The Creator Spotlight Podcast

Tyler Bainbridge is the founder of Perfectly Imperfect, a social magazine and app with 400,000+ users built to help people discover culture outside of algorithms. In this episode, we get into how he grew the platform from a free newsletter to a busines...

Matt Kiser is the creator and editor WTF Just Happened Today?, a political news newsletter with over 200,000 subscribers built entirely on a pay-what-you-want membership model. In this episode Matt breaks down how he grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in six months, the editorial philosophy behind curating the news every day for nine years, and the biggest mistakes he made along the way.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles

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Matt Kiser

Newsletter

LinkedIn

Bluesky

GitHub

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Matt Kiser

01:18 Zero to 100k in six months

11:06 Building the skill of aggregation and curation

17:41 The death of objectivity

18:37 From 100k to 200k subscribers

20:36 Don’t hate the media, become the media

29:18 Transparency with the revenue model

35:40 The AI podcast controversy

46:46 Biggest mistakes and learning moments

50:23 A deeper connection with the audience

Matt Kiser is the creator and editor WTF Just Happened Today, a political news newsletter with over 200,000 subscribers built entirely on a pay-what-you-want membership model. In this episode Matt breaks down how he grew from zero to 100,000 subscribers in six months, the editorial philosophy behind curating the news every day for nine years, and the biggest mistakes he made along the way. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/profiles __ Matt Kiser Newsletter LinkedIn Bluesky GitHub __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Matt Kiser 01:18 Zero to 100k in six months 11:06 Building the skill of aggregation and curation 17:41 The death of objectivity 18:37 From 100k to 200k subscribers 20:36 Don’t hate the media, become the media 29:18 Transparency with the revenue model 35:40 The AI podcast controversy 46:46 Biggest mistakes and learning moments 50:23 A deeper connection with the audience

Vin Matano is a B2B influencer marketing agency owner and part-time creator who made $200K as a creator and $2.5M through his agency Creator Buzz in 2025. In this episode, we get into how he lands and keeps long-term brand deals, his LinkedIn content strategy, and how he built Creatorbuzz from zero to $2.5M in its first full year.

Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/vin-matano

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Get started with Taplio for free

Use code: CREATOR1X1

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Vin Matano

LinkedIn

YouTube

Twitter/X

Instagram

Creatorbuzz

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Timestamps

00:00 Introducing Vin Matano

01:30 From $94k to $200k in one year

05:32 Getting brand deals and overdelivering

13:48 How many followers do you need for brand deals?

20:10 Partnering brands with creators

25:53 Making $2.5M in a year

28:50 The challenges of being a new founder

31:34 Getting leads with social media

37:24 The three types of LinkedIn posts to go viral

44:38 Debunking LinkedIn myths

49:25 The third generation of B2B marketing

54:12 Changing how success is measured

Vin Matano is a B2B influencer marketing agency owner and part-time creator who made $200K as a creator and $2.5M through his agency Creator Buzz in 2025. In this episode, we get into how he lands and keeps long-term brand deals, his LinkedIn content strategy, and how he built Creatorbuzz from zero to $2.5M in its first full year. Read the newsletter: https://www.creatorspotlight.com/p/vin-matano __ Get started with Taplio for free Use code: CREATOR1X1 __ Vin Matano LinkedIn YouTube Twitter/X Instagram Creatorbuzz __ Timestamps 00:00 Introducing Vin Matano 01:30 From $94k to $200k in one year 05:32 Getting brand deals and overdelivering 13:48 How many followers do you need for brand deals? 20:10 Partnering brands with creators 25:53 Making $2.5M in a year 28:50 The challenges of being a new founder 31:34 Getting leads with social media 37:24 The three types of LinkedIn posts to go viral 44:38 Debunking LinkedIn myths 49:25 The third generation of B2B marketing 54:12 Changing how success is measured