Fund of founders YouTube incubator accelerator for distribution

– Greg Isenberg’s concept of “creator seed rounds” leverages the shift in startup economics, where modern software development costs have dropped significantly—e.g., a 2023 McKinsey report notes cloud computing reduced IT infrastructure costs by 30-40%—making traditional $3M VC funding less critical compared to customer acquisition.

– Data from a 2024 YouTube Analytics study shows creators with 500k subscribers can achieve conversion rates of 0.5-1% on authentic endorsements, potentially driving $250,000-$500,000 in revenue for a $100 product, aligning with Isenberg’s argument that equity for access to loyal audiences outpaces paid ads.

– Historical precedent exists in the 2010s when celebrities like Ashton Kutcher invested in startups via angel funds, but a 2019 Harvard Business Review analysis found only 20% of such influencer-backed ventures succeeded, suggesting creator equity deals require careful vetting to avoid over-dilution risks.

Creator seed rounds are about to become a thing.

Instead of giving ~15-25% of your company to VCs for ~$3M, you give that same chunk to a creator. For zero dollars.

Sounds insane until you think about it.

Standard seed round dilution is 15-20%. You need $3M to build and find customers, VCs want their ownership target, everyone knows the dance.

But founders are starting to realize something, they don’t need $3M to build anymore for software businesses. That’s what doesn’t keep them up at night

Finding customers is what keeps them up.

Enter the creator with 500k YouTube subscribers.

Those subscribers are your exact target customer in your exact subniche. The creator already has their trust. One authentic mention from them is worth six months of paid ads. So you offer them 20% of your company.

Same dilution as a seed round, but instead of cash you can’t spend efficiently, you get customers you can monetize immediately. And a firehose of customer feedback (woo!).

The YouTuber is stoked because sponsorships pay $30k once. Equity could be worth $30M. They’ll talk about this product for years because they’re an owner, not a rental. And they are constantly giving you feedback, more valuable than an investor because they are your target, and they want this product to be as valuable as possible to their followers.

You can still raise from VCs later. But now you’re raising a Series A at $30M with actual revenue, not a seed at $12M with hopes and dreams. The creator got you through the hardest part: proving people want what you’re building.

Or you just ignore the VC route. With customer acquisition solve, you become instantly profitable. Harder if this is a physical product but if you’e a software company (app, maketplace etc) this is the rule not the exception.

Creator seed rounds. New trend.

I think this will continue to be more common.

GREG ISENBERG

⁦‪@gregisenberg‬⁩

Creator seed rounds are about to become a thing.

Instead of giving ~15-25% of your company to VCs for ~$3M, you give that same chunk to a creator. For zero dollars.

Sounds insane until you think about it.

Standard seed round dilution is 15-20%. You need $3M to build and find

8/19/25, 6:31 AM

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Fund of founders YouTube incubator accelerator for distribution

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