Creators are becoming the new brands.

Steven Bartlett is one of the most successful creator-founders in the digital landscape.

His podcast, Diary of a CEO, has gained nearly 20 million YouTube subscribers and over 1.5 billion views since its launch, hosting some of the world’s biggest names.

Steven has perfected the model of turning social media engagement into durable equity, and now he’s putting $400 million on the table to help other creators do the same.

OBSN, Steven’s $400 million joint venture with Jamie Salter’s Authentic Brands Group, is built on a single premise: “creators can become legacy brands.”

In his words, "a global audience of millions is not yet a company, and it certainly should not be the ceiling of a creator’s potential."

Take it from him. His own company, Steven.com, recently raised an 8-figure round at a $425 million valuation, and it all started with a creator not settling for one viral video.

OBSN’s entire premise is that building a strong audience has always been mistaken for the creator’s end goal. Instead, Bartlett argues audiences are doors to the infinite business opportunities behind them.

All creators need is infrastructure that can help them maximize those opportunities, and that’s exactly what OBSN is providing.

You might be able to consistently go viral, but in Steven Bartlett’s eyes, that’s just the entry point to a potential enterprise.

Gaining a following and building an empire are two different skills altogether, and OBSN exists to help creators seamlessly make that leap.

Whether you’d be willing to take part or not, a $400 million deployment signifies that creators must be taken seriously in the business landscape.

And sooner than you know, the next billion-dollar company might have started on Instagram.