It's Friday and while creators wrestle with the possibility of an all-out ban, one TikTok account is still going about business as usual: the Biden campaign.

GOT SAUCE?

Open Sauce is coming back—and it’s more than 2x as big as before

The convention: As far as we know, only one event in the world features a chicken-frying robot, musical Tesla coils, and a drivable bunk bed. Those wacky creations alone are likely to excite STEM enthusiasts—but Open Sauce offers so much more to its tech-loving attendees.

• The creator-led convention is the brainchild of William Osman, a YouTuber with 3 million subscribers. A couple of years ago, Osman reached out to a “cohort” of STEM-focused creators because he wanted to create a place “for science and engineering fanatics to…share what they’re passionate about.”
  
  

• The result of that conversation was Open Sauce: an event that unites “the largest makers on the internet” and hundreds of engineering exhibitors.

The details: After debuting in 2023 with over 10,000 attendees, Open Sauce is shifting gears for this year’s June 14-16 event. The convention will take place at Daly City‘s Cow Palace, where it expects to welcome more than 20,000 attendees, 150 creators, and 500 exhibitors (a massive increase from 2023’s 75 creators and 150 exhibitors).

• Exosapien Technologies, Arc Attack, Battlebots, and other brands will offer interactive exhibits, while featured creators like Mythbusters‘ Adam Savage, Mark Rober, TheOdd1sOut, Emily The Engineer, NileRed, and Osman will host group meet-and-greets and rotating panels and workshops.
  
  

• A new industry track will also feature panels, workshops, and discussions with pros from companies like YouTube, Kajabi, and Symbolica.

Why it matters: Open Sauce is a key example of the power of creator collaboration. As YouTubers like Ludwig Ahgren branch into creator event production and streamers unite to raise millions for charity, similarly impactful concepts are likely to continue expanding the limits of the creator economy for years to come.

HEADLINES IN BRIEF 📰

• According to the Wall Street Journal, TikTok’s price tag could range as high as $100 billion price tag if ByteDance chooses to sell. (Tubefilter)
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• The NBA is reportedly brainstorming a package of games that would be distributed via streaming. The frontrunners for that deal: Amazon Prime Video and YouTube. (Tubefilter)

• YouTube has announced several new features for podcast listeners, including “enhanced download options” and “customizable playlist sorting.” (Tubefilter)
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• Spotlight is on the rise. According to Snap, the Snapchat-based TikTok rival saw a 125% year-over-year increase in total watch-time. (TechCrunch)

COLUMNS • ON THE RISE 📈

This POV creator knows exactly what your boss is like

How it started: Growing up, Rob was “always the class clown.” He loved making people laugh in school and eventually took that talent to YouTube, where he posted funny videos to entertain his friends.

• That first foray into content creation “didn’t really pan out,” but Rob continued making videos anyway. By the time COVID-19 rolled around, the creator’s friends were convinced that his comedic Instagram content would be a hit on TikTok.
  
  

• Rob wasn’t so sure, but he did have plenty of free time on his hands. So, he downloaded the app—and “got sucked into it immediately.” His very first video “took off right away”; by the two-week mark, another clip had scored a million views.
  
  

• That virality was incredibly “motivating,” but it was also just the beginning. Three years passed before Rob “hit a nice stride” by embodying characters like “the cool teacher” and “your millennial boss” in POV skits.

How it’s going: Nowadays, Rob is a full-time creator with a serious knack for POV content. 800,000 TikTok followers tune into his cathartic workplace skits, which are equal parts relatable and hilarious.

What’s up next: Rob has big plans for the rest of 2024. As a devoted podcast listener and a stand-up comedy fan, he’d love to break into both art forms (although the latter vocation requires some serious time investments).

• In the meantime, Rob hopes to bring other creators into the mix. He’s excited to add more collaborations to his portfolio over the next year—and he wouldn’t mind branching into TV or movies, either.

CHOOSE YOUR ADVENTURE

A new YouTube IP-inspired adventure park has arrived

Spy Ninjas HQ is open for business. With multi-level escape rooms, axe-throwing, climbing walls, an “Incognito Café,” and more, the Vegas-based adventure park is a dream come true for every Spy Ninjas fan.

The lead-up: Over the last several years, Chad Wild Clay and Vy Qwaint have made hundreds of kid-friendly videos, courted 44 million subscribers, launched merch, designed a Spy Ninjas mobile game, and even signed a graphic novel deal with Scholastic.

• Those accomplishments are monumental on their own. But by 2021, Clay and Qwaint knew they wanted to go bigger. The duo had recently acquired a building in the hopes of escaping the Las Vegas heat, and quickly realized that it had the potential to be much more than a filming studio.

The launch: After three years of hands-on development, the resulting adventure park opened its doors on March 9 to a flood of nearly 3,500 visitors. Fans can now score three hours of Spy Ninjas HQ time for $40 apiece—an adventure that includes thousands of square feet of interactive activities.

Why it matters: As the first adventure park to be based entirely on a YouTube-born IP, Spy Ninjas HQ heralds a new era for creator brands.

• The creator economy has already grown to encompass everything from FAST channels to creator-led food ventures. Now, fans will be able to devour Feastables chocolate bars and Prime energy drinks before touring their favorite YouTube-inspired adventure park—a category that will soon include not only Spy Ninjas HQ but Dude Perfect’s $100 million headquarters.

WATCH THIS 📺

Here’s a sneak peek at Marques Brownlee’s signature Ridge wallet

The interview: Jon Youshaei’s latest video title says it best: over the last several years, Marques Brownlee has become “The Most Powerful Man in Tech.” Now, the YouTuber is teaming up with Ridge to power the future of RFID-blocking wallets.

• In a recent interview, Youshaei quizzed Brownlee on everything from his meteoric rise on YouTube to the science of thumbnails—and then the conversation turned to upcoming products.
  
  

• Fans of sleek accessories and high-quality tech will want to skip ahead to the 52-minute mark of that video, when Brownlee unveils a prototype of the soft wallet he’s developing in partnership with Ridge.
  
  

• Check out that big reveal (and the rest of the interview) here.

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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.