Some rare companies innovate on all three sides of the creator triad, crossing creation tools, distribution and monetization: Roblox, for example, provides accessible tools in Roblox Studio; allows developers to have their experiences discovered by the community; and shares earnings with developers via the virtual currency Robux, which underpins a ... See more

More people, increasingly dissatisfied by these corporate offerings, are compelled into creating their own virtual worlds. The future of the internet, as some have theorized, might consist of micro-communities, enclosed worlds with fewer but more engaged members. Through video games like Minecraft and collaborative worldbuilding projects, which are... See more

But for the new wave of horizontal software tools like Notion, Airtable and Roam, the magic is in their flexibility. By providing the “no-code” building blocks, these startups enable consumers to create their own personalised experience. This creates a "complexity gap".