Podcast
The Creator Spotlight Podcast
Hosted by Creator Spotlight · EN
Every week we spend an hour in conversation with a notable creator, discussing their approach to audience growth, monetization, and content production. Hosted by Francis Zierer (Twitter and LinkedIn). New episodes every Tuesday. This podcast is part of our newsletter, Creator Spotlight.
38episodes
Episodes
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Ep. 109: How LinkedIn Groups and Newsletters Power an Online Education Business
1w ago00:43:36Tap to summarizeNatalie Peters is the founder and CEO of Sky Society, a community and career accelerator for women breaking into marketing. In this episode, Natalie breaks down how she grew Sky Society from two students to a waitlisted accelerator with over 100 students per cohort, why she built her entire content funnel around organic growth and personal brand, and how she structures admissions, pricing, and community to consistently get graduates hired. __ open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video __ Sky Society Website YouTube Instagram LinkedIn TikTok Natalie Peters LinkedIn Instagram __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Natalie Peters 01:03 The value of hands-on marketing experience 03:55 Lessons learned in 5 years of founder experience 07:30 How to make a good education product 13:25 Business failures to learn from 16:23 The content funnel that drives a $1M+ business 23:58 Pricing an online educational product 32:25 The difficulties of growing an educational business 35:33 Driving growth through newsletter leads 40:34 Building a globally respected product
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Ep. 108: The creator economy doesn't exist ft. Nathan Graber-Lipperman
2w ago01:09:37Tap to summarizeNathan Graber-Lipperman is the founder of Powder Blue, a Chicago-based creative studio behind a print magazine, newsletter, and community events. We talk about building and monetising indie media, what makes brand partnerships work, and why he retired his previous publication Creator Mag to launch Offline. __ open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at https://open.video __ Powder Blue Offline Mag YouTube Newsletter Instagram __ Nathan Graber-Lipperman LinkedIn Instagram __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Nathan Graber-Lipperman 01:12 What is Powder Blue? 05:23 An insider's view into the creator economy's growth 11:21 The evolution of creator brand partnerships 16:03 Working with Colin and Samir 23:03 The print magazine for the creator world 36:56 Building community through events 44:00 Why Chicago is the city of creatives 47:06 The three qualities of a good magazine feature 53:29 Long form content will always be king 59:56 Defining the creator economy 01:05:30 Creative longevity and staying motivated
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Ep. 107: Inside the business of ghostwriting ft. Maxie McCoy
3w ago01:02:50Tap to summarizeMaxie McCoy is an author, ghostwriter, and speech writer whose clients have landed Wall Street Journal bestsellers. In this episode, Maxie breaks down the business of ghostwriting, from how to get started and price your work, to building a newsletter audience of 40,000 and why being best known matters more than being best. __ open.video lets you host your videos on your own domain, under your own brand — so you control the channel, the data, and the direct connection to your viewers. Try it out at open.video __ Maxie McCoy Website Newsletter LinkedIn Instagram __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Maxie McCoy 01:27 The many arms of Maxie's business 05:05 Building a newsletter to 40,000 readers 15:25 Leading a strong community 18:40 How to get started in ghostwriting 23:47 Behind the process of ghostwriting 33:33 What it takes to write and publish a book 46:56 Making $85k through LinkedIn courses 52:32 Building a personal brand in 2026
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Ep. 106: Sending a newsletter for 1,000 days straight ft. Mindstream
4w ago00:48:43Tap to summarizeMatt Village and Maria Gharib are the editorial team behind Mindstream, a daily AI-focussed newsletter with over 230,000 subscribers. In this episode they break down the editorial systems, consistency habits, and audience growth tactics that helped them grow a strong, engaged audience. __ Mindstream Newsletter LinkedIn Guests Matt Village Maria Gharib __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Matt and Maria of Mindstream 01:31 Going all-in at 5,000 subscribers 05:56 Expanding the team 09:51 Curating the style for a daily newsletter 16:18 The daily research, writing and editing process 25:58 AI tools used in the creation process 28:42 Being acquired by HubSpot 37:39 Biggest lessons from 1,000 newsletter issues 43:22 The difficulties of consistency
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Ep. 105: Becoming one of Morning Brew’s biggest creators ft. Macy Gilliam
Apr 700:58:05Tap to summarizeMacy Gilliam is a video producer and content creator at Morning Brew and the creator of Out There, a documentary series where she spends a day learning the world's most interesting jobs. In this episode, we walk through her production process, how she went from running Morning Brew's Twitter account to having her own show, and red flags every creator should look for in their contracts. __ Macy Gilliam Out There Macy's YouTube Instagram TikTok X LinkedIn __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Macy Gilliam 01:23 The process of making a 1M+ view video 07:57 From social media editor to having a show 15:01 Leaning into natural curiosity 17:52 Negotiating a creator contract 27:06 When and how to go independent as a creator 32:13 The blending of creator and journalist 40:33 Which platform should you focus on the most? 45:48 Contract exploitation in the creator economy 49:24 Green flags in creator contracts 52:25 The future of documentary journalism
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Ep. 104: Building a platform to save the internet ft. Tyler Bainbridge of Perfectly Imperfect
Mar 3100:54:45Tap to summarizeTyler Bainbridge is the founder of Perfectly Imperfect, a social magazine and app with 400,000+ users built to help people discover culture outside of algorithms. In this episode, we get into how he grew the platform from a free newsletter to a business attracting guests such as Charli xcx, Francis Ford Coppola and The Rizzler. __ Perfectly Imperfect Website Instagram Tyler Bainbridge Instagram LinkedIn X __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Tyler Bainbridge 01:23 Escaping the algorithm 07:41 Leaving Substack to build a unique platform 12:32 Growing to over 400,000 users 16:21 Biggest milestone guests 19:40 How Perfectly Imperfect makes money 22:28 The meaning of community 29:02 Building a dedicated team 31:20 Building the platform we’ve always wanted 34:54 The challenge of scaling a subculture 40:18 The refusal to optimize 45:19 The importance of good editorial 50:42 Building the next Tumblr, also Vice
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Ep. 103: Building a newsletter to fight the algorithm ft. Matt Kiser
Mar 2400:59:27Tap to summarizeMatt Kiser is the creator and editor WTF Just Happened Today, a political news newsletter with over 200,000 subscribers built entirely on a pay-what-you-want membership model. In this episode Matt breaks down how he grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in six months, the editorial philosophy behind curating the news every day for nine years, and the biggest mistakes he made along the way. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles __ Matt Kiser Newsletter LinkedIn Bluesky GitHub __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Matt Kiser 01:18 Zero to 100k in six months 11:06 Building the skill of aggregation and curation 17:41 The death of objectivity 18:37 From 100k to 200k subscribers 20:36 Don’t hate the media, become the media 29:18 Transparency with the revenue model 35:40 The AI podcast controversy 46:46 Biggest mistakes and learning moments 50:23 A deeper connection with the audience
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Ep. 103: Building a newsletter to fight the algorithm ft. Matt Kiser
Mar 2400:59:27Tap to summarizeMatt Kiser is the creator and editor WTF Just Happened Today?, a political news newsletter with over 200,000 subscribers built entirely on a pay-what-you-want membership model. In this episode Matt breaks down how he grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in six months, the editorial philosophy behind curating the news every day for nine years, and the biggest mistakes he made along the way.Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles__Matt KiserNewsletterLinkedInBlueskyGitHub__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Matt Kiser01:18 Zero to 100k in six months11:06 Building the skill of aggregation and curation17:41 The death of objectivity18:37 From 100k to 200k subscribers20:36 Don’t hate the media, become the media29:18 Transparency with the revenue model35:40 The AI podcast controversy46:46 Biggest mistakes and learning moments50:23 A deeper connection with the audience
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Ep. 102: The creator earning $200k+ posting on LinkedIn ft. Vin Matano
Mar 1700:58:57Tap to summarizeVin Matano is a B2B influencer marketing agency owner and part-time creator who made $200K as a creator and $2.5M through his agency Creator Buzz in 2025. In this episode, we get into how he lands and keeps long-term brand deals, his LinkedIn content strategy, and how he built Creatorbuzz from zero to $2.5M in its first full year.Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/vin-matano __Get started with Taplio for freeUse code: CREATOR1X1__Vin MatanoLinkedInYouTubeTwitter/XInstagramCreatorbuzz__Timestamps00:00 Introducing Vin Matano01:30 From $94k to $200k in one year05:32 Getting brand deals and overdelivering13:48 How many followers do you need for brand deals?20:10 Partnering brands with creators25:53 Making $2.5M in a year28:50 The challenges of being a new founder31:34 Getting leads with social media37:24 The three types of LinkedIn posts to go viral44:38 Debunking LinkedIn myths49:25 The third generation of B2B marketing54:12 Changing how success is measured
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Ep. 102: The creator earning $200k+ posting on LinkedIn ft. Vin Matano
Mar 1700:58:57Tap to summarizeVin Matano is a B2B influencer marketing agency owner and part-time creator who made $200K as a creator and $2.5M through his agency Creator Buzz in 2025. In this episode, we get into how he lands and keeps long-term brand deals, his LinkedIn content strategy, and how he built Creatorbuzz from zero to $2.5M in its first full year. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/vin-matano __ Get started with Taplio for free Use code: CREATOR1X1 __ Vin Matano LinkedIn YouTube Twitter/X Instagram Creatorbuzz __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Vin Matano 01:30 From $94k to $200k in one year 05:32 Getting brand deals and overdelivering 13:48 How many followers do you need for brand deals? 20:10 Partnering brands with creators 25:53 Making $2.5M in a year 28:50 The challenges of being a new founder 31:34 Getting leads with social media 37:24 The three types of LinkedIn posts to go viral 44:38 Debunking LinkedIn myths 49:25 The third generation of B2B marketing 54:12 Changing how success is measured
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