Creator-founder partnerships could fuel next phase of startup growth

The next generation of multimillion-dollar businesses will be built by founders and creators working together, according to entrepreneur Jeff Frommer.

Frommer, who previously bootstrapped creative media company Malka from a two-bedroom apartment before selling it for $75 million, said the winning formula combines creators’ trust and distribution with the operational expertise of traditional founders.

“There’s a superpower of storytelling, and there’s a superpower of operating,” he said, speaking on the Just Grow With It podcast, hosted by Natalie Barbu. “There are incredible operators building great companies who just don’t know how to get attention. Creators already have trust and distribution. That’s incredibly valuable.”

Frommer has since launched OWM, a platform designed to help creators earn equity in startups by connecting them with operator-led businesses that need distribution. The company runs deep audience research on creators in its network, matching them with companies based on customer overlap rather than follower count alone.

“I’m not looking for a creator. I’m looking for more customers,” Frommer said. “You first want to figure out who is your customer, and then who influences that person.”

The shift comes as traditional influencer marketing faces structural challenges. Frommer said his insight was driven by his own frustrations.

“I wrote a check into a company, and they turned around and paid a bunch of influencers with my capital,” he said. “I was left with the equity, they had my money, and the creators had no real incentive in whether the business actually succeeded.”

He argues that influence should be treated as capital, noting that behaviour often shifts once ownership is factored into the equation.

“When you own it, you treat it differently,” Frommer said. “If I pay you to do something, you do it, and if you’re a good worker, you do it to the best of your ability. But when you own what you’ve built, you feel a connection to wanting it to be more successful.”

The model reflects broader changes in the creator economy, as more creators seek ownership and long-term upside rather than relying solely on brand deals that fluctuate with algorithms and platform volatility. 

At the same time, rising customer acquisition costs and declining trust in paid advertising are pushing startups to explore alternatives.

Frommer said complexity has been one of the biggest barriers to equity-based creator partnerships. During his time running Malka, brands would often offer equity instead of cash, but deals rarely moved forward.

“We always said no,” he said. “Not because we didn’t want the upside, but because we didn’t understand the legal, the tax, the compensation. There was too much friction.”

OWM now has more than 7,000 creators who have expressed interest in earning ownership in startups. Frommer said the platform is built around standardising equity-for-influence agreements to make ownership accessible beyond the top tier of creators.

He encourages creators to ask for equity when working with early-stage companies they believe in, even if it means accepting lower cash compensation upfront.

“Take that 80-20, take that 90-10,” he said. “I’ll take the 10 grand. But can I get some profit share or rev share or some equity, because what I want my audience to know is that I believe so much in what you are building that I was willing to be an investor.”

Frommer added that trust, not reach, drives results. “Trust is one of the last remaining moats,” he said. “Distribution matters, but trust is what actually converts.”

Watch the full episode here.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​