TOGETHER WITH

It’s Tuesday and after appearing in 1.8 million TikToks, Lesley Gore’s 1963 hit “Misty” has officially claimed a spot in the Billboard charts.

REMEMBERING LYNJA ❤️

The internet’s favorite cooking grandma has passed away at age 67

YouTuber and culinary icon Lynja, who earned widespread acclaim and adoration as “the internet’s favorite cooking grandma,” has passed away from esophageal cancer.

Remembering Lynja: MIT alum and civil engineer Lynn Yamada Davis first began posting culinary content on her iconic CookingWithLynja channels in 2020. Initially, those videos were designed to help her son, Tim Davis, improve his videography skills during COVID-19—but it wasn’t long before millions of fans began tuning in.

• Over the next four years, Lynja accumulated nearly 40 million followers across YouTube and TikTok.
  
  

• The most recent upload on both CookingWithLynja accounts was posted by Lynja’s son, Tim Davis. After informing viewers that his mother had passed away on January 1, he concluded the video by sharing a few photos from key moments in Lynja’s life.

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HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• German TikToker and Elevator Boys member Tim Schaecker has launched CNDO, a new platform based around social challenges that can be completed by creators and their fans. (Tubefilter)
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• Comedy gamer Daz Black will visit 23 U.S. cities in a cross-country comedy tour set to take place this summer. (Tubefilter)
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• According to NBC, the NFL’s first “streaming-only” playoff game—which aired on Peacock on January 13—has earned the title of "the most streamed event ever in US history" with 23 million viewers. (Ars Technica)
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• Artifact—a news app launched by Instagram co-founders Kevin Systrom and Mike Krieger—is shutting down after less than a year online. (Engadget)

COLUMNS • MILLIONAIRES 📈

This baking creator is finding the balance between content and advocacy

When we last caught up with Mirvat Hachem-Osseili (aka Mimo), the baking creator had half a million YouTube subscribers and barely enough time to breathe. Fast forward to 2024 and Mimo has nearly doubled that number (while also allowing herself a tiny bit of well-deserved rest).

How it started: From making birthday cakes for her siblings to running a one-woman bakery, Mimo has been ruling the kitchen since childhood. As an adult, she decided to document her hectic routine—which often involved baking and decorating six cakes a week—by posting videos of her creations on YouTube and TikTok.

• Bake My Day Mimo was a hit. Viewers loved Hachem-Osseili’s daily cake-making videos, which often incorporated themes like “Drop It Like It’s Hot Mondays,” “Topper Tuesday,” and “Flavor Friday.”

How it’s going: Nowadays, Mimo is finding a balance between baking, filming, and advocating for causes close to her heart. The income from her channels has allowed her to take on fewer cake orders, leaving her more time to eat healthy, exercise, and read.

• That shift has also given Mimo a chance to raise awareness and funds for aid to Palestine, including through the creation and sale of themed cakes. Mimo says those efforts have “really brought down” her subscriber growth—but “when it comes to the injustice of humanity,” she isn’t willing to remain silent.

What’s next: Going forward, Mimo aims to continue bringing awareness to the humanitarian crisis in Palestine while shaking up her videos to include more baking tips and DIY techniques. Find out more about her next steps here.

OPENING SHOP 🤖

OpenAI’s latest venture is an online store stocked with user-created GPTs

OpenAI is doing what it takes to keep ChatGPT on top. In the wake of flagging traffic and internal turmoil—including the ousting and subsequent reinstatement of its CEO—the Microsoft-backed company has launched an online store stocked with custom GPTs.

The big idea: The GPT Store allows individuals and brands to distribute customized ChatGPT-powered apps (or Generative Pre-trained Transformers) from within the chatbot itself.

• Under a new ChatGPT tab labeled “Explore GPTs,” curious buyers can find everything from AI-powered advice on local running routes (developed by AllTrails) to a “Code Tutor” from Khan Academy.
  
  

• Anyone interested in listing an app can add their product to the GPT Store by turning on public availability and verifying their Builder Profile.

Early results: According to an OpenAI blog post, creators have already developed 3 million custom GPTs across categories like lifestyle, education, and productivity.

• Consumer access is more limited. The first users to gain entry into the new store will be those subscribed to Enterprise (ChatGPT’s premium plan for individuals) and Teams, a paid tier designed to be shared among co-workers.

The motivation: ChatGPT enjoyed an unprecedented wave of virality following its November 2022 debut—but in recent months, the chatbot’s traffic has been on a downturn. Now, OpenAI is juggling competition from tech giants like TikTok parent Bytedance with the ongoing changes caused by CEO Sam Altman’s dramatic removal and return.

• By introducing a new revenue stream and forming its own community of creators, OpenAI is reasserting its position as a leader in the field of AI—and bringing ChatGPT back into the spotlight.

LISTEN UP 🎙️

This week on the podcast…

Creator Upload is kicking off 2024 with a bang.

2024 premiere: Tune into the first episode of the year to meet Creator Upload’s inaugural Creator on the Rise—Jessica McCabe of HowToADHD—and discover the surprising details surrounding MatPat’s bombshell retirement announcement.

• It’s all right here on Spotify and Apple Podcasts.

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Today's newsletter is from: Emily Burton, Sam Gutelle, and Josh Cohen. Drew Baldwin helped edit, too. It's a team effort.