Ami Gan, Chief Executive Officer, OnlyFans
Interviewer: Polina Pompliano, FORTUNE 

MPW Next Gen 2023 - Calling All Creators 

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Ami Gan, Chief Executive Officer, OnlyFans
Interviewer: Polina Pompliano, FORTUNE 


After discussing the evolving creator ecosystem. Throughout the last two days, we would be remiss to not mention the subscription based platform, only fans. In just seven years, only fans have amassed more than 220 million users sentencing. And in 2021 it made nearly $1 billion in annual revenue. Amra Polian took the CEO position in late 2021. After being the organization's chief marketing and operations officer, she spent the last 18 months reverting from a short lived plan to ban adult content creators to focusing on broadening the public's perception of the platform here to discuss what's next for only fans. Please welcome only fan Coo Amra Polygon. So a quick show of hands. How many of you are users or creators on only fans? Oh, wow. OK. So not a single hand. I don't, I am. There we go. Um So I would love to this. This is perfect because uh we've talked a little bit about um in private about the delta between the current user that you have and the user that you want to attract. Can you discuss and the creator, can you discuss that? Absolutely. So to take a step back first, you have to understand what only fans is. It's a social media platform meant for creators 18 and over to monetize content that they normally would be sharing for free elsewhere, the platform launched in 2016. Um and it kind of came to fame in the cultural zeitgeist during 2020 and the pandemic. Um And that's when everyone started to associate what's going on there. They're seeing uh a lot of women sharing like, oh I'm, I'm on only fan, subscribe. My only fans link in bio and the platform became known um even before 2020 for having adult content creators, we do have a very inclusive content policy. And in all honesty, that segment of creator was the savviest when it came to understanding how to monetize their content before you know, the rest of the creator economy and influencers came on. So looking at our platform, yes, we are, you know, there's lots of spicy content, spicy creators, but we also have comedians, chefs, race car drivers. Um The types of creators you're seeing on only fans now is truly across the board. And that's continuing as the creator economy has been shifting and what's something practical you're doing to attract a different type of creator? Like should I be on only fans? I, I like as a writer, as a writer, there's an opportunity really, it's anyone who has a community or wants to create a community and also be able to engage with them without the distractions that you will find elsewhere. Um On only fans, there's no ads, algorithms, um things like that. It's truly about the creator and fan connections. Got it. So you said that 2020 is the year that the influencer became the creator. Can you explain the slight difference and nuance between what you consider an influencer and what you consider a creator? Absolutely. And you did your homework. So thinking about that in 2020 everyone was kind of at home, everyone had access to a cell phone and different apps to edit content. And then that's when the people's kind of passions or hobbies could transition to become a way for them to make money and thinking at it, looking at it, you know, you have the word influencer, you have the word creator when you break them down, an influencer is someone who has, you know, a large amount of followers um across different social media platforms. Um You know, they probably are doing brand deals, things like that, a creator, a creator is someone who, you know, may not be looking to have a big following. They could be in more of a niche category. Um You know, we have a range of creators and influencers on the platform and it's really up to anyone how they want to leverage social media and what their goals are with it. But there is a lot of overlap between influencer and creator and looking at our platform, we have over three million content creators. We're in over 100 countries. Um We've paid out over $10 billion in creator earnings. Since being founded in 2016. Our business model is very similar. Um It's an 80 20 split, meaning uh it's all in favor of the creator that 80%. And for every dollar we earn as a company creators earn four. So that's really where we are a true creator, first platform. Yeah. And you mentioned that you want to make only fans a place that's more inclusive of all sorts of um creators. And I think many of us here, maybe we have our own companies and there's a certain stigma or reputation that the company may have. Can you share the rep practical things that you, you and your team did to reframe the only fans brand? Absolutely. So thinking about the business, really something to always keep in mind is to just own what your business is like. You know, we are a platform for all kinds of content creators, which includes adult content creators. That's something I've been very firm to never shy away from. I'm very proud to be a content inclusive platform. And the reason to not shy away from it is because it's you want to embrace everyone that is using your site and thinking about um all the women here and businesses. There's probably a lot of people who come in and like, oh, have you thought about this? Are you doing this? It's like this is who you are and that kind of goes to the kind of second key learning of really just control your narrative and that's, you know, important for you to always own, you know, what you're about, what your company is about and being very clear and true to that, despite we live in a world where people like to mansplain things and share their own opinions, but you know, your business best and no one else can take that from you. Um And also really getting in touch with your kind of end user for myself, that's getting to know a lot of our creators having my finger on the pulse of the community. That's also why I have an only fans profile because that's where I'm sharing content. None of it's spicy, but I'm also messaging with our creators and a lot of times they send me really nice things, they send me things when they're like, oh, this isn't working or have you thought about this? And it's real feedback that I can then share immediately with the team. So I think that's something to keep in mind for everyone here in your, your company is like, OK, who is the end user? And how are we engaging with them to get feedback? There's, there's many times I've been approached by people at other companies, other executives, they're like, oh what do you think of this or this for my business? And I'm like, I don't know what you do and I don't, have you talked to the people that actually use your, your product or service? But that's really great advice. Basically as a CEO you're using the product and soliciting feedback from your users directly. Um We're gonna open it up for questions. I, I'm sure you have many. So please just raise your hand. We'll get the mic to you and I'll be back to you in a minute. So author Chris Brogan once said this quote and I love it. He said the difference between an audience and a community is which way the chairs are facing otherwise? Is it like, you know, direct audience, you know, interaction or is it more of a circle? How have you because only fans is very much known for its community, how have you helped creators build a community? And also is there an example you have of a really great creator who has cultivated that? So only fans is a community that's where we have those over three million creators who have all built their own communities on the platform. And it's really an opportunity for creators to continue to engage with their fans in a unique way. And you know, we're very proud that we've had over 1500 content creators have made over a million dollars through, through the platform thinking about community. And what that means it's really about connection and engagement and that's what's happening on the platform. Any questions? Yep. Hi, I'm Courtney Robinson. So you're talking about the expansion of the brand and how it's much more than just the spicy content, as you said. Um And the other things that you produced, I know my first awareness of only fans came up during the pandemic when Beyonce said hips tiktok fans on demon time, I might start my only fans. So uh with that being said, did that moment sort of resonate or create any sort of measurable that you could see brand recognition or acknowledgement of the fact that only fans is for creators and not just creators in a certain industry. Absolutely. Um I remember uh that song is still one of my favorites and it worked that that was a moment for the business when no one knew that there was gonna be a, a reference to the brand. It kind of just became this viral moment where it's like, oh people are talking about only fans, it's really the first time um in a major way, only fans was put in the cultural zeitgeist and you fast forward from that and we've continued to be referenced in Saturday Night Live and TV shows uh in different tongue in cheek ways. But in a way that there's been the real impact of people having this brand recognition of only fans and that's where I've come in. And uh really made an effort to be like, yes, we do have spicy content. We have a range of creators to kind of control that narrative better. Um Also, I was fortunate enough to see Megan Stallion at Coachella and when she played that song, um I it was just very exciting moment. Yeah. Um So only fans is obviously a giant platform. I mean, almost a billion dollars in annual revenue is insane. Um But a lot of times like when you've kind of made it to the top and you're in this groove, a lot of companies and founders and ceos tend to become complacent. So how do you continue to make sure that you're taking risks and like experimenting while being CEO and like, what's an example of a recent risk you took that may or may not work out? First of all, I never want to be complacent. I always want to be looking at what else is out there, looking at the platform to connect with our community. I think being complacent is not uh necessarily a good thing. It's, you know, it's good when you, you know, you know, like, oh you might not be in a bumpy period, but you wanna always be looking for towards the future and looking at at how things are evolving for myself. I've been really aggressive on OTV, that's our free to view streaming platform and app. I've been kind of doubling down on investments into content supporting different creators, helping them bring their ideas to fruition through OTV. And for those who aren't familiar with, it's all free to view, it's all safe for work content. Um Apple Android, Os dot TV, shameless plugs. But that's where you're seeing content from. People like Whitney Cummings who also has an only fans profile. Not a comedian. Yeah, she's a very popular US comedian. Um Nothing spicy on her page but she was having issues on other platforms or her content was getting kind of taken down or flagged and where his only fan, she's able to have real freedom of expression. And we've also given her um kind of the full rains over creating her own show for O F TV. So that's a really exciting synergy. Um and just one of the ways we're working with creators. Very cool. Well, thank you so much and we probably thank you.