MANSCAPED bypasses expensive influencers by building a "Makers Network." They find hungry creators, like film students, and provide a small budget and creative freedom. This approach values strong creative points of view over follower counts, resulting in more authentic and successful organic content.

An unexpected benefit of a B2B creator program is its potential as a talent pipeline. Common Room sponsored a creator who became so engaged with the product's value that they later hired him to lead their SDR team. This creates a powerful feedback loop where an authentic evangelist now dogfoods the product and leads a core GTM function.

Big Cabal Media intentionally cultivates on-air talent from within, identifying junior employees who resonate with the audience and investing in their growth. They find it more effective than trying to hire established creators, who often prefer to remain independent. This approach turns the media company into a talent incubator, building loyalty and brand-specific stars.

Before asking for a full-time creator headcount, de-risk the investment. Hire a talented creator on a freelance basis with a small budget. Use their initial viral hits and performance data to build a strong business case for a full-time role and a larger budget.

To maintain relevance across diverse subcultures, MANSCAPED works with a network of specialized meme creators. Some focus on dating culture, while others monitor deep, niche internet corners for emerging trends. This strategy allows the brand to have a well-rounded, authentic voice without overburdening its internal social team.

Snap prefers hiring designers directly out of school, believing other tech companies instill bad habits like focusing on hierarchy over creative risk-taking. This approach, combined with a small, flat team structure, is designed to protect raw creativity.

MANSCAPED's viral hit succeeded because they empowered creators. Instead of a typical agency process with 15-20 decision-makers, they limited the core team to five people and gave the creators (two film students) final discretion. This "less cooks in the kitchen" approach preserved the creative vision and led to better work.

To overcome the limitations of generic AI models, Manscaped developed an internal large language model. They trained it on their specific products and a cast of 'virtual actors,' enabling them to generate on-brand, hyper-specific video B-roll that off-the-shelf tools struggle to create accurately.

Unlike purely theoretical coursework, programs sponsoring real industry problems allow students to build applicable skills. An engineer designed a fuel cell test station for a senior project, which directly led to an internship where his first task was to recreate that same project, proving the value of practical experience.