A lot has changed on the internet, in the creator landscape, and at Patreon itself since CEO Jack Conte was last on the show in 2021. AI and platform shifts have stolen creator content and decimated artists&#x27; reach and revenue streams, and Patreon has made some pretty existential changes to the way it works in response. Read the full interview transcript on The Verge. Links: My thoughts on AI | Patreon I tried to prove I’m not AI | Howtown Patreon: Apple’s 30% tax is the price of staying in the App Store | The Verge Welcome to hell, Elon (2022) | The Verge Reality is losing the deepfake war | Decoder Elon Musk is steamrolling Wall Street to become a trillionaire | Decoder Incorruptible | Simon &amp; Schuster Subscribe to The Verge to access the ad-free version of Decoder! Credits: Decoder is a production of The Verge and part of the Vox Media Podcast Network. Decoder is produced by Kate Cox and Nick Statt. This episode was edited by Xander Adams. Our editorial director is Kevin McShane. The Decoder music is by Breakmaster Cylinder. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

Decoder with Nilay Patel

# Full Transcript

**Podcast:** Decoder with Nilay Patel

## Transcript

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[SPEAKER_05] Hello and welcome to Decoder. I'm Neil A. Patel, Editor-in-Chief of The Verge, and Decoder is my show about big ideas and other problems. Today I'm talking with Jack Conte, the CEO of Patreon. Jack last joined me on the show almost exactly five years ago, in the summer of 2021. And it's safe to say that a lot has changed on the internet and in the creator landscape since then.

[SPEAKER_05] So I was very excited to talk to Jack again, especially since his ideas about what Patreon is and how it should work have changed dramatically as big social media platforms have gotten more closed off and more flooded by AI slop. In fact, you'll hear Jack say that he now thinks of Patreon as an index of small business media companies, a dramatic change in perspective that's led him to make Patreon a more direct competitor to social platforms like Instagram and TikTok.

[SPEAKER_05] That's a huge change. In fact, the last time we talked, Jack was adamantly opposed to building any kind of discovery features into Patreon at all. But then Patreon built those features to help people discover content from new creators. And Jack's reasoning for that change will be very familiar if you've been listening to our media conversations here on Decoder. Jack says if Patreon didn't build its own audience platform, then everyone would be at the mercy of Meta and Google to find audiences and customers.

[SPEAKER_05] Jack has really strong opinions about thi...

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.

Can Patreon fight fire with social media fire?

Transcript

Built for investment professionals

Every day you wait, your competitors are findingedge in conversations you're not hearing.

Every day you wait, your competitors are finding
edge in conversations you're not hearing.