When the founders of creator economy startup Norby set out to raise venture capital last summer, they were met with some skepticism after they told potential investors they didn’t plan to offer services to expand the ways creators make money, such as tipping and subscriptions. 

“We got a lot of raised eyebrows from VCs for saying that,” Nick Gerard, Norby CEO and co-founder, said in an interview. But he saw social networks eyeing those features and beefing up ways for creators to make money directly on their platforms. 

“You cannot compete with a first-party experience when you are a third party,” he said. “One day, that startup has no reason for being anymore.”