In April 2025, Lucy Guo turned the youngest feminine self-made billionaire after Meta paid $14.3 billion for a 49% stake in Scale AI, the corporate she cofounded with Alexandr Wang in 2016.
Although Guo had left the corporate—which builds infrastructure and software program to create AI functions—over disagreements with Wang in 2018, she retained her 5% stake within the enterprise, which skyrocketed in worth after Meta’s funding.
In 2022 she reemerged with Passes, a platform that helps creators monetize their social media followings by promoting entry to unique choices—from merchandise and merch to pay-by-the-minute personal cellphone calls. As of February, the corporate has raised a complete of $49 million.
Guo tells me that Passes is rising—its funds to creators have totaled 9 figures up to now—and worthwhile. However its growth has include some controversy. In 2024, Passes was sued by rival platform Fanfix over alleged anti-competitive practices, and since February it has been dealing with a class-action lawsuit accusing it of distributing youngster pornography.
We talked in regards to the lawsuits, in addition to what her platform affords creators that they’ll’t get on Patreon and even OnlyFans. She says the platform’s predominant differentiator is that her long-term imaginative and prescient for Passes isn’t simply engagement, it’s . . .
. . . utilizing AI to develop creators’ incomes potential after which managing their wealth.
Why did you discovered Passes?
I wished to create a platform the place creators might monetize their model. Creators have such tremendous followers that there’s no buyer acquisition value relating to marketing a product, which is exclusive. The very best instance was when Kylie [Jenner] made some huge cash by her lipstick model, and her advertising and marketing plan was actually “I’m simply going to drop it and individuals are going to purchase it.”
Then we noticed these different manufacturers pop up like Logan Paul’s Prime, and even Mr. Beast’s with Feastables, that makes up most of his web value. I used to be truly debating whether or not to start out off with a platform like Passes or construct one thing like a YC Secure( a Easy Settlement for Future Fairness doc developed by Y Combinator to assist early-stage startups increase capital from buyers), the place creators would be capable to get fairness into model offers that they work with.
Why did you take into account that possibility?
It’s the option to long-term generational wealth. Fairness is extra necessary than upfront money, and I don’t suppose Hollywood and managers essentially perceive fairness but. No creators would take heed to us if we pushed on fairness except we began making them cash. The rationale creators take heed to their managers is that the supervisor is their predominant supply of earnings—so we wanted to change into their predominant supply of earnings.
Over COVID, I observed loads of pals have been making a living from Patreon or Purchase Me a Espresso. I believed it was the right time for creators to attach with their followers and provide an unique, genuine expertise, and I wished create the infrastructure for that.
What differentiates passes from say, a Patreon or an OnlyFans?
Quite a bit. We have now paid livestreams, paid one-on-one calls the place followers pay per minute. You’ll be able to promote your personal merchandise or you may create merchandise on our web site and promote it with out having to personal stock. We’re constructing out new options within the fintech area. We provide medical insurance. We wish to create these unicorn creators and get into wealth administration.
Say a creator is on OnlyFans or Patreon, how do you persuade them to change over to Passes?
We don’t compete with OnlyFans—they’re a very totally different platform. We don’t enable nudity, so when somebody’s on OnlyFans, we inform them that in the event that they swap over to Passes, they’re in all probability not going to make any cash.
There are many non-pornographic content material creators on OnlyFans.
Yeah, for certain. However even when they’re doing different stuff, I believe their fan base has the hope of getting one thing else. Due to that, individuals are prepared to spend extra on OnlyFans as a result of they simply know they’re not going to get something on Passes. As for Patreon, the pitch is fairly straightforward. We take much less of a share from creators’ earnings, now we have extra options, so there’s extra methods to monetize. We’ve seen creators swap over from Patreon and make 30 occasions extra.
You’ve mentioned elsewhere that creators who make some huge cash on Passes typically have one thing like 100,000 followers on social media. Essentially the most-followed individuals on this planet don’t essentially have the closest relationships with their followers. Why is that?
Creators which have thousands and thousands of followers are very busy. They’re centered on taking pictures motion pictures or flying out for model offers. Creators which have between 100,000 and one million followers aren’t getting as many alternatives. They’re determined for a option to monetize their fan base, they usually occur to have extra superfans as a result of they’re creating extra content material to realize traction and develop their follower numbers. They’re creating extra content material, and extra content material equals extra money.
There was a 2024 lawsuit brought on by another creator platform, Fanfix, which alleged that Passes used confidential info to publish purchasers and made deceptive claims about creators’ earnings on the platform. That clearly doesn’t match up with what you simply mentioned.
I’m used to San Francisco and the tech business, the place you’re competing off of advantage and everybody’s simply attempting to create the most effective product potential. Hollywood could be very litigious and within the Hollywood scene, individuals are prepared to make up lies as a way to compete.
You’re additionally at present being sued in a class action suit over claims that Passes knowingly distributed youngster sexual supplies. How are you responding to that case?
We did our personal inside investigation and located that the claims and the case don’t match up with proof that now we have discovered up to now. I believe that is simply one other a kind of eventualities the place individuals are attempting to shake us down and try and get cash. That case was dismissed in Florida. [Editor’s Note: The lawsuit was dismissed in Florida, but transferred to California, where it remains active.]
You probably did make adjustments to the platform because of this, although. Now individuals below 18 can’t be part of.
We had the concept that everybody ought to be capable to monetize. Once you have a look at YouTube, loads of households are monetizing their content material. However on the finish of the day, it was a handful of creators that generated close to 0% of income on Passes. So we determined it was very dangerous and simply not value it.
You’re a high-profile founder. What’s it like for you personally when authorized challenges come up?
Now I’m resistant to it. I used to be very shocked at first. What I’ve realized in lawsuits—and this blew my thoughts—is that you need to assume the whole lot within the declare is true and attempt to poke authorized holes in that. You’ll be able to’t simply hand over proof that the allegations are improper and transfer on. That simply makes it really easy for individuals to sue off others of full lies. I believe the hope when individuals do that’s that the price of one other social gathering defending the lawsuit is bigger than simply settling. I refuse to settle as a result of I might reasonably spend extra and show issues will not be true.
What are you able to say about the way forward for Passes?
Wealth administration. Creators at all times ask us, how do I flip passive earnings into passive fairness? Who’re the most effective wealth managers to work with? How do I set myself up for all times? That is all stuff we should always simply be capable to do.
We’ve already paid out creators 9 figures. Each time we ship a payout to their checking account, now we have to pay a payment. It simply is sensible for us to be a financial institution as a result of then we may give them high-yield financial savings accounts.
Do you’ve gotten any predictions in regards to the creator financial system?
The creator financial system is rising, and we’re going to see extra creators sooner or later simply because developments observe youngsters. Once you discuss to youngsters these days, all of them wish to be creators. We’re going to be seeing much more creators, particularly in a spread the place we monetize nicely, which is the 100,000-follower vary.
What do you consider this emergent class of AI-generated “expertise”—I’m considering of figures just like the AI actor Tilly Norwood—within the context of Passes and the creator financial system?
I’m not that bullish on AI creators. There have already been a number of and everybody thought it was going to be the following huge factor, however actually we obtained Lil Miquela and a few others. What’s more likely to occur is that individuals are going to be licensing their likeness out to allow them to spend extra time creating content material and interacting with their followers. For instance, if a model wished to fly me out, I might simply license my likeness out as a substitute of that. I might scale myself higher so I’ve extra time to do issues that I like. We’re not going to see AI creators substitute precise creators as a result of it’s onerous to have a human reference to somebody that you already know is pretend.
Do you suppose you may have a human reference to a licensed picture of a creator?
I believe so. However you may’t dilute your model an excessive amount of. On the finish of the day, it’s nonetheless that creator you’ve gotten a reference to. You’re following them on Instagram and you’re keen on them.
How are you utilizing AI to attach creators with the appropriate model offers?
We have now a function known as sensible pricing that principally routinely costs items of content material creators make based mostly off components like fan historical past and the kind of content material it’s, to assist optimize their earnings. When creators use this, their earnings go up by 3x normally. Hopefully this quarter, we’re rolling out AI brokers for creators. We would like creators to have the ability to deal with creating content material. These brokers do the whole lot from AB check captions to scheduling mass messages and working technique below pages.
Do you suppose we’re in an AI bubble?
I don’t suppose we’re in an AI bubble. Valuations are larger now as a result of you may construct firms at a decrease value. I used to be in San Francisco different week, and there was this firm that scaled from zero to $90 million in income in 4 months. They’ve Cursor AI doing 99% of their code. Due to all these AI instruments you now want much less cash to get to scale. Valuations are predictive. It’s like, okay, we’re going to offer you 10x what income is as a result of we imagine you’re going to be a 100x income. And I believe loads of buyers are considering this manner. You don’t must burn as a lot capital to get there.
