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PARTNERS 💫

HOUSEKEEPING 📨

Welcome back reader. In personal news, today, my partner and I made a gross red wall in our new place disappear. We both felt it was quite the achievement. As for other news, I am firmly gripped by U.S. election fever, and the furore that surrounds it. It’s never been something I have paid too much attention to as an Australian.

As I am about finish my 38th trip around the sun though; politics, economics, history and geopolitics have become more interesting to me. My 32 year old self would be shaking his head and the 26 year old me would think I am a dork.

I think the difference in this election may be—and this is insane to say—Joe Rogan. Trump and JD Vance both did themselves wonders by sitting down with Joe for a combined six hours. Trump showed he is cognisant of the world, and relatively reasonable, and JD came of as, well, not that weird.

My hope is that at some point Kamala and her team get her ass down to Texas to sit in Joe’s hot seat for a session. My prediction: she does Rogan, I think she wins. If she doesn’t, she doesn’t.

LEADER OF THE WEEK 🎙️

Jennifer Phan, Co-Founder and CEO at Passionfroot

Jennifer Phan is the co-founder and CEO of Passionfroot, a platform that’s changing the game for creator-brand partnerships. Passionfroot consolidates every step of collaboration, making it easier for B2B creators and media companies—like Superhuman, the world’s largest AI newsletter—to find and manage brand deals seamlessly. Late last year we interviewed Jen to discuss her how she operates as a CEO.

This week, we're diving into how B2B brands are teaming up with creators to drive authentic partnerships, the latest tools making these connections easier, and what the future holds for brand-creator collaborations.

I personally use Passionfroot as our media kit for this newsletter, and they were also responsible for my largest advertising partner, Attio. So there is no better person to take us through the creator landscape than Jen.

What trends are you seeing in how brands are starting to work with creators?

That's a great question. I talk to brands every day, and one of the most interesting trends is how B2B is having its own creator moment. What happened in B2C industries—like e-commerce and fashion about 10 years ago—is now starting to trickle into software, which is super interesting, especially as many brands are just starting out.

The second trend I see is the move toward multi-platform campaigns. We usually associate creators with platforms like Instagram or TikTok, but now new spaces like LinkedIn are becoming part of the mix. Brands are just starting to experiment here, and newsletters are also having a big moment. I recently spoke with Semrush, and they hadn’t even thought of newsletters as a channel to reach their target audience until now. Brands are starting to experiment with these new platforms, running multi-platform campaigns, which is definitely an exciting trend.

Which channels are most exciting to you right now? And which metrics are important?

For metrics, it depends on the campaign’s goals and what you're trying to achieve. If you want to build brand awareness, platforms like LinkedIn, Instagram, or TikTok might be the best fit. But if you’re targeting a niche audience and optimizing for clicks or conversions, then newsletters might actually be better. So it all comes down to your intent. As for which channels I’m excited about, honestly, LinkedIn is one I’m really interested in right now. It’s funny to say, because who would’ve thought LinkedIn would go from being this kind of cringey, job-networking site to a full-blown creator platform?

But it makes total sense since there are so many decision-makers here. You can reach a super-targeted, engaged audience that includes C-levels and execs. So that’s been exciting to see. And of course newsletters are still having a real moment too. Those are the two platforms I’d say I’m most excited about right now.

How do brands and creators partner beyond traditional sponsorships or ads?

One thing we’re seeing a lot more of is brands using creators in product marketing; having them tell an authentic story about the product. It’s not just about a quick shoutout, it’s about weaving the product into real use cases. Creators show how the product fits into their lives, how it helps them with their own day-to-day challenges, and that really makes the content feel genuine. Those are usually the most successful campaigns because they’re authentic.

We’re also seeing a lot of tutorials where creators dive deep into the product, try it out, and showcase it. YouTube is huge for this, but Instagram and TikTok are strong too. And then there’s a shift toward more long-term partnerships where brands aren’t just doing one-off deals but working with creators as ongoing ambassadors, almost like advocates who keep the brand top of mind for their audience.

Another interesting model is using creators to drive engagement around webinars and events. Instead of just promoting a product, they’re creating buzz around an event or summit that the brand is hosting. So those are some of the ways brands are really moving beyond the typical sponsored ad in a feed and getting more creative with how they work with creators.

What industries or types of brands do you see most active today?

I’d say it’s less about specific industries and more about the type of product, but if I had to name one, it’s definitely productivity tools. Brands like Notion, Superhuman, and Calendly are really using creators well, and it totally makes sense. These tools fit perfectly with the kind of content creators are already making. Beyond that, it’s more about brands with a product-led, growth-driven approach. So, companies like Miro and Figma are great examples. They have a natural go-to-market fit with creators, who can show their audience how these tools make their lives easier.

For industries that might be underestimating creators, I’d look at those that might seem too niche, technical, or B2B-focused at first. For example, I was talking to a company in the data privacy space recently—it sounds boring, right? But it turns out there are plenty of creators and experts talking about trust and security. They started doing creator marketing a few months back and found so much success that they’re doubling down for next year. It’s a great example of a niche sector finding a way to make creators work.

Can enterprise SaaS be sold through creators?

Absolutely, yes. Especially because in industries like these, it really comes down to trust. There are so many knowledgeable experts who are creating content—whether that’s long-form analyses in their newsletters or industry news updates they’re sharing. The high ACV (Average Contract Value) makes it worth it. If only three people out of 10,000 newsletter subscribers sign up for a subscription, it’s still a significant return. This is why B2B isn’t just about tools that reach end customers but also chief executives or decision-makers in mid-sized to enterprise-level companies.

AVO LOOK AT THESE 🥑

Founders, investors & leaders in tech, that read Open Source CEO outperform their competition. These are our best tools. Business is hard. We want to build the tools we wish we had.

What mistakes do companies make when working with creators?

I think the first mistake, especially in B2B, is expecting fast and obvious conversions. In B2B, you need a multi-touchpoint journey; it’s all about building trust and likely seeing the product or brand multiple times through a creator’s content before anyone makes a move. You can’t apply the same tactics that work in B2C, where you’re often selling e-commerce products or fashion items quickly—like, ‘Here’s a discount code; buy today for 10% off!’ That approach just doesn’t work in B2B.

The second mistake is underestimating the authority a creator can bring to your brand. They’re often experts in the field, which means they’re lending a certain level of trust to your brand. For example, if someone like Elena Verna —who’s well-known in product-led growth—partners with a company that supports or boosts that motion, it’s like a stamp of approval from an expert.

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But sometimes it’s tough to quantify that authority or look at it through traditional performance metrics, like CPC, the number of clicks, or CPM. Even if she has ‘only’ 50,000 subscribers, the quality of that audience and the trust they have in her can be invaluable. Often, we need to educate brands on the fact that it’s not purely about performance marketing metrics, as creators bring a unique kind of authority.

At the end of the day, both the creator and the marketer want to see a return and make the partnership worthwhile. But it’s tough to focus solely on KPIs and numbers because creator partnerships aren’t pure performance marketing—they operate in a different way. That’s just the nature of this industry.

If it's not performance marketing, where does creator marketing fit?

We see it reflected in the departments we work with in each company. It’s interesting because creator marketing sits across a range of functions—demand generation, growth, brand, partnerships, community, and social media. So, often, it doesn’t fall neatly into one category like performance marketing. You wouldn’t typically see it run by a performance marketer who focuses on things like Google Ads and Facebook Ads; it’s not the same as shifting from traditional ad platforms to creators.

This shows that creator marketing is still carving out its place as both the industry and the market continue to mature and evolve. It’s often hard to track ROI, even for impressions or other forms of engagement, due to a lack of infrastructure and data tracking.

What will creator collaborations look in 5 years?

I think on one hand it will become more data-driven as the industry matures. We’ll see a push for transparency around pricing on both sides—whether you’re undercharging, overcharging, or somewhere in between. Ideally, we’d have a clear sense of what a typical creator in your industry, with your kind of following, charges. This added transparency would make it easier for both creators and brands to keep iterating and optimizing their collaborations.

There are so many reasons a brand collaboration might fall short, and often it’s factors like the copy or the content provided, which might not be hitting the mark. I think part of the future will involve figuring out ways to refine these elements—like offering more guidance on what makes a strong creative brief, how to improve the content, and generally making it more of a collaborative, transparent process. Overall, I think brand-creator partnerships will become much more data-driven, collaborative, and transparent, which is something we envision for the future as well.

Are you seeing more companies are building in-house creators?

I think that’s definitely another trend we’re seeing, and probably for the last five years or so, more and more companies have been hiring in-house creators. And I think this will only grow. We’ve seen companies like HubSpot and others build in-house creator programs, and that definitely makes sense.

But to really scale and reach many, many different ICPs and target groups, you still need external creators to work with, just to access different types of content and communities that in-house creators might not reach. So yes, both are true—we do see in-house creators, and I think that will continue to grow, but at the same time, I still believe that’s not enough. You’ll likely still need to rely on external creators to get different content formats and to tap into unique communities. I think that’s still going to be the case.

What is the role of the ‘founder creator’ in the coming years?

I think it’s already starting to show. With AI and tech advancements, building products has become much easier, but the real challenge now is distribution. And as competition gets tougher because building is easier, audience and reach are becoming the ultimate currency in these times. So, talking with different founders, it’s clear that the ‘founder creator’ is becoming almost a no-brainer, table stakes—something every founder should be considering.

We’re seeing that personal content from a founder’s account almost always performs better and feels more authentic than what comes from brand accounts. Platforms are also favoring personal brands over company brands. So, doubling down on personal branding makes a lot of sense. I think some founders are starting to realize this, but I believe it will really increase over the next few years.

If you were a brand interested in leveraging creators today, where would you start?

So, after you’ve decided on the general approach, I would say start with some test campaigns with a few creators across, you know, maybe two or three platforms you think might work for you. Pick several creators and then run a first test campaign. Because really, all you need at this stage are the first signals. It doesn’t have to work perfectly right away, but at least you’ll get a sense of which platforms could be a good fit, which creators might work well, and which types of categories, content, or topics resonate with your product or brand.

From those initial results, you’ve got your starting point. Then you can start building out from there, doubling down on specific platforms, creators, or categories that perform well. That’s how I’d recommend getting started.

And that's it! You can follow Jennifer on Twitter here, and on LinkedIn here, listen to the Creators on Air podcast and check out their website for more information!

BRAIN FOOD 🧠 

Just listened to Bernie Sanders on the Lex Fridman Podcast, and it was quite the deep dive. They talked about everything from pushing for higher minimum wage to the need for universal healthcare, and how big money in politics often blocks these popular ideas.

Definitely a good pick if you’re into unpacking some serious political and social issues.

HIRING ZONE 👀 

Today we are highlighting AI talent available through, Athyna. If you are looking for the best bespoke tech talent, these stars are ready to work with you—today! Reach out here if we can make an introduction to these talents and get $1,000 discount on behalf of us.

TWEETS OF THE WEEK 🐣 

ASK ME ANYTHING 🗣

I want to be a trusted resource for you. If you think anything I know in relation to brand, culture, global teams, sales and growth would help you unblock a problem in your weeks shoot me a line.

Ask in the comments or reply to this email and I will do my best to answer it in a future edition. 🙌🏼

TOOLS WE USE 🛠️

Every week we highlight tools we actually use inside of our business and give them an honest review. Today we are highlighting Attio—powerful, flexible and data-driven, the exact CRM your business needs.

See the full set of tools we use inside of Athyna & Open Source CEO here.

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