SageSpot’s recent seed funding from Khosla Ventures that included a number of superstar athletes may be a case of where one plus one equals 3. The combination of a social media platform for creators and funding that includes high power celebrities is a very powerful formula.
Tom Brady, Rory McElroy and other well-known athletes are in support SageSpot’s mission of giving creators a way to financially mine their passionate follower base. They and other celebrities and athletes have a high cultural status, attracting a large number of ardent followers. Who better than they to understand the value of SageSpot’s model?
Directed toward creators, the platform provides a highly-effective tool to monetize content and personal brand, enabling them to change passionate followers into paid subscribers. It is subscription based with a one-time content fee. This newly introduced subscriber-based model acts as a natural filter, so online personalities don’t have to worry about harmful or uninformed behavior that diminishes their followers’ experience.
Creators are now empowered to meticulously craft content to be shared directly with their most passionate fans—who can view it and share their opinions with like-minded individuals. The $3 million in seed funding will be used to further develop the platform and to expand the company’s current roster of world-class creators.
“SageSpot is giving creators a chance to truly monetize their personal brands,” said Tom Brady, Quarterback of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and seven-time Super Bowl Champion. “Over the past decade, social platforms have obtained a lot of control over users and CJ and the SageSpot team are leading a movement to give creators a chance to fully leverage their valuable content how and when they want.”
With the funding SageSpot is positioned to leverage opportunities, as they noted in their funding press statement. In 2020 YouTube and Facebook had over $103 billion in ad revenue alone that relies upon world-class creators’ skill, time, and resources to attract large, engaged audiences. While world-class creators serve as the backbone of these legacy platforms, they receive compensation that is just a fraction of the revenue their high-quality content generates.
“Over the last ten years, creators have been severely let down by the lack of creativity and effort of legacy social platforms,” said SageSpot Founder and CEO CJ Dunne. “We are building SageSpot from the ground up for world-class creators who have earned the right to make money from their content. The endorsement of Khosla Ventures and a growing list of top creators and athletes validates the value in our platform and the opportunity that lies ahead of us.”
SageSpot is seeking nothing less than to change the power dynamics within the creator economy. The company wants to make it easier for creators to establish subscriber-based communities. They will have a place where subject matter experts will deliver premium content directly to their followers that will give them the opportunity to monetize their passionate follower base.
“SageSpot solves a major problem for more than 50 million creators around the world: monetization,” said Samir Kaul, Founding Partner and Managing Director at Khosla Ventures. “Legacy social platforms make it easy to create large followings but often make it difficult for creators to earn money from their content. SageSpot empowers people to deliver their highly-valuable content directly to their most engaged fans that are proud to support them.”
Championship golfer Rory McIlroy and now SageSpot investor adds, “I have grown up in the social media era and have experienced, firsthand, the considerable potential and challenges of the various platforms. SageSpot’s model helps creators develop an affinity-driven space where like-minded fans can congregate, offer their opinions, view content and otherwise share their love of a sport, hobby or person. It’s a fascinating step towards a friendlier, more positive online fan experience.”
