The good news is that the internet is trending back to Kelly’s vision. For example, many top writers on Substack earn far more than they did at salaried jobs. The economics of low take rates plus enthusiastic fandom does wonders. On Substack, 1,000 newsletter subscribers paying $10/month nets over $100K/year to the writer.

Platforms have already realized there’s no going back to a world where quality content is free. They will continue to open their pockets and grow their tentacles further into the creator economy, becoming more direct buyers of content, as well as mediators for those who want to buy content. Now, it’s all about re-shuffling priorities to building pr... See more

In the past few years, startups like Substack, Patreon, and Shopify have created alternative ways for creators to build businesses online through direct transactions, rather than advertising. This shift exposed a simple fact: in an ad-driven world, creators were generally under-monetizing their audiences.