Fund II is fully committed. Looking back at where we started with Fund I in 2018 and where the category sits today, the transformation is significant enough to be worth documenting. Not to celebrate ourselves — the companies we backed did the work — but because understanding what changed and what didn't informs what we're looking at next.
When we raised Fund I in 2017 and 2018, the creator economy was not a named category. We were describing our thesis as "direct creator monetization infrastructure" in LP conversations and watching some version of polite confusion in response. The market was pre-narrative. What we had was a set of observations about creator economics — the structural weakness of platform-dependent revenue, the emerging behavior of direct-to-audience monetization, the size of the audience willing to pay — and a conviction that the infrastructure to enable creator-owned economics was being underinvested.
By the time we raised Fund II in early 2021, the category had a name, multiple dedicated funds had launched, and major platforms had started building or acquiring creator monetization tools. The tailwind had become visible to everyone. But the infrastructure opportunity hadn't narrowed — if anything, the market's recognition of the category had expanded the addressable market for the companies already operating in it. Our portfolio companies' revenue trajectories changed meaningfully as the mainstream capital narrative caught up with what we'd seen in the data since 2018.
What we got right: the infrastructure thesis. Direct monetization tools, subscription platforms, creator financial infrastructure — all of these categories proved out. The companies that built the pipes rather than the content on top of them have durable businesses. That was the bet, and it was right.
What surprised us: the speed of the category's naming and the subsequent flood of capital. We expected to have more time operating in relative obscurity. The pandemic accelerated everything by two to three years. Creator adoption of direct monetization tools, the naming of the "creator economy" category, the LP interest in the thesis — all of it happened faster than our base case projected.
What we're watching for Fund III: the infrastructure buildout is not over. The tools that exist today serve creators who are already professional operators. The next wave of infrastructure serves the millions of creators who are not yet professionals but are building toward it — and who need tools that are much simpler, more accessible, and more globally relevant than what exists today. That's where we're spending time.