Creator Economy is Eating SaaS, Television, and Games (and what else?)

Here’s a bold thought to kick off the year: the Creator Economy is poised to take a massive bite out of SaaS, Television, and Games. And before you think, "Oh, not another tech buzzword," hear me out. This isn’t about trends; it’s about fundamental shifts—tectonic plates of industry moving under our feet.

To understand what’s happening, we need to go back and look at how technology has rewritten the rules in other industries.

From Newspapers to Influencers: The Paradox of Jevons in Media

Before the internet, media was a tightly controlled game. Newspapers, magazines, and cable networks ruled because they controlled both creation and distribution. Content was expensive to produce and distribute, so it had to make money. Subscription models, local monopolies, and high barriers to entry ensured the game stayed rigged.

The paradox of Jevons teaches us an important lesson here. As technology improves efficiency and reduces costs, consumption increases rather than decreases. When production and distribution costs didn’t just drop—they collapsed—it didn’t lead to fewer creators or less content. Instead, anyone with a keyboard, a mobile device, and an internet connection could now produce content. Platforms like YouTube and Instagram democratized access, allowing influencers to replace traditional media gatekeepers. When costs approach zero, the economic need for high-margin business models dissolves. Revenue models shift, and industries reorganize themselves around new realities.

SaaS: When the Creator Economy Comes for ARR

Software is expensive to create—or at least it was. Over the last decades, programming has been a highly specialized skill, with costs tied to the scarcity of skilled developers. But today, those costs are plummeting. Generative AI and tools like no-code/low-code platforms are making it possible for anyone to build software. Looking ahead, there’s a real chance that the marginal cost of software creation could approach zero.

What happens in a world where programming costs vanish? The implications are profound. When barriers to entry fall, new players flood the market. The old economic need to charge high prices for software fades, and the very structure of the software industry begins to transform.

Picture this: instead of Salesforce dominating the CRM space, we see a thousand niche solutions—built by creators for hyper-specific audiences. Imagine an influencer in the beauty industry creating a CRM tailored exclusively for salon owners. They don’t just bring the software; they bring trust, authority, and an existing community of buyers.

This is already happening in e-commerce. Shopify didn’t just enable online stores; it unlocked a long tail of sellers. Suddenly, anyone could sell anything online, turning side hustles into empires.

Hotmart and Hubla are playing a similar role in content creation, enabling individuals to produce and sell courses—a shift that has disrupted traditional educational institutions and major publications like Time and Fortune (do you still read Fortune or get insights from your favorite business people directly from them on Twitter?). Passionfroot is another great example, providing tools specifically designed for creators to manage their businesses, monetize their content, and connect directly brands with their audiences.

Now imagine that same playbook hitting SaaS. The “Shopify-ification” of software will empower creators to build and sell tools designed for their audiences, without ever needing a traditional dev team. Aivia.ai , for example, is paving the way by creating a platform where anyone can set up their own software shop in the form of AI agents tailored to the internet economy.

Television: Goodbye Studios, Hello Living Rooms

Twenty years ago, launching a TV channel required millions of dollars, studio equipment, and licensing agreements. Today? All you need is a webcam and an internet connection. Casimiro, a Brazilian streamer, competes head-on with ESPN, streaming from what is essentially his living room. With over 20 million followers on YouTube and Twitch combined, his channel CazéTV broke the record for the most-viewed live stream during the 2022 FIFA World Cup, attracting over 5 million live viewers—YouTube's all-time record at the time. His rise exemplifies the disruptive power of creators in traditional media spaces.

But today’s creator content is still limited to interviews, handheld POV shots, and stationary cameras fixed on YouTubers. That’s about to change radically. AI tools like Runway and models like Sora are democratizing video production. Today, they help create short clips; tomorrow, they’ll enable creators to produce episodes of Friends or films like Titanic without needing actors, expensive studios, or massive crews. Creators will transition from being solo commentators to full-fledged directors and showrunners.

The evolution of image models over the last few years shows how quickly this can happen. We’ve moved from rudimentary visuals to photorealistic renders almost overnight. Video models are on the same trajectory. Soon, creators will build highly polished productions tailored to their audiences in real-time, rendering traditional studios obsolete. The variety and sophistication of content types will expand dramatically, breaking the monotony of today’s formats.

Games: The Next Pokémon Is Already Here

Gaming has always been fertile ground for creativity. Take Satoshi Tajiri, the creator of Pokémon. He transformed his childhood fascination with insect collecting into one of the most valuable IPs in history. Pokémon’s genius lies in its simplicity and universal appeal—a game that captures the imagination, fosters connection and translates effortlessly into merchandise, TV shows, and films. But the barriers to entry for gaming were historically high—you needed a publisher, a team of developers, and access to distribution channels like Steam.

Not anymore. Tools like Decart promise to make game development as accessible as launching a YouTube channel. A single creator—armed with a brilliant idea but no coding skills—will be able to design, publish, and monetize a game. The ongoing dismantling of app store oligopolies will also open the door to new discovery platforms for indie games, mirroring what Shopify and Hotmart have done for other forms of content.

This democratization will enable the next generation of gaming creators to flourish. Just as Hotmart allowed educators to bypass universities and Shopify empowered sellers to sidestep traditional retail, game developers will have their own revolution.

Why It’s Happening Now

The Creator Economy thrives when technology removes friction. When production and distribution costs fall, economic models based on high marginal costs become unnecessary. E-commerce exploded when Shopify made it easy for anyone to sell. Video content exploded when YouTube made distribution accessible. Now, AI tools are making creation faster, cheaper, and better. The same forces are poised to reshape SaaS, Television, and Games.

The winners of this shift probably won’t be traditional companies with massive teams and legacy processes. They’ll be creators—nimble, innovative individuals who know their audiences better than anyone else. They’ll build the future from their bedrooms, not boardrooms. And, of course, the aggregators and the new gatekeepers of this new world!

So, here’s one of my big_bets for 2025 and beyond: some of the next trillion-dollar opportunities won’t come from monopolistic giants but from the millions of creators out there, armed with AI tools and a deep connection to their audiences. What other industries could be transformed by these same forces?