Art by Sam Lessin
Modest Proposals
Startups Markets

Equity Financing for Influencers

Photo: Art by Sam Lessin

The most valuable brands of the future are going to be people rather than companies. The shift in that direction is starting to happen right under our noses.

Take the case of Elon Musk. You can’t assess Tesla’s $800 billion market capitalization against any sort of realistic view of its financial prospects. The stock isn’t valued as a business but as an Elon Musk trading card. Elon’s $100 billion–plus fortune is largely tied to his influencer status above and beyond anything else.

Get access to exclusive coverage
Read deeply reported stories from the largest newsroom in tech.
Latest Articles
 
Opinion Media/Telecom
Content Alone Will Kill the Creator Economy
By Gina Bianchini · March 1, 2021 6:02 AM PST
Illustration by Jeremie Claeys
The emerging creator economy is exciting. For the first time ever, more of us can turn our expertise, interests, curiosity or craft into an ongoing income stream funded by 1,000 or even 100 true fans. There’s only one problem. While it’s easy to start a newsletter, podcast or online course, it turns out that running a content business is hard. Really hard. In fact, content may be...
Latest Briefs
 
Skydio Becomes First U.S. Drone Maker to Hit Unicorn Status
By Shai Oster · March 1, 2021
Another Hong Kong Tycoon Looks to Raise Money Via a U.S.-Listed SPAC
By Shai Oster · March 1, 2021
China Insurer CEO Says Beijing’s Fintech Crackdown Not Surprising
By Juro Osawa · March 1, 2021
Stay in the know
Receive a summary of the day's top tech news—distilled into one email.
Access on the go
View stories on our mobile app and tune into our weekly podcast.
Join live video Q&A’s
Deep-dive into topics like startups and autonomous vehicles with our top reporters and other executives.
Enjoy a clutter-free experience
Read without any banner ads.
Art by Mike Sullivan
Opinion Policy Google
Data Is the New Sand
By Tim O'Reilly
The metaphors we use are like a map. They can guide us or lead us astray. When British mathematician Clive Humby said “ Data is the new oil ” back in 2006, he meant that data, like oil, must be refined and transformed to make it into useful products and services.
Katana's Kristjan Vilosius (from left to right), Priit Kaasik and Hannes Kert. Photo provided by Katana
Exclusive Venture Capital Startups
As Shopify Surges, So Are the Software Startups Riding Its Coattails
By Mark Di Stefano
Shopify’s stock has more than quadrupled since shoppers began flocking at the start of the pandemic to the online stores of the smaller merchants Shopify serves.
Zoom CEO Eric Yuan. Photo by Bloomberg
Exclusive Microsoft Google
Zoom Executives Have Discussed an Expansion Into Contact Center Market
By Kevin McLaughlin
Zoom Video Communications’ pockets are full of cash after a $2 billion secondary offering of its shares last month.
An image from the upcoming Disney movie 'Soul'. Photo courtesy of Disney
Exclusive
Data Reveals 40% of Disney+ Subscribers Are in the U.S.
By Wayne Ma and Tom Dotan
Disney’s flagship video-streaming service, Disney+, has quickly emerged as the only true competitor to Netflix, signing up nearly 100 million subscribers globally after 15 months, about half as many as Netflix has accumulated after a decade.
The Takeaway Startups
‘People Follow People’ and Other Themes on the Creator Economy
By Jessica E. Lessin
This week brought more moves in the slow death of the attention economy and the rise of the creator economy.
Illustration by Jeremie Claeys
Startups Entertainment
How NBCU Missed Out on Billions in Gains on Snap and Peloton
By Tom Dotan
This week Snap crossed an important symbolic milestone: The company, buoyed by an investor presentation that painted a rosy picture of its future, surpassed $100 billion in market value.