Creators keep losing their executives.
Last week, Andrew Yaffe stepped down as CEO of Dude Perfect, the latest in a string of senior exits from major creator media companies.
At least a dozen senior leaders at creator-founded companies have left over the past year, including CEOs and chief growth officers, according to Scalable’s analysis.
While the specific reasons for each departure vary, many have come during tumultuous periods for the business. That suggests that scaling these companies is harder than it seems—even with outside capital and experienced leaders in place.
In a joint statement to Axios, Dude Perfect and Yaffe framed the exit as mutual, but suggested potential friction. “Now is the right time for new leadership at Dude Perfect. As the social media landscape continues to evolve, they developed different perspectives on the company's next phase and the best path forward,” the statement read. Dude Perfect raised at least $100 million in funding in 2024, a few months before Yaffe joined the company.
Then there’s Good Good Golf, which raised $45 million in funding last year. The YouTube-focused sports media brand lost both CEO Matt Kendrick and President Joe Flannery following an ad that sparked major backlash late last month.
Meanwhile, Alex Cooper’s media company Unwell has been rocked by a slew of staff exits, including the chief growth officer and head of brand marketing. Those departures come amid reports of workplace complaints.
Audiochuck, the company founded by true crime podcaster Ashley Flowers, has also seen deep staff turnover. Matt Starker was tapped as CEO in April 2025, shortly after the company raised $40 million from TCG. Just over a year later, he was replaced by former SoulCycle CEO Evelyn Webster. Altogether, Audiochuck has shed about 30% of its 100-person workforce over the past year, including its chief growth and chief legal officers, per Bloomberg.
Zooming out, some level of executive turnover is normal—and not all of it is due to business drama. At Fortune 500 companies, for example, the average C-Suite tenure is about five years, according to data from executive search firm Spencer Stuart. CEOs tend to last the longest, at around 7.5 years.
Plus, finding the right leaders is table stakes for any company. Since the beginning of this year, Pinterest has lost its long-time chief revenue officer, CMO, CFO and chief content officer as the company faces stiff competition from larger social media platforms for users and ad dollars. Some of those roles have been replaced and Pinterest also hired its first-ever chief business officer.
Meanwhile, one reason why Snap has struggled to consistently grow its business is that CEO Evan Spiegel never found his right-hand in the same way Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg did with former COO Sheryl Sandberg.
But executives at creator economy companies face unique challenges. These businesses are built around a creator (or in some cases a group), who are personally and often inseparably tied to the businesses.
Scaling and diversifying beyond one person or type of content has proven difficult, in part as egos and established perceptions can get in the way. Podcast networks, like Alex Cooper’s Unwell, for example, have struggled to launch other hit shows. Cooper has also faced criticism from early fans as she shifted from raunchy content to more serious interviews with public figures.
And while these creators understand the content side of the business, many of them don’t know how to navigate the mechanics of running a company. That’s where seasoned executives come in, though it also means mistakes and personality clashes are bound to happen.
Many executives also tend to be based in major cities like New York or Los Angeles, while creators like Dude Perfect and MrBeast operate out of smaller cities in Texas and North Carolina. That can make hiring challenging because some candidates are unwilling to relocate.
It can eventually be a dealbreaker for existing leaders, too: Last month, MrBeast’s studio division head Corie Henson stepped down after about a year to move back to Los Angeles to be closer to her family.
Looking ahead, we expect a lot more exits—and hirings—at creator-founded companies.
Dude Perfect and Smosh, for example, both named their first-ever chief content officers earlier this year. MrBeast and podcaster Steven Bartlett’s Steven.com also recently tapped senior communications leaders.
Chief communications officers can be especially handy for…navigating turmoil.
Grading Alix Earle’s Reality TV Debut
Netflix’s “Earle Meets World” has all the ingredients for a compelling reality TV show. Produced by the same company as “Keeping Up with the Kardashians,” the series stars TikTok ‘it girl’ Alix Earle and her blended family, which includes stepmom Alex Dupré, the former call girl at the center of ex-New York governor Eliot Spitzer’s sex scandal. The family even has eclectic pets, including a snake, bearded dragon and goats!
Earle, who is known for sharing every aspect of her life online, saved material just for Netflix, including her mom’s breast cancer diagnosis and how she secretly hired her best friend Sally as an employee. She also (sort of) addressed her fallout with Alex Cooper in the final episode.
But the series, which premiered on Friday, still has a timing problem. One major plot line centers on her breakup with NFL player Braxton Berrios, which happened at the end of 2025. That feels like a lifetime ago for people who follow Earle daily on social media, showing the risks of reality TV when the main character’s core business is vlogging in real time.
Even so, social media reactions seem largely positive, though some viewers had hoped for more drama or new revelations. Earle, for example, touches on the flirty headlines about her and Tom Brady, but doesn’t divulge further details in the show. Those hoping for a thorough breakdown of what happened between her and Cooper were also left wanting more.
“Earle Meets World” was still fun to watch, especially the dynamic between Earle and her younger sister Ashtin, a fellow influencer. While the show largely stays true to Earle’s carefully cultivated image, it also offers a window into the pressures she faces as she grows her business, a stark contrast to the upbeat picture she paints online.
But if you’re looking for real tea, this isn’t the place to find it. Though, shouldn’t we all know by now that reality TV isn’t real?
The Round Up
TikTok added new features to its comment section, including the ability to leave voice comments, vote in polls and respond with photo carousels.
🎬TikTok and YouTube are taking on the Toronto Film Festival, another example of the growing convergence between the creator economy and the film industry. TikTok will once again be TIFF’s official platform partner, while YouTube will host the inaugural Creator Festival with Variety.
X successfully blocked Operation Bluebird from using the Twitter name in a Delaware court, though the social media startup can use the Twitter bird logo. Operation Bluebird’s general counsel is a former Twitter trademark lawyer. The startup has since launched a new website called tweet.app with Twitter-like branding.
Threads updated insights for creators so they can better understand how their posts are performing. For example, creators will be able to see views over time and how their content is reaching followers vs new audiences. They’ll also be able to see how recent follows compare to their normal pace.
Sports Desk
🎾The backlash against influencers at the US Open isn’t letting up.
Now Wimbledon says it’s not planning to issue special credentials to influencers to avoid disruptions during matches, ESPN reported. Wimbledon also plans to confiscate items such as ring lights that could distract players.
Sporting events have always had to walk a fine line between annoying hard-core fans and courting new audiences. But the outrage over influencers’ behavior at the US Open this year feels like a new level. That could be because tennis is built around so much etiquette, including silence during match play, that bad behavior stands out more than it would at a rowdy football or basketball game.
The bigger question is whether this will stay a tennis problem, or give pause to other sports.
Talent Tracker
Heidi O’Neill started as the new CEO of Lululemon on Tuesday. Last week, she resigned from Spotify’s board of directors after about nine years, according to an SEC filing.
Cat Goetze, an AI-focused creator better known as CatGPT, took an equity stake in Smooth Media, which manages more than 65 knowledge creators, including her. Goetze is also joining the company as a strategic advisor.
Smooth Media also hired Marisa Harary as its director of revenue strategy. Previously, she was a senior account executive at Tubi and head of brand partnerships at Bari Weiss’ The Free Press.
Lusine Yeghiazaryan is the new chief financial officer of Picsart, an AI photo and video editing startup. Previously, she was CFO of insights firm Sada.
Bryony Barker was named global strategy director in the UK at social media marketing agency Pulse.
