CreatorDAO Litepaper
Funding and Growing Creators by Collective Decision-Making
Introduction
The creator economy is booming, yet countless talented individuals remain trapped in the early grind, unable to break through due to financial, time, and knowledge limitations.
CreatorDAO changes that by funding promising creators, allowing them to quit their jobs for a period of time and focus entirely on content creation, while also providing strategic and operational support to help them scale effectively.
Imagine a decentralized Shark Tank (the show) for funding creators, but instead of a handful of rich people picking winners, the entire community votes on which creators have potential and deserve funding.
This collective decision-making model taps into the wisdom of the crowd—the belief that large, diverse groups consistently make better predictions than small, centralized decision-makers. By leveraging thousands (or millions) of engaged fans, we ensure that investment decisions reflect real audience interest, leading to a more accurate and crowd-validated selection of creators with true breakout potential.
TLDR: Mark Cuban can't predict the next MrBeast, but a collective of thousands of people can.
Investments
Batches
Subject to quality of applicants, we aim start with 10-20 investments per batch, scaling as the treasury grows. This structured batch approach allows us to refine our selection process, optimize mentorship programs, and ensure we maximize creator success.
Investment Terms
Standard Deal: We offer $12,000 for 20% of revenue over 3 years.
Larger Deals: Established creators may qualify for larger investments based on historical earnings and growth trajectory.
Returns
All returns from creator revenue shares go back into the CreatorDAO treasury. This replenishes and grows the community's collective capital, ensuring long-term sustainability and compounding impact. The DAO's members vote on how to allocate these returns.
Who Can Apply
Eligibility Criteria
To be eligible for CreatorDAO funding, applicants must have uploaded at least 2 long-form YouTube videos per month for the past 12 months. Success as a creator is a war of attrition. This filter ensures we attract individuals who have demonstrated real commitment.
Platform Focus
Initially focusing on YouTube creators for scalable monetization. Future expansion to TikTok, X, Instagram, and Snapchat.
Batch Limitations
Batch 1: up to 10 winners.
Batches 2-3: up to 20 winners.
Batches 4 and beyond: tbd.
Creator Funding Voting
How Creator Voting Works
Each funding cycle opens with a one-month application window. After submissions close, the community has one week to vote.
Any wallet holding CreatorDAO tokens can participate. Voters must select ten different creators, with their voting power split equally across those choices.
Our voting mechanism will evolve toward a more quadratic-based model that better balances influence across the community.
Sybil Resistance
This system is extremely difficult to game because eligibility requires an active YouTube channel with consistent uploads for 12 months. We'll implement community veto mechanisms to eliminate clearly inauthentic channels.
Support After Funding
Structured Growth & Mentorship
- Weekly Check-Ins: Structured peer-review sessions and mentorship calls
- Expert Guidance: Direct access to industry experts for insights and strategy
- Tailored Content Strategy: Data analysis and optimization for scalable growth
- Business Support: Sponsorships, income diversification, and operational assistance
Built-in Growth & Risk Mitigation
- Strategic Collaborations: Network creators collaborate for visibility boosts
- Community Amplification: DAO members actively engage with creator content
- Owned Media Expansion: CreatorDAO channels provide ongoing promotion
Alumni Flywheel
As CreatorDAO funds and nurtures more successful creators (aka alumni), they can continue contributing to CreatorDAO:
Mentorship & Knowledge
Alumni mentor newer creators with guidance and strategy
High-Impact Collaborations
Large audiences become valuable collaboration partners
Attracting Top Talent
Success stories draw high-quality creators to apply
Governance
Governance Proposals
Governance proposals set the direction of the DAO and dictate treasury uses. For a proposal to pass, it must achieve a 25% quorum and secure a simple majority within a 14-day voting period.
Tokenomics
Overview
The CreatorDAO token is primarily a governance token used to vote on proposals to fund creators. The token will secondarily be used to compensate those helping build, contribute to, or invest in the DAO and its operations.
The CreatorDAO token will be launched with a set supply cap of 1 billion tokens with no further minting functionality.
All locked tokens will be locked for 1 year followed by a 2 year linear vesting period.
Token Allocation
Liquidity
Upon token launch, CreatorDAO will seed a liquidity pool split between ETH and CreatorDAO tokens. LP tokens will be sent to the DAO treasury.
Staking Incentives
Future staking mechanisms will incentivize holders to vote, utilizing the 4% Staking allocation.
CreatorDAO Litepaper v0.9
Last updated: July 18, 2025