Derek Yang has spent the past decade building creator communities and products at YouTube, Twitch, Facebook, and Yik Yak. He writes a newsletter where shares his learnings on the creator economy: Advance the Creator Economy.

The creator economy is a very much growing trend of content creators making a living, doing what they love. People are turning to creators as  trusted advisors. Brands no longer win with the biggest marketing budget. You can only win if you earn the people's trust. And how do you earn the trust? You embed your brand with the creators.

In this episode we ask Derek about.

• Why his high school friends call him Larry
• Being a door-to-door salesman selling internet to small businesses
• His time at Facebook working with athletes and celebrities
• The dramatic rise and fall of Yik Yak and why it happened
• What he worked on at Twitch
• The conversation within YouTube during Stop AAPI Hate
• What is the creator economy
• What makes a successful creator?
• What do NFTs mean for creators
• How do creator platforms work?
• How fans find and consume content
• Clubhouse and how it might fail
• What the Will and Lee Show can do to cultivate our community and grow

Find Derek online :

• Newsletter: Advance the Creator Economy
• Twitter: @dereklyang
• IG: @derek

Please subscribe to our podcast! You can find the latest episodes and notes at: 

• Website: willandlee.show
• Instagram: @will.and.lee.show