The 10 Principles.

Make decisions from their perspective, not ours

The first thing you have to know about Creator Camp is who it is for. This is not a traditional company that sells you something or has a drip email sequence hoping to get you on a subscription. Our business model relies on the people within our community. At the end of the day, Creator Camp boils down to a friend group of highly-ambitious people who want to change the world.

For anything to happen, we have to always remember that this company was not built by us. Yes, we’ve had late nights working, hours moving boxes, and invested thousands of dollars. However, this whole thing only works because of the people we serve, the community of creatives who believe in our mission.

Always ask yourself what would they think and how we serve those who built this company and be open to feedback. The powerhouse of any community-driven business is feedback, let’s leverage that.

Do the right thing, the money will come

The amount of times our bank account has been close to zero has been comical. Actually, we are probably floating around there right now - from making payments we don’t have, to committing to endeavors we have no idea how we’re going to pull off, if any Silicon Valley investor saw our balance sheet they’d probably be so confused.

But, the idea for Creator Camp stemmed from a personal and deeply human need, not a business one.

Never cut corners, do the right thing, look out for the little guy, serve the community, and the money will come.

There is another form of investment that we believe exists in the startup world. That investment is goodwill. An asset that may not show up on a balance sheet, but will show up when you need it the most.

Hugs and high-fives, no handshakes

This one is pretty straightforward, move with love. Hug someone or give them a fist-bump. Studies say the average human needs 8 hugs a day. I’m pretty sure we’re all walking around malnourished at this point. Small things like this go a long way, make them feel welcome, introduce yourself with a smile.

BUT, before you go around hugging everyone, remember that not all people are like you. Some may be uncomfortable hugging random strangers or those who they have just met (totally valid lol). Regardless, be sure to read the room, be understanding of others, and if someone seems hesitant - why not hit them with a fist bump instead :)

Make everything feel like a handwritten note

When Airbnb first began, the founding team would go around to hosts and offer to take free pictures for them. This became your classic-silicon-valley-tech-bro-lore, but the principle still stands: do things that aren’t scalable.

In the same way, we believe in making everything we do feel like a handwritten note, something that has genuine thought imbued within its makeup, whether it’s a thank you card to a sponsor or attendee, or just the way we arrange the invites for an event - the easiest and most practical way to invest into goodwill and make someone’s day is to curate an experience or encounter that feels personal.

Make sure to say THANK YOU

This one is pretty straightforward. Say, thank you :)

Think long term

Making the internet a better place is going to take a long time (obviously). The reason why we are all here today is because some part of ourselves believes we can leave the world a better place than when we came. Be patient. It’s so much easier said than done, sometimes it gets hard to see the end of the tunnel, our minds shutting down as we ferociously scour the internet for new venues, and catering, or dive heads deep into an Excel sheet.

Not all of this is going to be pretty. However, in moments like those I encourage you to come back to the mission statement, to peruse this doc, and remind yourself what all of this is for.

Be patient, and play long-term games, it’s going to pay off.

Make no assumptions

Do you know what ruins relationships more than anything? It’s assumptions, assumptions we make about other people we haven’t met, assumptions we make about ourselves and our abilities, and conclusions we reach with no solid evidence at all.

I’ll be the first to admit it, I’ve always been a hyper-judgemental person growing up, it’s the one trait that will get me out of a suspicious situation, but will also tear relationships down.

Maybe you can be a judgemental, assumptuous person if you’re building a DTC product or tech startup. But remember, we are in the business of community and people.

Talk about someone like they’re in the room

Remember high school? How people would talk behind others’ backs and there was always drama floating around?

Well from what I’ve seen, the creator industry can sometimes be the same thing - I know, cringe, but the world is much smaller than we think. Every creator essentially knows each other and while most interactions are great, the niche nature of our space makes it easy for words to be said behind the back.

No one is perfect, it happens, we’re human after all, all floating on this rock trying to desperately find a place to call home. However, this has no place within what we are building. Half of the battle is checking yourself and ensuring that you are being the best version of yourself and we must hold ourselves to the highest standard. We’re going to do this the right way and there’s no room for error.

Move with relentless optimism

All creative and independent people are what we call “delusional optimists”. Think about it, to try to become a creative or an entrepreneur you gotta be kind of crazy. The odds are stacked against you at every point in the journey. However, what makes us special is that we just keep trying. Bulldoze right through every boundary that pops out in front of us.

Parents disapproval? BOOM

Running out of money? I’LL FIGURE IT OUT

Not seeing success? I’LL KEEP GOING

I’ll admit, a lot of times it does go a bit far. However, nothing great would have been accomplished without optimism.

That intangible feeling that got a man on the moon, that coursed through Jim Ryun’s veins as he broke the 4-minute mile for the first time, that spark that drove a kid from Akron Ohio to pick up a basketball for the first time, we all have equal access to that same feeling-

and it’s our superpower