As the newly appointed Triller CEO, Sean Kim draws from his experience as Head of Product at TikTok and Chief Product Officer at Kajabi to address content creators’ most pressing challenge: platform instability. Sean aims to transform Triller into what he describes as “the most creator-focused social platform in the world” by giving creators complete ownership of their digital presence and multiple sustainable revenue streams.

The Platform Problem

Sean identifies a core issue affecting today’s content creators: the absence of genuine ownership and control over their digital presence. “When you’re a creator, you want to build a brand and a presence online and ultimately monetize your brand, but it’s like building a business on quicksand,” Sean says. “So much is out of your control.”

He argues that this uncertainty manifests through sudden algorithm updates affecting content visibility, limited direct fan communication, and occasional account deletions without explanation. “There are also many situations where I’ve heard creators get their accounts shut down and have no reason. There needs to be more clarity there as to why. They have no understanding as to what happened,” Sean explains.

The situation has prompted creators to cobble together solutions across multiple platforms. “Because of these situations, many monetization companies have sprung up,” Sean notes. “Understanding the dynamics of the two, what they’re solving for, and what the big problems we can solve are, I want to build one platform that can do it all.”

Building Creator Success: A Three-Phase Implementation

To address these challenges mentioned above, Sean has developed a comprehensive three-phase plan for Triller’s transformation, with each phase strengthening the platform’s creator-focused foundation.

Phase 1: Platform Enhancement

The initial phase focuses on upgrading Triller’s core product experience. “We’re going to invest in improving the overall experience of the core product of our platform,” Sean details. “We’re going to revamp the UI UX, the discovery experience, and the content ecosystem, and we’re going to look to have exclusive content from creators.”

This foundational phase prioritizes content quality and creator control because, as Sean says, “content is king.”

Phase 2: Direct Creator Control

The second phase introduces significant changes to creator-platform relationships. “This is something no other platform is doing,” Sean points out.

The company plans to establish a creator council to guide development: “We’re going to work with creators and meet with them regularly to get feedback and to understand what’s working, what’s not working, and what others would love to see. Talk to the fans, the end users, and say, ‘How can we make this experience even better for you?'”

The direct creator-fan connection stands at the core of this phase. “We want to have creators be able to connect with fans across many different channels,” Sean explains. “Whether it’s via SMS or email or any other way to be connected, we’re going to start prioritizing those initiatives.”

Phase 3: Revenue Generation Innovation

The final phase focuses on ensuring creators receive appropriate compensation for their work. “Creators are the ones that create the value. They should get the rewards,” Sean states. “We’re exploring innovative ways to help creators monetize here. We’re going to offer creators a significant portion of ad revenue. We’ll also try to solve all the problems with social platforms.”

He adds that creators can decide what they want to provide on the platform, how to release the content, what they want to offer for their best fans versus everyone, and what should be free and paid.

Implementation will adapt based on creator input. “Plans will evolve as we start executing, talking to creators, and getting feedback on what’s working well and what isn’t,” Sean notes.

This approach reflects the seasoned exec’s development philosophy: “Every decision becomes very clear when you obsess over the customer,” he explains. “In this case, things become incredibly clear when you prioritize the creator first.”

Integrated Creator Tools

Triller leverages several subsidiary companies to provide a complete ecosystem for creators. Rather than requiring creators to combine multiple third-party solutions, Sean’s plan creates an integrated suite of tools addressing every aspect of a creator’s business.

Amplify AI: Strategic Fan Engagement

“It’s an amazing product that helps creators and brands identify and engage with the best fans across any social platform,” Sean explains. “Many brands, such as Walmart, Netflix, and Pepsi, typically use this platform.”

The tool serves a crucial marketing function. “I realized that creators need to have an excellent marketing funnel in place,” Sean notes. “They have to identify their best, most loyal fans. They have to be able to communicate with them at scale, and then they have to build meaningful relationships with them.”

Julius: Optimized Brand Collaborations

Julius is an influencer marketing platform that connects brands and agencies across all social platforms. “It offers really deep analytics and gives you a detailed profile of the creators and how engaged their fans are,” Sean explains. “It streamlines the entire brand sponsorship process from end to end.”

“We can make that connection very quickly and say, ‘Okay, here’s the brands you should likely work with.’ And then also make sure that the brands find the creators they should work with,” Sean explains.

Fangage: Direct Revenue Generation

Fangage is an all-in-one platform that helps creators sell digital content through subscriptions and one-time payments. “That’s another tool we can offer our creators going forward to help them monetize on our platform,” Sean notes.

These integrated tools create a comprehensive system for creators. “Every tool that identifies the best fans, engages with them at scale, and enables monetization will be available on our platform.”

Multiple Revenue Streams and Complete Solution

Sean lays out his experience-informed observation that creators need multiple ways to monetize. “If people aren’t comfortable with live streaming, you shouldn’t force them to do livestream to monetize. If people aren’t comfortable with digital content, you should offer something else. Having options is important.”

This flexibility includes various content and product types. “If you want to sell physical merchandise, we can work with existing brands and help creators build brands around merchandise and products,” Sean says. “Our platform will feature different ways for creators to monetize.”

The integration creates what Sean describes as a complete solution. “We provide them with the platform to sell the products but also do the marketing,” he explains.

Measuring Impact Through Creator Success

Sean prioritizes creator satisfaction as the primary metric for Triller’s transformation. “First and foremost, it’s going to be creator NPS,” he says. “Are they happy on our platform? Amazing. That means that we’re successful. I think all the other metrics will improve when we focus on the creator.”

Traditional metrics often miss crucial aspects of creator success, according to Sean. “Everything we do will ensure that creators are happy and successful on our platform, and then all the output metrics (DAU, DNU, retention, etc.) will be aligned towards that and monetization.”

This philosophy guides feature implementation. “We’re going to have a creator council to meet with them regularly to get feedback,” Sean details. “That feedback loop with our creators, brands, and fans is going to be critical for us to think through the next evolution of the platform.”

The focus on creator satisfaction influences community development, i.e., “helping creators build a meaningful connection between themselves, the fans, and brands.” Sean adds that this focus will help ensure “every decision becomes clear.”

Creating Meaningful Connections

Sean anticipates a shift in measuring creator impact. “I believe that having 10,000 meaningful connections and relationships with your fans is going to be way more important than having a million random followers,” he predicts. “That’s ultimately where we’re headed, and we’re going to make sure that we make that connection happen on our platform.”

Drawing from his experience at companies like Amazon, Sean highlights detailed leadership. “You can’t just be a manager, have ideas, and tell others to execute them,” he states. “You have to be involved in the details, make critical decisions quickly, and do whatever it takes to win. Even Jeff Bezos was very detail-oriented and scrutinized things like the email subject line.”

“I’m super excited to build a platform here to serve the creator and think about the success of their brand and business. We will do whatever we can here to help them succeed,” Sean concludes.