The Case for a New Creator Economy
The Case for a New Creator Economy
Why we’re building for real-world connection, not likes
What if we’ve been backing the wrong creators?
For more than a decade, we’ve poured billions into the influencer economy — rewarding those who master the algorithm, churn out content, and keep us scrolling. Much of this has poured into “social platforms” that are ostensibly - think Facebook, Twitter - that are ostensibly built to bring us closer together. But let’s be honest: distrust is rising. 3rd spaces are disappearing. And the more time we spend online, the more disconnected we feel.
It’s not a lack of views.
It’s a lack of belonging.
And while everyone’s chasing the next AI tool or viral app, the real glue in our communities isn’t coming from our phone screens or laptops. It’s coming from people who show up — week after week, mic in hand, clipboard in arm, greeting folks by name and making space for others to feel like they belong.
Trivia hosts. Karaoke DJs. Drag performers. Open mic organizers. Nonprofit event leads.
At The Regular, we call them Community Creators.
And we believe strongly that they’re the most important creators of our time.
What Makes a Community Creator?
Like influencers, they have audiences.
Dozens, hundreds — sometimes thousands.
But they don’t trade in clout. They trade in connection.
They host the trivia night that gets you through Tuesday.
They run the bocce league where your friends met their favorite people.
They’re the first to cheer when someone belts out Journey or Whitney for the first time.
They turn strangers into regulars.
And bars, parks, or back rooms into third spaces — the kind of places that actually feel like community.
So Why Haven’t They Been Backed?
Because they’re not “scalable.”
Because they don’t look like your typical tech founder.
Because they’ve been completely written out of the digital-first narrative of what it means to create.
But the truth is: there are more than 150,000 Community Creators and venues powering recurring events across the U.S. Tens of millions of people show up for karaoke nights, trivia leagues, drag brunches, fitness pop-ups, and more — every single month.
That’s more engagement than most influencer focused platforms.
It’s just not tracked the same way.
Our Simple Formula: Recurring Events + Engagement = Community
You don’t build community with a one-off event.
You build it when people show up — again and again.
That’s what we’re building infrastructure for. Our tools make it easier for Community Creators to keep doing what they do best repeatedly — with:
AI-assisted event tech that doesn’t get in the way of the actual experience
Space-matching and promotional support
On-site engagement tools that deepen connection
Business help: invoicing, analytics, strategy, hiring
Options for joint fundraising, partnerships, and even charitable tie-ins
We don’t just want to build a new platform. We want to build a new kind of infrastructure — built with creators, not just for them.
This Is Personal
Since launching The Regular, I’ve heard story after story at our in-house karaoke nights, trivia nights, and other experience that remind me why this matters.
A couple who credits karaoke night with improving their relationship.
A trivia player who said the weekly ritual and new friends helped pull them out of depression.
Multiple marriages that started from a meeting at a karaoke night or bocce league.
Communities that feel like family.
And for me?
I even personally dedicated the foreword of my first book Dreams Deferred to the District Karaoke community that carried me through some of the hardest moments of my life. I know what it’s like to feel unmoored — and to be brought back by someone remembering your name, saving your seat, asking “how are you” or saying “see you next week” as you get up to walk out the door.
That’s the power of real-world community.
And it deserves more than a like button.
A Platform Shaped by Creators, Not Just Engineers
We don’t want to build this in a vacuum. We want to co-create it — directly with the people doing the work. That’s because a lot of the technologies that purport to bring us closer together have this curious thing about them…none of the people in leadership positions there has ever actually done that. So is it a surprise that their solutions, for all their endless profits, don’t actually accomplish what they purport to?
This is why we have taken an early stage approach of investing that normally is reserved for larger tech companies. We do that through The Regular Venture Studio which invests in existing community brands. So far we’ve made investments of equity and cash into Major League Bocce the nation’s largest minor league Bocce community operating in 10 cities, United Karaoke a unique nationwide community of karaoke and costume lovers now in 5 cities, and Capital Trivia building engaging trivia nights in the mid-Atlantic. We build tools together in real time. Tools that make the day to day of these companies a little bit easier each day. We provide staffing help, marketing, logistics, and tech. But more than that — we listen.
In this way creators guide our roadmap.
They shape the strategy.
They’re helping us build something they’d actually want to use — and own a piece of. And we then increase the value of the we’re building together by providing access to our expertise and what we build through a membership for other Community Creators. A community of people dedicated to created community. And a solution, say to build AI agents for event management, that is not built by some tech bros looking for revenue - but by a team that needed to use it, tested it, made sure it worked to support actual community, not just generate revenue.
This Is the New Creator Economy
The latest World Happiness Report saw record levels of distrust in very tech-dependent economies like the United States. Dining alone is up 53% since 2003. Loneliness and unhappiness, especially among Gen Z, Millenials, and younger generations, is at an all time high. And digital media is a central reason why. But we’ve got more “influencers” than ever. More TikTok and Instagram accounts than ever before? How do we start to shift these trends?
It starts with people who build community, not content.
So if you’ve ever missed that feeling — of being a regular somewhere — The Regular is for you. As an investor, as a partner, as a Community Creator, as a venue partner, as a brand looking for help in what you dream of building.
In particular if you’re a Community Creator, we want to help make your work more sustainable, more visible, and better supported.
But whether you’re a funder, partner, or supporter?
Let’s talk. Because belonging is worth backing.
👉 Apply to join us as a Community Creator – it’s free
👉 Check out some of our events! Experiences from The Regular or our Venture Studio brands like District Karaoke
👉 Explore our Venture Studio
👉 Read more about our vision