Rohan's blog

When you think about Joe, he seems like the guy who you can model. Make a hero of the creator economy. It’s truly possible to achieve what he has.

And he has – he is the biggest podcaster in the world. Sure, the biggest are many names. But you get the idea – he is on the top list. Part of this is because he started the podcasting games way before. He was famous before and could invite interesting people. And then as a result of longer watch time and the lucky YouTube algorithm, he became the big podcaster on the internet.

Now if you want him to be the creator face of the internet, he can be. But there are better people. Joe became famous by catering to the traditional gatekeepers and once he achieved fame, he joined the podcasting business.

You can’t start a podcast with big names because no one wants to come to you. And also you are not famous.

Early YouTubers like smosh, nigahiga and PewDiePie are better faces for you to model. If you are looking for some internet celebrities role models.

Joe Rogan and Spotify Deal

If Spotify had seen Joe Rogan’s idea earlier for a podcast, then they would have rejected you and moved on. Like they do with thousands of pitches they receive.

They don’t care.

All they need is money and attention. They saw the money potential Joe had and the attention he brought. And so they bought his podcast business on lease for millions of dollars.

And Joe happily accepted the deal.

And then he made some comments. Now the question isn’t if he made right or wrong comments. It wasn’t illegal because if it was he would be in jail. The comment didn’t go well with certain people.

And if they don’t want to watch Joe they can surely not watch.

But Spotify was forced by other offended artists to remove Joe or they were threatening to leave. Now, this is bad.

And Spotify succumbed to it.

Here is where things messed up.

If you don’t like someone who doesn’t watch or consume their content, don’t force the medium to stop displaying it for others.

With all this debacle, the lesson is to secure your content, make it as non-dependent on traditional media as possible. And as long as it’s not a crime, art shouldn’t be banned or not banned based on some people. Because whatever the art form, some people will not like it. Simply don’t consume it.

Some Lessons from Joe Rogan

• You can create as long content as possible. You might be tempted to think that people only watch short Tik Tok. But that’s not true. Create interesting things and people will consume them.
• When your personality projects, you will show your grey side. And it might not go well with many people. But that’s true about every human. As long as you aren’t doing anything illegal, go ahead and stand for yourself. Whoever stands with you are your true fans. And it’s enough for you to keep creating.
• Because of the internet and its scale, you have the potential to create a billion dollars empire, essentially all alone. But for most people, if you can reach 1000 true fans then it’s enough.
• The possibilities of scale through the internet is huge. You get the power to alter culture, shift people’s opinions and create a wave for something.
• If you have multiple skill sets, you shine very well. A comedian is basic but a comedian plus a commentator plus a fighter is a nice combo. And such things attract and grow faster on the Internet.
• With great powers comes great responsibility. You need to give a disclaimer about what is and what isn’t your show.
• You will get a lot of hate and trolls compared to traditional media. You have to learn to bypass that and still create creative work. Or you will go mad.
• Your work, in theory, stays forever and with blockchain, it will be. So, it’s a type of longevity of art like never before. Many movies aren’t available anywhere. It’s tough to say that about content shared publicly.
• Once you reach your money goals, you can keep doing the creative work for the new leverage you get. And then do work to make an impact on the Universe.
• Many people will want you to fail, especially traditional media. And that’s why you need to succeed even harder.

What It Means To Be Creator On The Internet

The Internet is a massive opportunity. And now there are works for web3 where your work is supposedly permanent and the creator will share more benefits with the platform. And you will see the stars and people chasing aimlessly.

But here is the kicker, you saw the same fandom and stars with traditional media for dancers, movie stars and alike. And you knew it was hard to be one. And it seems the same way for the Internet.

However, I would argue – the Internet is different. In the traditional sense if you have 1000 winners then on the Internet you would have 100x winners. And most would earn enough for their efforts. Sure, because of scale, some might not win. And that’s okay. On the internet, they can still keep showcasing their talent and no one is stopping them.

In traditional media, the gatekeeper restricts you and gives you only a limited chance or none. Welcome to the internet of infinite chance. Maybe most won’t get anything out of the internet. But there is an infinite chance, more winners and few or no gatekeepers. Because there is always some platform to accept you. And with web3, you are risk-free on the internet.

Create on the internet  – not because you want to win a lottery. Even 1000 true fans are enough. You create because it’s a waste of the Internet if you don’t.

You are dying for that one chance with traditional media. The Internet is giving you infinite chances to make something. This was your dream, you have it. Let’s roll on the internet.