In an era where brand deals and sponsorships often define success for content creators, Lucy Guo is championing a different approach. As the founder of Passes, Guo is on a mission to empower creators with tools to build their sustainable businesses. Guo brings content creators together in a community.
"At Passes, we're creating tools to help creators become entrepreneurs through the income they own," Guo explains. The platform facilitates a variety of revenue streams for creators, including "membership communities, live streaming, one-on-one calls and more."
Guo's vision for Passes was born from observing the challenges in the creator economy, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. "During COVID, people in general became more lonely," she says. "So they started relying on membership communities." As platforms like Patreon paved the way, Guo saw an opportunity to develop further.
"I had this hypothesis that if you build a CRM system and build tools to make creators and fans feel even more engaged and have a closer connection, creators will make a lot more money," Guo shares. This approach aims to give creators deeper insights into their audience's preferences and behaviors.
Pass serves a diverse range of content creators, from lifestyle and gaming to music and podcasts. The strongest point of this platform is its focus on direct creator-fan engagement. Guo reveals that "the majority of a creator's revenue comes from their DMs or subscriptions actually tied to direct messages." This model allows creators to offer subscriptions at higher tiers of pricing.
The platform has attracted an impressive roster of talent.
Passes recently partnered with the University of Texas. "We recently introduced the top 40 University of Texas athletes," Guo says. "We have everyone from football players to basketball players to baseball players." This partnership taps into the growing market for student-athletes to monetize their name, image and likeness.
The results speak for themselves. According to Guo, Passes has "over 1,000 creators and is making tens of millions of dollars a year." More importantly, it has created millionaires, in addition to increasing its own income.
Looking to the future, Passes is expanding its offerings. Guo reveals plans for a marketplace feature, allowing creators to "sell digital and physical goods." This will include personalized merchandise, items signed by VIPs and even unique experiences like video calls with celebrities.
"More and more creators are moving towards membership communities because they're realizing it's a more reliable source of income than direct deals with brands."
