For the first time in a decade, the creator economy is experiencing a seismic shift. What began as a world dominated by lifestyle influencers and digital celebrities has transformed into something far more complex: a landscape where creators are becoming founders, founders are becoming creators, and billionaires are entering the arena with their own content IPs and media platforms.
The question is no longer, ‘Who is the biggest influencer?’ but, ‘Who controls culture?’
On one side are creators who have spent years building loyal communities, crafting formats, and turning their content into long-term IPs—podcasts, characters, recurring shows and multi-season franchises. Increasingly, many of them are also extending that influence into businesses of their own.
Kusha Kapila ventured into entrepreneurship with Underneat, a line of undergarments and accessories centred on comfort, functionality and body inclusivity. Bhuvan Bam expanded into fashion with Youthiapa, a streetwear label spanning hoodies, T-shirts and co-ord sets that reflects his youth-driven digital persona. Mrunal Panchal, or Mrunu, co-founded Mrucha Beauty with beau Anirudh Sharma. The brand focuses on vegan, cruelty-free formulations with a strong emphasis on bold, expressive makeup.
On the other side are billionaire entrepreneurs like Nikhil Kamath, who come armed with capital, production infrastructure and access to the best talent. Besides building Zerodha and True Beacon, Kamath has also built cultural influence through long-form podcasting—‘WTF is with Nikhil Kamath’ and ‘People by WTF’, shaping conversations around finance, technology and entrepreneurship.
The lines between creator-founders and entrepreneur-influencers are becoming increasingly fluid. What once felt like separate worlds is beginning to merge—and that is reshaping who holds cultural power on the Internet.
This evolution is already visible at the creator level. As Youtuber Nisman Parpia puts it, “As a creator, I have more credibility than legacy players because I’ve already built a fandom, a family of viewers who wait for my content every day. They engage with me, and I feel as if I’m a part of their lives. But at the same time, investors and the product matter a lot. If I launch a brand and the product isn’t good, nothing else will matter.”
She adds, “I do want to launch a brand someday. It’s on the horizon, though I haven’t fully thought it through yet. There are a few hints here and there, but yes, it’s something I dream of doing soon.”
Creator-Owned IPs: The Rise of Mini Media Houses
For Dot Media’s Head of Business Strategy Danny Advani, the shift is impossible to ignore. Creator-entrepreneurs who build their own IPs are no longer just influencers competing for attention, they’re full-fledged content ecosystems. Their formats, characters, humour, and recurring story arcs keep audiences hooked in ways static lifestyle content simply can’t.
Advani believes this is fundamentally rewiring how brands approach collaborations. Earlier, creators were slotted into pre-existing campaign frameworks, one reel here, one testimonial there. Today, the equation has flipped. Brands now find themselves adapting to a creator’s universe rather than forcing the creator to adapt to theirs. As Advani puts it, “Creator-led IPs bring back the fun of watching content without the jarring brand integration—something that is sticky with higher recall value.”
Neelanjan Dasgupta, NCD, RepIndia describes this evolution as the rise of ‘creator franchising’, a world where influencers are no longer briefed just as faces, but as partners who bring their own story engines. Instead of handing out execution checklists, agencies now step into something that resembles a writer’s room. They negotiate tone, characters, comedic rules, and even long-term narrative rights. One-off deliverables are being replaced by co-developed storylines, collaborative formats, and multi-episode arcs.
Dasgupta notes that this has pushed agencies to behave less like advertisers and more like co-producers. According to him, audiences too have moved on from generic lifestyle influence. What they want now is depth, not breadth; content that feels lived-in, consistent, and meaningful rather than a carousel of trends. In Dasgupta’s words, “We’re no longer just booking faces with follower counts; we’re partnering with entrepreneurs who own their worlds, characters, formats, and story universes.”
That distinction between influence and value is being introduced by creators to articulate more sharply. As creator Mahesh Keshwala aka Thugesh explains, “When you look at someone like Nikhil Kamath doing podcasts, you know his goal isn’t to make money. He has access and credibility at a completely different level. Not everyone can get people like Bill Gates or Elon Musk on their show.”
He adds, “Even if I get 10 million views and they get one lakh, their one lakh views carry far more value because their influence operates at a different level. I don’t consider myself an influencer, I’m an entertainer. My aim is simple, if someone spends 10–15 minutes on my content, they should feel entertained.”
“However, as creators, we’re closer to people. There are more one-on-one interactions, whether through comments or real-life meetings. That makes us more approachable and often gives us a stronger impact.”
Sayak Mukherjee, Agency Founder, Brandwizz & Creatorcult Media traces this shift back to a moment of collective anxiety within the creator ecosystem—the TikTok ban. The sudden disappearance of a platform exposed how fragile creator dependence on single ecosystems had become. In response, creators began spreading themselves across platforms and, more importantly, investing in communities rather than algorithms.
This shift has an inevitable fallout: traditional influencers, those thriving on aesthetic curation or trend cycles are slowly losing cultural ground. As the market moves from personality-led visibility to property-led influence, the creators who control IPs are gaining disproportionate power. Their characters and formats become assets; their universes turn into platforms. And brands are adjusting accordingly.
Advani succinctly summarises the consequence in private conversations: traditional lifestyle influencers have become akin to digital billboards, valuable for reach but not for storytelling. Dasgupta echoes this, observing that loyalty is now built not on who the creator is but on what the creator has built—the worlds, ideas, and experiences audiences keep returning to.
Mukherjee also stands against the idea that creator-owned IPs automatically sideline traditional influencers. “The market has expanded rather than collapsed. With millions of local businesses, regional brands, and hyperlocal needs, influencer marketing has fragmented into nano, micro, macro, and celebrity layers, each serving a distinct objective,” he adds.
In this new economy, influence isn’t a performance. It’s a production. And the ones producing it are rewriting the rules of the Internet.
Enter the Billionaires: Does Capital Change the Game?
The arrival of billionaire-led content platforms particularly those built by founders like Nikhil Kamath has injected new energy into the creator economy. Some argue it brings legitimacy. Others say it brings competition. Most agree it brings disruption.
Not just Kamath; even Shantanu Deshpande, the face behind Bombay Shaving Company, extends his thought leadership through The Barbershop, which explores startup journeys and founder mindsets. Peyush Bansal, CEO of Lenskart, has built mass visibility and trust through Shark Tank India, influencing how audiences perceive startup credibility.
Not everyone believes that billionaires automatically gain the upper hand in the creator economy. Krunal Kanabar, Head of Strategy & IP, NOFILTR puts it bluntly: “Billionaires entering the creator economy is basically venture capital with a ring light. They aren’t here to dominate. They are just trying to buy relevance because money doesn’t automatically turn into influence anymore.”
For instance, Aman Gupta, Co-founder of boAt, combines a strong social media presence with his role on Shark Tank India to shape brand relatability and consumer trust. Vineeta Singh, who leads Sugar Cosmetics, extends founder visibility through #SugarQuotedWithVineeta, while her Shark Tank India presence reinforces her authority in the beauty and startup ecosystem.
Kanabar argues that true creators hold something no amount of money can purchase: the freedom to be imperfect, to fail publicly, and to build genuine rapport over time by consistently showing up in their audience’s feeds. Unlike polished, high-budget productions, authentic content resonates precisely because it reflects the creator’s flaws, vulnerabilities, and ongoing journey.
That emphasis on authenticity is echoed across creators. As Vagmita, known as ‘thatindianchick’ on social media, notes, “Today, people can clearly tell the difference between good PR and good content. Just having a big name or legacy doesn’t guarantee success. We’ve seen brands fail because they were built on hype rather than authenticity.”
“On the other hand, many creator-led brands have scaled because they come from a place of relatability. People connect with authenticity. If they relate to me and my personal brand, they’ll support what I create not because of the hype, but because they trust what I bring to the table.”
Influencer Jissa Paul echoes this sentiment, pointing out that financial resources alone cannot substitute credibility and audience trust. In today’s landscape, audiences are no longer passive consumers; they act as gatekeepers, rewarding those who are relatable, emotionally consistent, and willing to show their human side.
Kanabar emphasises that influence is no longer proportional to wealth. The chaotic, unpredictable nature of the Internet allows a perfectly produced billionaire podcast and a college student’s late-night rant to go viral on the same day. In this ecosystem, longevity, relatability, and authenticity—not capital—determine who truly connects with audiences and holds influence over time.
Namita Thapar, Executive Director of Emcure Pharmaceuticals and Founder, Arth, has emerged as a credible voice in business, healthcare and women’s financial literacy through Shark Tank India. She also hosts a podcast on women’s health, something that continues to be discussed in hushed voices in India, titled ‘Uncondition Yourself with Namita Thapar.’ According to Kanabar, the power of the Internet is such that a commoner’s content and Thapar’s podcast can command the same bid to virality.
Influencer and Founder, Niharika Jain embodies the shift from viral popularity to owned narrative. For her, IP isn’t optional, it’s existential.
“When I started Dumroo, a jewellery brand inspired by Lord Shiva’s dumroo and Indian mythology, I wasn’t just creating products. I was building a narrative that could exist independently of my Instagram reach. Your content should be the marketing for something you own, not the end product itself,” she elaborates.
Influence is No Longer a Single Metric
If power once meant follower count, and later meant reach, today it is far more layered. According to industry experts, influence now sits at the intersection of IP ownership, cultural relevance, engagement depth, community loyalty, brand affinity, and long-term retention.
Karan Pherwani, VP, Chtrbox cautions against framing this moment as a battle for domination. In his view, the Internet isn’t consolidating—it’s diversifying. “For brands, this means moving from transactional campaign partnerships to strategic IP integrations. Instead of a one-off sponsored post, brands can now integrate into a creator’s podcast series, co-develop product lines, or become part of a larger content universe. What’s exciting is that micro-influencers now have even more room to experiment and create. They have the freedom to try formats, go viral with authentic content, and potentially build their own IPs without the pressure of maintaining massive scale,” he explains.
This shift is also shaping how creators think about products and problem-solving. Malhar Kaalambe, an environmentalist and content creator, who initiated the project of recycling POP Ganesh idols into study tables and school benches, and later, donated them to children from economically weaker sections, emphasised, “The difference between us and many legacy brands is intent. A lot of sustainability initiatives today are driven by mandates like CSR or EPR, and often become marketing exercises. For us, it’s about solving a real problem.”
“There needs to be a clear distinction between purpose-driven work and PR-driven campaigns. The approach should always be solution-first, not marketing-first,” he adds.
Will Brands Still Work with Influencers Who Become Founders?
As more creators step into entrepreneurship, launching everything from beauty and fashion labels to wellness-led platforms, the industry is being forced to reassess an important question: does building their own brand weaken their value as collaborators, or does it enhance it? For a growing number of marketers, the answer leans decisively towards the latter, with creator-founders increasingly seen as more credible, informed, and impactful partners.
Deeksha Rajani, Founder and CEO, Be, a wellness brand, believes that creator-entrepreneurs carry a deeper understanding of business fundamentals that goes far beyond content creation. Having built trust-led communities, they are acutely aware of what drives consumer confidence, repeat purchase, and long-term brand equity. Given that their audiences know they are personally invested in product outcomes and accountability, these creators are often trusted in a more meaningful way. As Rajani puts it, creator-founders are among ‘the best partners today.’
Echoing this sentiment, Petal Gangurde, Chief Brand and Culture Officer, XYXX points out that creators who become founders often gain, rather than lose, credibility. Their recommendations are grounded in lived experience—of building, testing, failing, and refining which makes their voice feel more authentic and earned. According to Gangurde, “Their credibility doesn’t diminish; in fact, it often increases because they speak from their experiences.”
That credibility is deeply tied to audience connection. As content creator Deesha Katkar puts it, “What makes influencers powerful is their personal connect. People see us in their everyday lives; they can comment, interact, and feel heard. That access creates an instant bond.”
“You can’t easily reach out to Shah Rukh Khan, but with creators, the connection is direct. That trust makes people more inclined to support what we create.”
Sonal from Shorts Break reflects: it’s the same intimacy that creator-entrepreneurs are using to translate into products and brands. She explains, “As creators, we understand our audiences well. We know their needs, their gaps, and what kind of stories resonate with them. That makes it easier for us to eventually build something for them. We already know what works, what kind of ROI brands expect, and how to align content with the right audience.”
She elaborates that their journey as creators has taught them to balance storytelling with brand expectations. “When it comes to building our own brand, we would be just as thoughtful. We’re selective about what we promote, and that same mindset reflects in what we create.”
That said, this evolving dynamic comes with its own set of boundaries. Gangurde also stresses the importance of clearly defined guardrails and category clarity to prevent overlaps or perceived conflicts of interest. Reinforcing this view, Vatsal Koolwal, CMO, Go Colors notes that strategic alignment is non-negotiable when working with creator-entrepreneurs. The creator’s values, audience base, and long-term vision must naturally complement the brand’s identity. As Koolwal explains: “For us, the key is choosing a creator-entrepreneur whose values and audience genuinely align with the brand’s vision.” Go Colors has therefore onboarded Youtuber and actor Prajakta Koli of the @mostlysane fame as their brand ambassador.
Not all brands, however, are comfortable navigating this complexity. Ajith Mohan Karimpana, Founder, Furlenco takes a more cautious stance, arguing that once creators launch their own ventures, continuing to collaborate with competing brands can create irreconcilable conflicts. In categories such as furniture or home décor, where purchase decisions are high-involvement and long-term, Karimpana believes such overlaps can dilute trust. His position is firm: “If they’ve started their own brand, then them still doing other brands just doesn’t make sense.”
Highly sensitive categories, however, operate by a different playbook. Sandra Daniels, CMO, Enamor offers a more layered perspective when it comes to lingerie—a space where trust, comfort, and emotional connection are central to the buying decision. Here, creators play a role that extends beyond promotion, helping normalise conversations, educating consumers, and bringing relatability to an otherwise intimate category. Daniels notes that “Lingerie is never just worn—it is felt,” underscoring why creators continue to be indispensable in shaping authentic, emotionally resonant narratives. In such categories, even creator-founders remain powerful voices because they deliver something no manufacturing process or media spend can replicate: genuine emotional connection.
K Ganapathy Subramaniam, CMO, LT Foods, an FMCG firm, believes influencer-founders should be treated not as media channels, but as brand collaborators. Once creators reach a certain scale, they are brands in their own right, with values, identities, and ecosystems that need alignment.
From his perspective, collaborations must be rooted in synergy, shared values, complementary strengths, and mutual credibility. The framework isn’t radically new; it mirrors how traditional brand partnerships have always worked. The difference now is that creators bring an added layer of transparency. Their products, communities, and personal journeys offer brands more data points to assess authenticity.
This is also where niche-driven, problem-solving brands stand out. Professional styling business coach and creator Kinnari Jain aims to build a body-positive brand designed specifically for the Indian body type. “Most brands like Zara and H&M cater to Western fits, and Indian women are often left adjusting. There’s a clear gap there. My focus would be on versatile staples that can be restyled in multiple ways”
“Through my academy, I aim to make styling accessible and help women build confidence. There’s a lack of stylists in India, so my goal is to train more people, help them build careers, and make styling more affordable.”
And for many emerging entrepreneurs, the differentiation lies in storytelling and community. As Shreemayi Reddy, creator and Co-founder of Glamp Inn Valley puts it, “What sets us apart from legacy players is the personal connection. Big brands may be more transactional, but what we’re building is rooted in community and storytelling.”
“Our audience connects with our journey. That emotional bond creates loyalty, and we make sure that anyone who comes to us leaves feeling it was worth it.”
She adds, “Running a business is a continuous learning process. From dealing with people to marketing and operations, every day brings new challenges. It’s not a smooth ride, but it’s rewarding and constantly evolving.”
So, Who Really Wins?
The answer isn’t a single creator, platform, or billionaire.
The Internet today rewards those who own their narratives, respect their communities, and adapt faster than changing algorithms. Influence is no longer performed; it’s produced. And increasingly, it’s protected.
In this new world, the most powerful creators aren’t chasing virality; they’re building libraries. They’re not gaming algorithms; they’re shaping habits. And they’re not just creating content for the feed; they’re creating reasons for people to return.
Or, to put it simply, the future won’t belong to those who trend the hardest. It will belong to those who leave something behind when the trend scrolls away.
