On this episode of DTC Pod, Anders and Andy join Blaine & Ramon to discuss the next wave of creators and commerce. They talk about social commerce, creators as a performance channel, innovation happening in the space, what personalized storefronts mean, the opportunity for creators as key brand affiliates, the current funding landscape, when to bootstrap versus raise venture, and more.[00:01:37] Andy and Anders have co-founded companies previously, with experience in building in both the bootstrapping and vc frameworks.[00:03:40] Commerce merchant needs assessed and personalized landing page created with custom features; minimal customer/creator work needed.[00:20:37] Both paths of bootstrapping and fundraising can be beneficial depending on business, market, timing and other factors.[00:23:51] Evaluate exit potential and acquirers to determine future success.[00:26:34] Engage with brand, understand community, incentivize customers and creators, focus on performance, recruit, activate and educate customers and creators, focus on top 5-20%.[00:29:59] Social commerce is affiliate links to product pages and microcommerce experiences, with fully contextualized experiences tailored to traffic source.[00:36:22] Shift to service-based ecommerce, embedding commerce into organic posts, medium shift to AR needed for new social commerce platform.[00:41:54] Merchants define subcategories, hire in-house; ideal customer >$5 million, shareable product, find champion, 300-500 influencers to double down on 10-20.[00:45:02] Merchants build basic landing page and add content from Trend, influencers, creators. Customers and creators select content, upload own content. Merchants recommend doing most of the work. Activation levers to get more success.[00:47:55] Create best mobile video storefronts for marketers to test and find their top customers/creators.  Past guests & brands on DTC Pod include Gilt, PopSugar, Glossier, MadeIN, Prose, Bala, P.volve, Ritual, Bite, Oura, Levels, General Mills, Mid Day Squares, Prose, Arrae, Olipop, Ghia, Rosaluna, Form, Uncle Studios & many more. Additional episodes you might like:• #175 Ariel Vaisbort - How OLIPOP Runs Influencer, Community, & Affiliate Growth• #184 Jake Karls, Midday Squares - Turning Your Brand Into The Influencer With Content• #205 Kasey Stewart: Suckerz- - Powering Your Launch With 300 Million Organic Views• #219 JT Barnett: The TikTok Masterclass For Brands• #223 Lauren Kleinman: The PR & Affiliate Marketing Playbook• ​​​​#243 Kian Golzari - Source & Develop Products Like The World's Best Brands----- Have any questions about the show or topics you'd like us to explore further?Shoot us a DM; we'd love to hear from you. Want the weekly TL;DR of tips delivered to your mailbox?Check out our newsletter hereFollow us for content, clips, giveaways, & updates!DTCPod InstagramDTCPod TwitterDTCPod TikTokAndy Cloyd - Co-founder of SuperfiliateAnders Bill - Co-founder of SuperfiliateRamon Berrios - CEO of Trend.ioBlaine Bolus - Co-Founder of Seated