Early Morning Crew came through with a spicy, honest convo about what it actually means to be a creator in Web3. Diana (treegirl), Humpty, Kris, and Gramajo got deep on the state of creator monetization, marketing myths, and why Web3 still hasn't cracked the code for sustainable creator-brand relationships.
Here’s what stood out:

Remember the hype? The 100 true fans, the no more relying on YouTube ads, the onchain monetization dream.
Well... it’s 2025, and creators are still giving away their content for free.

Diana hit the nail on the head: creators were sold on the idea that small, loyal audiences could sustain them. But the tools haven’t evolved fast enough. Consumers still expect content to be free, and even when they want to support creators, the friction is real—wallet connections, gas fees, platform UX that feels like a puzzle.

Meanwhile, brands? They’re still asking for podcast downloads and follower counts—metrics that don’t tell the full story.

“I can show you the wallet age of my listeners, what else they spend on, what communities they’re in. But brands still want the big numbers. It’s like they’re not even listening.” – Diana

Humpty laid it out: brands still optimize for distribution, not depth. You could have the most engaged, crypto-native audience out there, but unless you’ve got 10k+ subscribers, brands will scroll right past you.

And it’s not just about numbers — it’s about who those numbers represent. Web3 creators have deep onchain insight into their audiences: wallet behavior, spending patterns, DAO membership, token holdings. But there’s a gap: brands don’t know how to use that segmentation, and creators aren’t always equipped to package it in ways that feel familiar to CMOs.

Meanwhile, the user experience sucks. Clicks don’t track. Onboarding breaks. Affiliate flows are clunky. As Kris put it: crypto funnels are broken, and we’re pretending like they’re not.

“Crypto has a conversion problem. The tools are cool, but the experience isn’t smooth. It’s not even about paying — people don’t know where to click.” – Kris

What’s really missing in Web3? It’s not better incentives. It’s collaboration.

Kris said: creators and builders operate in silos. Creators know what people want. Builders know how to ship. But they rarely co-design. The result? Useful tools like Bello quietly pivot or disappear because there isn’t a tight feedback loop or funding model to sustain them.

Humpty then pointed to Rehash as a counter-example: creators using products, community giving feedback, sponsors getting real ROI—not just impressions, but conversations. That’s how you build something sticky.

“Why didn’t Crypto the Game sponsor Rehash? Their community was already talking about it, already playing. That’s what real influence looks like.” – Humpty

Web3 promised a new creator economy, but we’re still tangled in old marketing logic and clunky tools. Until:

• Brands shift from chasing eyeballs to valuing onchain engagement

• Platforms fix onboarding and tracking

• Builders and creators collaborate from day one

...the dream remains just that—a dream.

The good news? Conversations like these are a step in the right direction.