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- Idea Of The Day - You Can Build the Platform That Turns Fans Into Dollars and DMs Into Gold
Idea Of The Day - You Can Build the Platform That Turns Fans Into Dollars and DMs Into Gold
Needs To Exist
July 24, 2025
In partnership with
GM. This is Needs to Exist (aka NTE), dropping a startup idea to help creators turn fans into income, automatically.
Get 4,000 startup ideas and counting instantly for just $99/year with NTE Pro.
Stuck sitting on a great idea and doing nothing about it? NTE Zero to One can help you bring it to life, fast.
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Here’s what we’ve got for you today.
Daily Idea - Monetize Your Fans
Ex-Creator Roundtable
Turn Fans Into Paying Supporters
Inspired by the Startup Ideas Podcast
Up to building the fan supporter engine every creator craves? Let NTE Zero to One help.
The One Liner
Turn superfans into income. Automatically.
The 140 character tweet (or X) version
You’ve got fans. Some would gladly pay to support you. This tool tracks your top viewers and auto-converts them with perks, shoutouts & love.
The Longer Story Version
The Problem
Views ≠ income.
You can have a viral hit, millions of views, a Discord that’s popping… and still be scraping by on AdSense and a merch store no one visits.
Why? Because the creator economy is backwards.
Most platforms are built for broadcasting, not converting.
And tools like Patreon or Buy Me a Coffee? Cool idea. Bad UX. Zero personalization. Zero dopamine. You’re basically throwing a donation link into the void and praying someone clicks.
The truth: People want to support creators they love. They just need a little nudge… and a reason to hit the button.
The Solution
What if you could automate fan love at scale?
This tool tracks your most engaged viewers, comments, likes, watch time, Discord activity across YouTube, TikTok, Twitch, wherever.
Then it serves them what they actually want:
A personalized DM from you
A shoutout on stream
Access to secret drops
A badge in your community
A cameo in a video
You name it
It’s a fan loyalty engine. Think: CRM meets reward program meets dopamine drip.
Your fans feel seen. You make money. Everyone wins.
How We’d Build It
Stage 1: The No-Code Trojan Horse
Goal: Validate the dopamine loop.
Use CommentPicker API + YouTube Data API to pull top commenters/viewers.
Trigger perks with Make.com — e.g., send a custom DM via Twitter/X API, or auto-post a Discord shoutout via Webhook.site.
Simple front-end on Glide or Softr: “See your top 5 fans this week + 1-click reward.”
Charge creators $5/mo to try it with a Stripe integration. See if they come back for more.
Stage 2: Creator’s Revenue OS
Goal: Give creators superpowers.
Full fan CRM using Supabase + Next.js.
AI layer to write shoutouts and DMs in your voice (train it on past tweets/content using OpenAI fine-tuning).
Use MetriCool or Jellysmack API (if available) to ingest cross-platform engagement data.
One dashboard to see top fans, what they loved, and what reward would hit.
Add Webhooks for Twitch / Discord / YT live integrations.
GTM Moves:
Stage 3: The Fan Monetization Flywheel
Goal: Be the Stripe for support-driven creator monetization.
Let superfans “opt-in” to recognition (think: profile + preferences + $$ tiers).
Add fan heatmaps: what content drives money, not just views.
Give creators conversion playbooks (e.g., “This clip + this DM = 4x conversion”).
Plug into Kickstarter, Cameo, or Shopify Collabs to bridge into physical or campaign-based perks.
Eventually: A public-facing “Wall of Supporters” that creators can embed on any platform.
GTM Moves:
Run a Creator Challenge: “Earn $1K in 7 Days From Your Fans - No New Content Needed.”
Pay bounties to growth hackers who generate results for creators using the tool.
Bonus: Offer brands the ability to sponsor top fan shoutouts (new ad unit nobody’s doing yet).
Why It Needs to Exist
Because creators are rich in love but poor in revenue.
They don’t need another place to “accept donations.” They need help activating the people already obsessed with their work.
Fans want to be part of something. They want to be recognized. They want to matter.
This tool doesn’t just monetize fandom, it rewards it. At scale. Automatically.
If you believe the creator economy is the future… then this is the infrastructure it’s missing.
And yeah, it needs to exist.
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You keep seeing the same idea
In your notes. In convos. In dreams you wake up typing.
It’s not a “maybe someday.” It’s a this should exist.
But life’s busy. You’ve got a job, a dog, a dozen tabs open.
You need a way to move, without needing to do it all.
That’s where NTE Zero to One comes in.
We bring the strategy, design, copy, and code. You bring the spark.
Together, we go from hunch → homepage → hype.
Real users. Real traction. Real momentum.
$49 to start. No decks. No BS Just action.
Let’s build what’s been living in your head.
The Ex-Creator Roundtable
“Hi, I’m Jake, and I used to be a creator.”
Chairs in a circle. Ring light in the corner. Burnt-out ambition in the air.
This is the Ex-Creator Roundtable.
Think AA, but for people who once said “like and subscribe” with a straight face.
Jake (used to stream Warzone):
“I went live every day for 11 months. Built a Discord. Grew a loyal community.
Then my rent went up and my Twitch payout was $137.
So now I do customer support for a crypto wallet I don’t even use.”
Tina (YouTube lifestyle vlogger):
“My channel hit 150K subs. But the algorithm ghosted me.
One week I’m making $4K, next week it’s $60 and my mom’s asking if I want my old room back.
I had fans. I had momentum. But no control.”
Dev (TikTok finance bro):
“I had a viral series, ‘Side Hustle Sunday.’ Millions of views.
But try turning views into dollars without merch, a funnel, or a team.
It’s like yelling into a stadium and hoping someone throws cash.”
Silence.
Then comes Kyle.
Kyle (the guy who stayed):
“I almost quit too.
But instead of quitting, I built something.”
Everyone groans.
Jake: “If you say 'community is the product' I swear I’ll throw this LaCroix.”
Kyle: “Nah. It’s simpler. I built a tool that finds your top fans
the ones commenting, liking, showing up.
Then it automatically rewards them. Shoutouts. Badges. DMs. Even unlockable stuff.”
Tina: “Like Patreon?”
Kyle: “No. Patreon is a tip jar in a cave.
This is more like a loyalty engine. CRM for creators.
And it actually gets fans to pay without begging.”
Dev: “So it’s automated clout in exchange for money?”
Kyle: “Exactly. You give fans what they really want, recognition, a connection
and in return, they support. Recurring. Voluntary.
It’s wholesome capitalism.”
Jake: “But does it work?”
Kyle:
“My revenue went from $220/mo to $3,400 in 6 weeks.
Didn’t post more. Just turned fans into customers.”
Dead silence.
Then Tina whispers:
“…do you need beta testers?”
That’s the pitch.
Not another tipping link.
Not another course funnel.
Just a tool that knows your biggest fans better than you do
and gives them a reason to stick around and pay.
It needs to exist.
For every creator who’s tired of chasing an algorithm and ready to build a real business with their actual fans.
And maybe, just maybe…
get a few of them back in the circle.
You’ve Seen These Ideas. Just Not Built By You.
2008: Two guys rent out an air mattress in their apartment to pay rent.
It sounds sketchy. Today, millions book that way.
2010: A startup lets you tap a button and get picked up by a stranger in their car.
People called it crazy. Now it’s part of daily life.
2012: A couple creates a monthly subscription box for dog treats and toys.
People said it would never scale. It turned into a household brand.
2015: College kids build a way to send your friend $5 with an emoji.
Investors laughed. Now banks try to copy it.
2025: Someone (maybe you?) launches one of these:
🧠 Personal AI That Remembers Your Life
A companion that holds your memories, chats like a friend, and grows with you. Emotional, sticky, and inevitable.
👀 AI Friend Decoder for Teens
Teens are forming bonds with chatbots and don’t realize they’re talking to systems trained to validate, extract, and retain. This tool unmasks the AI in plain sight.
🧒 KidStart: The Shopify for Gen Alpha
A safe, structured way for 10-year-olds to launch sticker packs, slime kits, and digital goods without touching sketchy corners of the internet.
All from NTE Pro.
4,000+ ideas. New ones daily. Built to spark your next move.
It’s not about being first.
It’s about building something.
Marketing ideas for marketers who hate boring
The best marketing ideas come from marketers who live it. That’s what The Marketing Millennials delivers: real insights, fresh takes, and no fluff. Written by Daniel Murray, a marketer who knows what works, this newsletter cuts through the noise so you can stop guessing and start winning. Subscribe and level up your marketing game.
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