Slow Ventures’ Creator Fund has invested $2 million into Jonathan Katz-Moses, a popular woodworking content creator with around 600,000 followers, nearly 75 million video views, and his own line of woodworking tools.
This marks the first investment for Slow’s $60 million Creator Fund since its launch in February. The fund looks to help creators launch businesses, under the belief that what made them successful influencers is what can also make them a good founder.
Speaking to TechCrunch, Slow Ventures partner Billy Parks, the lead investor on the deal, said the role of creators has greatly changed in the past decade or so, from creators mainly focused on media and brand dollars to those now focused on building real, “off-platform,” businesses.
“The pandemic accelerated direct-to-consumer growth for many. But the real signal is in the ones who’ve maintained and grown past that boom, which shows they can build something lasting and sustainable,” Parks said.
He said a good creator-founder thinks like an entrepreneur, “not chasing fame but building real businesses that they own and control.”
This is where Katz-Moses came in. His videos help teach woodworking, and he’s since expanded into selling his own tools and accessories to his audience. He has a team helping with business development, operations, and of course, creating YouTube content. Slow’s investment will help support the business and other content creation endeavors.
Katz-Moses went into woodworking after being violently assaulted one night in 2010. In a video posted to his channel recently, he recounted the story, saying he woke up in a pool of blood, surrounded by police officers and paramedics, gasping at his marred appearance. His injuries were severe: A broken eye socket and gashes needed 80 stitches. He said it was the happiest moment of his life because, at the very least, he was alive.
Shortly after that, he went into woodworking, deciding it was time to chase his dreams and leave behind anything unfulfilling. He bought a camera and started posting his creations to YouTube, amassing a loyal following in the process. But as his business and persona grew, he found himself facing the common challenges founders face, such as inventory management for his tools business and paying himself a salary.
Katz-Moses was one of 700 applicants to Slow’s Creator Fund and told TechCrunch it was exciting when Parks reached out to learn more about his business.
“Billy Parks from Slow reached out to me in March to let me know he’d like to meet,” Katz-Moses told TechCrunch.
“When we visited him in his 30,000-square-foot shop in Santa Barbara, we were blown away by his serious and long-term commitment to the brand and building a scaled business,” Parks told TechCrunch about why Slow picked Katz-Moses.
Parks said Slow wants to partner with creators early in their journeys so it can give them support when it will have the most impact in helping them grow. (It’s already made deals with a few creators, independent of this fund.)
Slow’s Creator fund is a showcase of how firms are looking to invest more in the Creator economy and find ways to work with influencers, as such creators become new business mavens. (Other creators have looked to raising venture capital to support their careers, as well as their peers.)
Parks said Slow wants to work with creators that operate in clearly defined spaces, rather than broad entertainment, teaming up with those with an engaged community and authority in their craft. “That combination makes for businesses with strong foundations and durable growth,” Parks continued. It’s not unlike how investors already vet their founders.
Since the investment, Katz-Moses has hired product developers, filed patent applications, looked at new products to build, and is hoping to share more educational content around woodworking. “The goal is to post across all major platforms,” he said. “But our primary focus will always be YouTube.”
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