# Creator commissions may shift to whoever brings the deal

Markdown copy of https://realalpha.app/s/creator-commissions-may-shift-to-whoever-brings-the-deal/ on Real Alpha, the best minutes from long interviews with the people building AI. Cite and link the page, not this copy.

- Speaker: [Lucy Guo](https://realalpha.app/people/lucy-guo/) · Lucy Guo is founder of Passes. · Founded Passes, a creator monetization platform, and co-founded Scale AI, the data-labeling company.
- Host: [Molly O'Shea](https://realalpha.app/people/molly-oshea/) · Founder, Sourcery · Ex-Upfront Ventures investor; has interviewed Alex Karp and Palmer Luckey.
- Show: Sourcery
- Episode: [How Lucy Guo Is Building A Creator Empire with Shaq, Kygo & Olivia Dunne | Passes](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/), Dec 13, 2024
- Moment: 9:31 to 11:57 of the episode (2 min), playing on https://realalpha.app/s/creator-commissions-may-shift-to-whoever-brings-the-deal/; the episode from there: https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/?t=571

## Quote

> “even if the creator found a brand deal on their own um they would still **owe a percentage** to the agency or to the manager”
> — [Lucy Guo](https://realalpha.app/people/lucy-guo/) at [10:21](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/?t=621) · Sourcery

## Takeaways

1. Some contracts charged a cut on deals agents didn't source.
2. Some creators hid Passes income to avoid paying agents.
3. Guo expects the deal source to determine who gets a cut.

## About this segment

Lucy Guo says traditional contracts could take 20% even on deals creators found themselves. Some creators hid Passes earnings to avoid paying agents who had no role in those deals.

From “How Lucy Guo Is Building A Creator Empire with Shaq, Kygo & Olivia Dunne | Passes”, Dec 13, 2024. [Watch the full episode](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/)

## Transcript

Transcribed by machine (Whisper) from the episode’s audio, so a word may be off here and there.

[9:40](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/?t=580) know that you have also received investment from Michael Ovis's Crossbeam Ventures. He's founder of cia um so maybe you've seen more closely the differentiation between traditional talent agencies like we have in la we're just surrounded by it um versus something next gen which you're building it's much more close to like the tick tock scene the youtubers and more uh early talent so what is the difference between the two and can they mutually exist i do think they can mutually exists um i think that um the more deals creators get the better it is for the entire economy um i think a difference that has been in the past is that oftentimes talent agencies or talent managers would ask creators to sign exclusivity deals where um they could really only work with them which isn't great or they would sign deals where um even if the creator found a brand deal

[10:32](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/?t=632) on their own um they would still owe a percentage to the agency or to the manager um i do think that this is disappearing now that there's so many avenues for creators to make um money and like fine brand deals um we definitely have had an issue where creators didn't want to tell their managers or their agents how much they're earning on passes because they would have to pay 20 to them even though they weren't even involved in passes wow um yeah like we have had creators that have told us they were photoshopping their earnings essentially or you know going into like inspect browser and like changing the numbers um because they didn't want to they didn't feel like they're like managers or agents deserve that 20 which they don't like i think that like in the future um it's gonna be like whoever brings the deal might get a percentage um in terms of like

[11:13](https://realalpha.app/v/F54fcJFz_7M/?t=673) how we're different uh i think that like we are so pro creator uh like we care about like the long term of them and um building like passes as a business right and like helping these creators build generational wealth um and i've seen like good managers that like really think this way about their creators too where they're like hey you should take an equity deal for example um because even though it's less cash up front this is good for you even though the like manager agent isn't getting equity themselves versus we've seen like very cash hungry agents and managers because usually in contract traditionally they get like 20% let's say of what the creator slash is being