels, networks, or publishers. Platform dependence and the need for portability (Priority: 5/5): Creators are currently too reliant on a few platforms; Mosseri wants audience relationships and subscriptions to be portable across services. Web3 and blockchain as enabling infrastructure (Priority: 4/5): He presents blockchain-based tools—cryptocurrencies, tokens, NFTs, DAOs, smart contracts—as a way to remove intermediaries and enable direct creator-fan relationships. New models for creator financing (Priority: 4/5): Beyond subscriptions, he proposes creator equity and revenue-sharing models that let fans invest in a creator’s future instead of creators relying on debt. Industry-wide collaboration (Priority: 3/5): Mosseri says no single company can build this future alone; platforms must cooperate so creator ownership and portability become standard.

Key Arguments: The internet originally weakened old gatekeepers, but it also concentrated power in a few large platforms. Creators are increasingly more important than the institutions they once depended on, and platforms should adapt to that reality. Creators should own their audience relationships rather than rent them from platforms. Blockchain can reduce reliance on intermediaries and make creator-fan relationships portable across platforms. A tokenized membership model could let fans subscribe once and follow a creator everywhere. Creators should be able to raise money through revenue-sharing or equity-like structures instead of only debt. A healthier creator ecosystem benefits platforms too, because more creativity and more art expand the overall market.

Data Points: Instagram users: more than 1 billion - Used to illustrate Instagram’s scale and the platform’s role in the creator economy. CNN average viewers in 2012: about 670,000 - Compared with Jessica Yellin’s Instagram reach to show how creators can now rival legacy media audiences. LeBron James Instagram followers vs. Lakers: more followers than the Lakers - Example of star athletes becoming more relevant than the teams they play for. Cristiano Ronaldo Instagram earnings: reported to make more on Instagram than he did from Juventus - Example of creator/platform monetization surpassing traditional sports income. Time horizon for power shift: next 10 years - Mosseri predicts a dramatic shift in power from platforms to creators over the coming decade. Blockchain membership example: a few bucks - Illustrative price for a tokenized membership card in the Lisa example. Hypothetical creator financing deal: $100,000 investment for 5% of earnings for 10 years - Example of a smart-contract-based revenue share for creator funding.

Pivotal Quotes: "Power is shifting." — Adam Mosseri: Opening thesis about the long-term movement of power from institutions to individuals. "What if Lisa can sell a token, think of it as a membership card, for a few bucks, to anyone who wants to subscribe?" — Adam Mosseri: Explains a blockchain-based model for portable creator subscriptions. "Creators will be able to own their relationship with their audience, and anyone who wants to invest in creativity will have the opportunity to do so." — Adam Mosseri: Summarizes the intended future state of the creator economy.

Implications: If adopted, creator-owned subscriptions and financing could reduce platform lock-in, increase creator bargaining power, and make audience relationships portable. For listeners, it suggests a future where supporting creators is easier, more direct, and less dependent on any one app.