In 2020, over 4 million Americans launched a small business.

In 2021, 5.4 million joined them.

2022 added17 million more small business launches.

Worldwide, over 50 million people have joined the "Creator Economy."

THE BIG QUESTION

So, can these "Creators" reach financial freedom?

Or will this Recession chase them back to a "real" job?

This corporate-versus-creative sets up an interesting juxtaposition.

I know because I've lived both lives.

I spent 30 years in a suit on the New York City trading desks.

And then I launched a sales and content consultancy in the Web3 space.

Stepping from Finance onto the stage at the "Creator Economy Expo" (thanks again Joe!) gave me an inside view. And the numbers are staggering.

"Creator" seems like an ill-defined "career."

But it's potential for wealth-building eclipses top white-collar jobs - even on Wall Street. Trust me.

THE TECHNOLOGY BRIDGE

This is because technology has become an enabling bridge into small-business entrepreneurship. They may be called "solopreneurs" but MANY are generating sizeable figures in annual recurring revenue.

The creators that are winning are the creators who treat this like a business.

Because that's what it is. Success as a Creator demands systems, processes....and leadership. Just like you find in a "real" company.

Creators have to manage the very familiar dynamics of Sales, Marketing, Operations, Service and more. These are the exact same departments inside of corporate. These folks just do it from a basement office. Ask me how I know this.

NOT INFLUENCERS

Sure, not everyone will become Mr. Beast. But most Creators aren't shooting for influencer fame. They are shooting for freedom. They seek the liberty to live their lives on their own terms.

And they are doing exactly that.

A former Finance colleague of mine recently ribbed me that his son has more followers on social than I do - and he's still in college! I just chuckled. But I didn't tell him the truth...that the game isn't about Twitter notifications. It's about Stripe notifications.  

The world of big business is unfortunately continuing with their job reductions. But in aggregate, these layoffs will lead to even more small businesses being launched. So we are seeing a brain-drain OUT of corporate.

BACK TO THE OFFICE

In the end, the rush to get folks "back into the office" no longer matters. It's all over but the shouting. The yolk has been broken. It's never going back to what it was. Technology has enabled a whole new reality - even before ChatGPT.

"Normal" people don't yet believe in the Creator economy.

But historians know that despite hundreds of eye-witnesses, the majority of the science community simply didn't believe the the Wright Brothers flying-machine had ever left the ground.

So let the debate rage.

But pass the peanuts, please.