On Good Authority: Entrepreneurship in an influencer economy

Harry Gestetner (BSM ’22), founder and co-CEO of Fanfix, and Rob Lalka, executive director of the Albert Lepage Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation, joined host Roger Dunaway to discuss entrepreneurship and the influencer economy for Episode 43 of “On Good Authority,” Tulane University’s news and research podcast.

As a Freeman School undergraduate in 2020, Gestetner founded Fanfix, a subscription service that allows creators on social media sites like TikTok and Instagram to monetize their content and connect with fans. Last year, global brand accelerator SuperOrdinary acquired the company in a deal estimated to be eight figures.

Dunaway

Why do you think the impact was so immediate and it turned out to be such a game changer?

Gestetner

Creators have been so neglected by these platforms for so long, and they were completely taken advantage of. And I think our launch and our approach of being creator first and treating the creator like God, just, you know, really clicked with the creators. And then, on top of that, brand deals, which were the No. 1 way creators were monetizing, they underserved so many creators. So for creators to have a method of monetizing directly from their most loyal fans without relying on [brand deals] really hit home for all these creators.

To listen to the episode in its entirety, visit the On Good Authority webpage:

https://tulane.edu/on-good-authority/episode-43-entrepreneurship-in-influencer-economy