Hugo Amsellem - The creator economy tsunami and “The Family” - building a leading fellowship for founders in Europe

Hugo Amsellem [@HugoAmsellem] is a thought leader covering the world of the creator economy and writes the blog “Arm the Creators”. The Creator Economy enables an entire generation to bypass traditional gatekeepers for the 1st time in history. Anyone can learn anything online, build something new and distribute it all over the world—without asking anyone's permission

In 2013 he jumped the fence and joined The Family as part of the founding team. The Family is one of the world’s leading fellowship programs for founders. Twice a year, The Family selects 50 startups from around the world. In exchange for 5% equity, they provide everything you need to build a scalable business: advice, mindset, network & a world-class investor demo day.With the Family he backed hundreds of founders across Europe.

Previously, he co-founded oocto, a decentralized music label to help artists bypass the record labels and keep ownership of their projects.

Hugo recently joined Jellysmack, a “creator accelerator” to educate & empower the next generation of ambitious creators.

We discuss:

• Why the Creator economy will change everything
• Lessons from startup failure
• The origin story of The Family
• Developments in the European startup ecosystem
• Investing in creators and creator accelerators

Show notes:

• 03:09 -- Intro of Hugo
• 05:31 -- Hugo Amsellem’s path into entrepreneurship / disrupting the music business
• 08:32 -- Learnings and reflections from startup failure
• 13:00 -- Unit economics - Customer Acquisition Cost (CAC) and Customer LifeTime Value (CLTV)
• 15:30 -- Does risk mitigation in startups work? Should you start a startup?
• 19:30 -- Ideas are worthless - true or not?
• 20:39 -- The origin story of The Family and the startup ecosystem in Europe in the early 2010’s
• 27:51 -- Structure of The Family fellowship program
• 31:52 -- Who should apply to The Family program
• 33:26 -- Intro to the Creator Economy and why it matters
• 38:43 -- Jellysmack - the accelerator for creators
• 43:09 -- Investing in creators
• 47:43 -- Hugo Amsellem’s favorite book
• 50:25 -- What courage means for Hugo
• 53:32 -- Hugo Amsellem’s contact details and outro

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• Jellysmack - The Global Creator Company
• The Family - Building Ambitious Startups | — The Family is a fellowship of founders. Twice a year, The Family selects 50 startups from around the world. In exchange for 5% equity, we provide everything you need to build a scalable business: advice, mindset, network & a world-class investor demo day
• Arm The Creators - Researching & Investing in the Creator Economy
• Spotify
• YouTube
• The Creator Economy Explained: How Companies Are Transforming The Self-Monetization Boom - CB Insights Research
• Steve Blank
• Income-Share Agreement (ISA) Definition
• Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Fooled by Randomness: The Hidden Role of Chance in Life and in the Markets (Incerto) - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Black Swan: The Impact of the Highly Improbable: With a new section: "On Robustness and Fragility" (Incerto) - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder (Incerto) - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• The Bed of Procrustes: Philosophical and Practical Aphorisms (Incerto) - Nassim Nicholas Taleb
• Skin in the Game: Hidden Asymmetries in Daily Life (Incerto) - Nassim Nicholas Taleb