How Creators Make Money
How Creators Make Money
Podcast Description
A podcast that deep dives into the business side of content creation with hosts Justin Nguyen and Grace Ling! They break down how creators that you’ve never heard of make money. Come to learn how to turn your views into dollars, stay for the vibes.
Podcast Insights
Content Themes
The podcast dives into various topics related to monetizing content creation, including venture capital for creators, earnings comparisons across platforms like YouTube and TikTok, and case studies on successful creators such as those racing random objects or selling paint on TikTok. Specific focus areas include innovative monetization strategies, content tracking methods, and the evolution of the creator economy.
A podcast that deep dives into the business side of content creation with hosts Justin Nguyen and Grace Ling! They break down how creators that you’ve never heard of make money. Come to learn how to turn your views into dollars, stay for the vibes.
From Big Tech to burnout to building a million-dollar creator business, Zach Wilson has seen it all. After stints at Netflix, Meta, and Airbnb (earning $600K+ a year), Zach left it behind to go all-in on content, education, and his own platform.
We dive deep into what it really takes to transition from employee to full-time creator, and the business models that actually work.
Inside:
💻 How Zach went from Airbnb staff engineer to 150K+ LinkedIn followers in 1 year
🔥 The burnout that landed him in the psych ward, and the lessons he learned
💸 Building Data Expert Academy — cohorts, subscriptions, and a $400K month
🛠️ Why creators fail with too many income streams and how to focus on what scales
🤖 Using AI avatars + platforms to fight burnout and expand globally
Timestamps:
00:00 – From Big Tech engineer to creator: Zach’s backstory
05:00 – Burnout, breakdown, and lessons from saying “yes” to everything
10:00 – Growing on LinkedIn and becoming the #1 data engineering voice
20:00 – How the LinkedIn algorithm changed and what still works today
28:00 – Quitting Airbnb → first $0.19 TikTok paycheck → $50K cohort beta
34:00 – Building multiple income streams: cohorts, subscriptions, newsletter
41:00 – Platforms that convert (LinkedIn, YouTube, Instagram) vs. ones that don’t
53:00 – AI avatars, teaching at scale, and the rise of one-person billion-dollar companies
🎙️ Hosted by Grace Ling & Justin Nguyen
📍 How Creators Make Money — the podcast where we unpack the real strategies behind today’s smartest creators.
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