Lukas Pakter, founder of the creator-sales platform Trybe and an activewear brand, said the creators earning the most on Trybe are older men and women. He made the claim on the “Foundr” podcast, published October 22, in an interview that also covered how he runs creator volume, pricing, and supplier terms at his brand.
“The creators that make a ton of money on Trybe, at least as of the last couple of weeks, have been like older women, older men,” Pakter said. He did not give an age range. Foundr host Nathan Chan said more than 16,000 brands use Trybe. Pakter said the platform has about 280,000 creators.
1. Pay Creators From the Sales They Drive.
Pakter said the shift that changed his business was recognizing that “making other people money makes you more money.” He pays creators roughly 10% of the sales their ads generate. He said his top creator earned almost $70,000 in commissions last month and produces about 600 ads a month. Pakter said payouts stay small until a brand’s revenue grows, which makes the early months of a creator group the hardest to get off the ground.
2. Treat Creative Volume as the Lever.
Pakter said his brand reached 400 to 500 creatives a month without lowering customer acquisition cost. His mentor, identified only as Hudson, told him to double, triple, or quintuple that output. The brand now runs about 8,000 creatives a month, and Pakter said acquisition cost fell from about $89 a year ago to $29. He said he reached Meta’s cap on active ads and now allows one variation per video.
3. Ask Existing Creators for More, and Recruit Those Already Posting.
Pakter said getting current creators to post more matters more than adding creators. He prefers creators who focus fully on one brand over those who treat it as a side project. He recruits on TikTok and looks for creators earning a couple thousand dollars a month, who already know how to make content. He said approaching athletes at the gym or on the street was the wrong approach.
4. Hold a Quality Bar at Scale.
Pakter said he or his team watches every submitted video from start to finish and rejects any that lack a hook, body, and call to action, or that have echo or poor lighting.
5. Price for the Larger Market.
Pakter said Hudson advised him to cut prices roughly in half, asking whether he wanted to “be rich or be cool.” The brand had sold $80 graphic tees. It now sells bundles, including a $99 offer pairing a $110 quarter-zip with tank tops and shorts, at a gross margin Pakter put near 50%. A seven-item, $199 Black Friday bundle carries about a 40% margin, he said. He said both offers depend on low acquisition costs.
6. Negotiate Terms Before the Order.
Pakter said he ordered enough inventory to support up to $120 million in sales this year, more than every previous purchase order combined. He said his manufacturer, which previously supplied Gymshark, agreed to net 120 or net 150 terms after he showed the company Trybe’s technology. Payment is due at the end of the fourth quarter, he said.
7. Test Statics and Give Creators Data.
Pakter said he recently let his video creators submit static ads, and he estimated from memory that they account for about 20% of sales. He said he is building a tool that scores creator uploads against a brand’s top-performing ads. He dismissed platforms that claim AI can run an entire creative engine as “horseshit.” Pakter said he moved from tracking payouts manually to Social Snowball before building Trybe. Dotdigital acquired Social Snowball for up to $35 million.
8. Recruit Older Creators.
Pakter said older creators can start earning faster because audiences find them “more trustworthy.” He said an “overwhelming majority” of his brand’s fastest-growing creators are “older guys,” and he advised brands to sample and recruit them.
Pakter said his brand generated $1 million in 2024 and a little under $9 million last year, and he projected $70 million to $80 million this year. He said the company has 12 full-time employees and is hiring for about 10 roles, offering equity and bonuses of 50% to 100%.
Dragomir is a Serbian freelance blog writer and translator. He is passionate about covering insightful stories and exploring topics such as influencer marketing, the creator economy, technology, business, and cyber fraud.
Lukas Pakter, founder of the creator-sales platform Trybe and an activewear brand, said the creators earning the most on Trybe are older men and women. He made the claim on the “Foundr” podcast, published October 22, in an interview that also covered how he runs creator volume, pricing, and supplier terms at his brand.
“The creators that make a ton of money on Trybe, at least as of the last couple of weeks, have been like older women, older men,” Pakter said. He did not give an age range. Foundr host Nathan Chan said more than 16,000 brands use Trybe. Pakter said the platform has about 280,000 creators.
1. Pay Creators From the Sales They Drive.
Pakter said the shift that changed his business was recognizing that “making other people money makes you more money.” He pays creators roughly 10% of the sales their ads generate. He said his top creator earned almost $70,000 in commissions last month and produces about 600 ads a month. Pakter said payouts stay small until a brand’s revenue grows, which makes the early months of a creator group the hardest to get off the ground.
2. Treat Creative Volume as the Lever.
Pakter said his brand reached 400 to 500 creatives a month without lowering customer acquisition cost. His mentor, identified only as Hudson, told him to double, triple, or quintuple that output. The brand now runs about 8,000 creatives a month, and Pakter said acquisition cost fell from about $89 a year ago to $29. He said he reached Meta’s cap on active ads and now allows one variation per video.
3. Ask Existing Creators for More, and Recruit Those Already Posting.
Pakter said getting current creators to post more matters more than adding creators. He prefers creators who focus fully on one brand over those who treat it as a side project. He recruits on TikTok and looks for creators earning a couple thousand dollars a month, who already know how to make content. He said approaching athletes at the gym or on the street was the wrong approach.
4. Hold a Quality Bar at Scale.
Pakter said he or his team watches every submitted video from start to finish and rejects any that lack a hook, body, and call to action, or that have echo or poor lighting.
5. Price for the Larger Market.
Pakter said Hudson advised him to cut prices roughly in half, asking whether he wanted to “be rich or be cool.” The brand had sold $80 graphic tees. It now sells bundles, including a $99 offer pairing a $110 quarter-zip with tank tops and shorts, at a gross margin Pakter put near 50%. A seven-item, $199 Black Friday bundle carries about a 40% margin, he said. He said both offers depend on low acquisition costs.
6. Negotiate Terms Before the Order.
Pakter said he ordered enough inventory to support up to $120 million in sales this year, more than every previous purchase order combined. He said his manufacturer, which previously supplied Gymshark, agreed to net 120 or net 150 terms after he showed the company Trybe’s technology. Payment is due at the end of the fourth quarter, he said.
7. Test Statics and Give Creators Data.
Pakter said he recently let his video creators submit static ads, and he estimated from memory that they account for about 20% of sales. He said he is building a tool that scores creator uploads against a brand’s top-performing ads. He dismissed platforms that claim AI can run an entire creative engine as “horseshit.” Pakter said he moved from tracking payouts manually to Social Snowball before building Trybe. Dotdigital acquired Social Snowball for up to $35 million.
8. Recruit Older Creators.
Pakter said older creators can start earning faster because audiences find them “more trustworthy.” He said an “overwhelming majority” of his brand’s fastest-growing creators are “older guys,” and he advised brands to sample and recruit them.
Pakter said his brand generated $1 million in 2024 and a little under $9 million last year, and he projected $70 million to $80 million this year. He said the company has 12 full-time employees and is hiring for about 10 roles, offering equity and bonuses of 50% to 100%.
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