WEBVTT NOTE This file was generated by Descript 00:00:05.660 --> 00:00:06.950 Mike Bifulco: This is Tiny Improvements. 00:00:06.980 --> 00:00:08.029 I'm Mike by ko. 00:00:11.030 --> 00:00:12.950 There have been lots of interesting announcements from 00:00:12.950 --> 00:00:14.629 creators and startups this month. 00:00:14.960 --> 00:00:17.150 Many apps and services that once felt like they were here 00:00:17.150 --> 00:00:18.349 to stay are now shutting down. 00:00:18.720 --> 00:00:22.559 Similarly, many creators are announcing big changes to their strategy or even 00:00:22.559 --> 00:00:24.209 stepping down from their roles entirely. 00:00:24.209 --> 00:00:24.269 I. 00:00:25.229 --> 00:00:26.969 It seems like it's all happening at once, right? 00:00:26.969 --> 00:00:31.259 Well, in a sense it is, and there are a few reasons why this might be the case 00:00:31.379 --> 00:00:32.369 for creators. 00:00:32.609 --> 00:00:34.919 December and January are the slowest months of the year. 00:00:35.319 --> 00:00:38.949 Advertisers budgets are spent and people are spending time with their families. 00:00:39.399 --> 00:00:39.999 As a result. 00:00:39.999 --> 00:00:43.719 Many creators use this time to reflect on the past year and to plan for next year. 00:00:44.784 --> 00:00:48.234 For startups, the new year is often tied to intense budgeting and planning. 00:00:48.774 --> 00:00:51.054 The new year is a time when they need to show their investors that 00:00:51.054 --> 00:00:52.434 they're on track to meet their goals. 00:00:52.494 --> 00:00:54.925 If they're not, they may need to pivot or even shut down. 00:00:55.764 --> 00:00:56.514 Have you felt it? 00:00:57.054 --> 00:00:59.484 I've certainly seen a good number of surprising announcements. 00:00:59.604 --> 00:01:02.664 Here's an incomplete list of companies and creators who have announced big 00:01:02.664 --> 00:01:04.405 changes since the start of the new year. 00:01:05.524 --> 00:01:09.154 A few days ago, artifact, the news aggregator app created by the founders 00:01:09.154 --> 00:01:12.184 of Instagram shared that they're shutting down their services after 00:01:12.189 --> 00:01:13.835 failing to find product Market Fit 00:01:14.414 --> 00:01:18.014 mint, the personal finance app is shutting down completely. 00:01:18.285 --> 00:01:21.255 Their orphaned users have been desperately searching for alternatives. 00:01:21.255 --> 00:01:24.829 Similarly Prism, . A finance app used for automating bill payments is also 00:01:24.829 --> 00:01:27.259 shutting down in the creator world. 00:01:27.350 --> 00:01:29.119 Matt Pat hosted the YouTube channel. 00:01:29.119 --> 00:01:32.479 The game theorists announced that he's stepping down as the face of the channel. 00:01:32.899 --> 00:01:36.559 The game theorist has 18.7 million subscribers on YouTube 00:01:37.490 --> 00:01:38.029 YouTuber. 00:01:38.059 --> 00:01:42.110 Tom Scott posted a video explaining that after 10 years of videos every 00:01:42.110 --> 00:01:45.050 single week, he's taking a break for an undetermined amount of time. 00:01:45.479 --> 00:01:48.719 Tom currently has 6.4 million subscribers on YouTube 00:01:50.939 --> 00:01:54.760 and filed under sort of both and kind of neither you may have seen recently 00:01:54.760 --> 00:01:58.210 that newsletter platforms Substack is bleeding creators left and right over 00:01:58.210 --> 00:02:02.410 their spineless content moderation, policy decisions, or lack thereof. 00:02:02.920 --> 00:02:06.190 Newsletter creators are jumping ship to other platforms left and right. 00:02:07.243 --> 00:02:10.483 Patreon announced a major change to their business model, which will 00:02:10.483 --> 00:02:12.343 affect creators and patrons alike. 00:02:12.778 --> 00:02:15.658 Patreon has been the place where fans can support creators. 00:02:15.658 --> 00:02:17.818 They love by pledging a monthly amount to them. 00:02:18.448 --> 00:02:22.168 Patreon takes a cut of the pledge, though a much smaller cut than YouTube might, for 00:02:22.168 --> 00:02:24.388 example, and the rest goes to the creator. 00:02:25.258 --> 00:02:27.928 With their new pivot, they're now hoping to become the place where fans 00:02:27.928 --> 00:02:31.828 can go to see what creators are making without being subject to the algorithm. 00:02:32.308 --> 00:02:35.758 In short, Patreon itself is trying to become a social network. 00:02:37.383 --> 00:02:38.013 Will it work? 00:02:38.133 --> 00:02:38.613 Who knows? 00:02:38.618 --> 00:02:39.723 But it's a big change. 00:02:39.723 --> 00:02:43.713 And while this announcement happened back in October, Patreon has steadily 00:02:43.718 --> 00:02:46.623 been rolling out changes to align with their new vision since then. 00:02:46.718 --> 00:02:48.603 And it's really starting to feel real now. 00:02:50.103 --> 00:02:51.873 These changes create opportunities. 00:02:52.143 --> 00:02:56.043 This dear listener, is where you come in as the market shifts with these 00:02:56.043 --> 00:02:59.013 changes, there are opportunities for you to make your mark if 00:02:59.018 --> 00:03:00.183 you're looking for inspiration. 00:03:00.188 --> 00:03:01.383 Here's a couple examples 00:03:02.163 --> 00:03:03.153 over on Threads. 00:03:03.153 --> 00:03:06.483 Derek Gaston is an indie hacker who has been building a personal 00:03:06.488 --> 00:03:08.253 finance app called Splurge Budget. 00:03:08.653 --> 00:03:11.023 He's been building it out in the open and sharing his progress 00:03:11.023 --> 00:03:11.953 and learnings on threads. 00:03:12.893 --> 00:03:14.603 Developer focused email platform. 00:03:14.603 --> 00:03:18.023 Resend just announced a feature called broadcasts. 00:03:18.563 --> 00:03:21.803 It suddenly allows them to compete with existing newsletter platforms 00:03:21.808 --> 00:03:24.743 and other email marketing tools like MailChimp and ConvertKit. 00:03:25.133 --> 00:03:28.733 I'm planning to give Resends newsletter feature shot and hopefully will live 00:03:28.733 --> 00:03:32.393 stream my experience building with it on my YouTube channel at Mike by Foco. 00:03:33.188 --> 00:03:33.788 As ever. 00:03:33.788 --> 00:03:35.888 If you've been working on building something, now is 00:03:35.888 --> 00:03:37.208 the time to step on the gas. 00:03:37.208 --> 00:03:39.938 Particularly if you're building something that suddenly fills a 00:03:39.938 --> 00:03:41.408 void, which once felt permanent. 00:03:42.308 --> 00:03:45.308 Use the momentum of these changes to your advantage and find places 00:03:45.313 --> 00:03:46.328 where you can make your mark.