Polymathic Audio No. 17: Casey Neistat

 

Casey Neistat is one of the true pioneers of the creator economy. But perhaps unlike some of today’s stars, Casey used YouTube not to seek out fun and fame but as a vehicle for monetizing individual creativity, long before that was an industry itself. No conversation with Casey bypasses his experiences as one of the most prolific YouTube creators of all time; this one focuses on how he’s diversified since his rise on the platform. He discusses tenacity and how nuanced a role it plays in balancing aspiration and success for creators. Casey goes on to explain how his personality and ambitions drove his nonstop creative streak, one that included 700 straight days of video blogging.

Join 12.3 million others at Casey’s Youtube

This short conversation spans his success with YouTube to founding (and selling) a software company and to his present-day role as a growing investor with time for fatherhood and hobbies. The conversation concludes with a discussion around the future of decentralized finance, the catalysts for Casey’s personal passion surrounding the matter, and the implications of solutions on both domestic and global investing and transactions alike.

The RSS feed is here for those who prefer to listen on the go. Or you can find Polymathic Audio on Spotify.

AUDIO BY Casey Neistat AND WEB SMITH 
CO-PRODUCED BY JOE KLOKUS AND WEB SMITH
AUDIO DESIGN BY VINCENZO LANDINO
ENGINEERING BY JOE KLOKUS
POLYMATHIC AUDIO IS A PRODUCT OF 2PM INC.

Polymathic Audio No. 16: Alexis Gay

 

This conversation between Alexis Gay and myself was actually our second; it was equally fascinating. Gay and I talked everything but business just a few weeks back on her new creation: Non-Technical Podcast. The subject matter was slightly different for this one.

The passion and creator economies are here and they’re scaling fast. A key player in this trajectory is Patreon, where our guest worked as a director of creator partnerships and business operations. The conversation moves to the dynamics of companies the likes of Patreon, Substack, Memberful, and their role in the growth and autonomy of the multi-SKU creator.

The responsibility of brands, marketers, and entrepreneurs on social media during moments of national trauma is debated. Recently, Alexis left Patreon for a full-time pursuit of the creator economy and she explains the process of embracing and monetizing in the present climate. She is one of the first to pursue the uncharted waters of building a comedic portfolio, during a pandemic, in a largely still-unrefined creative landscape.

See her work on Youtube

Towards the end of our discussion, Alexis laid out the dichotomy between prioritizing who is in your audience (in other words: depth > width). And in the name of self-awareness, Alexis gives her purview of the TikTok zeitgeist and how to navigate the world of newly available content channels.

The RSS feed is here for those who prefer to listen on the go. Or you can find Polymathic Audio on Spotify.

AUDIO BY ALEXiS Gay AND WEB SMITH 
CO-PRODUCED BY JOE KLOKUS AND WEB SMITH
AUDIO DESIGN BY VINCENZO LANDINO
ENGINEERING BY JOE KLOKUS
POLYMATHIC AUDIO IS A PRODUCT OF 2PM INC.

Polymathic Audio No. 15: Kyle Alex Brett

 

A graduate of Howard Law School, Kyle Alex Brett now serves as counsel to Netflix after a few unfulfilling stops with various corporate and entertainment law groups. The film analyst and lawyer now works on the independent films side: which constitutes films that fall under a $40 million production budget.

This conversation discusses the daily responsibilities of an operator who moonlights as a creator within the machine of a streaming economy giant. We took a deep-dive into the new Netflix film Ma Rainey’s Black Bottom, and the strength of a Netflix corporate culture that prioritizes talent and people (See the recent decision regarding Chappelle Show).

Brett also shares personal and abstract philosophy that influences his effective, consistent, and infectious presence on Twitter. Kyle’s voice and actions are rooted in the principle of prolific creation: repetition that outlasts the noise. Of course, the conversation ultimately converges on the future of the film industry and the rise and inevitability of streaming as the primary method of box office growth.

The RSS feed is here for those who prefer to listen on the go. Or you can find Polymathic Audio on Spotify.

AUDIO BY KYLE ALEX BRETT AND WEB SMITH 
CO-PRODUCED BY JOE KLOKUS AND WEB SMITH
AUDIO DESIGN BY VINCENZO LANDINO
ENGINEERING BY JOE KLOKUS
POLYMATHIC AUDIO IS A PRODUCT OF 2PM INC.