Building A Safe Space for Creators: An Interview with Canopy’s Ayomi Samaraweera
Canopy
With the explosion of the creator economy over the past few years, several new startups have emerged to assist creators with all aspects of their businesses. These include content creation, monetization, as well as managing their finances.
One company that wants to support creators through community is Canopy, by providing a safe space for creators to share their knowledge and insights, ask questions that everyone is thinking about, and advance their careers.
Led by CEO and solo founder Ayomi Samaraweera — a former TikTok employee turned TikTok creator — Canopy is set to launch in October. In advance, Ayomi shared insights on her inspiration for Canopy, what she's building, how her experience at TikTok is helping her, what creators can expect from Canopy, and more.
On her inspiration behind Canopy
“I joined TikTok when it was less than two years old, in the middle of the pandemic, and saw in real-time how it was changing people's lives. The pandemic was a really unique time, a period of reflection for many people, and I noticed more people turning to content creation as a form of creativity and a path to financial freedom. That's what made me start thinking about what I could do or build to help more people build a career as a content creator.”
Addressing the challenges creators face
“As a creator, I’ve experienced firsthand how difficult it is to grow, monetize, and build a career. It can also be lonely. Having worked in the creator economy for over three years, my biggest realization was that the industry is plagued with information asymmetry. This puts creators, especially creators of color at a significant disadvantage when it comes to making effective business decisions. That is why I am building Canopy, to democratize access to information and put an end to gatekeeping for all creators, regardless of size. This will help empower them to make smarter business decisions and build a sustainable livelihood.”
Key features of Canopy
“We're in the process of building our MVP, but you can think of Canopy's mobile app as a less chaotic version of a Reddit thread. Creators will have the ability to join or create their own "branches," which are topics of interest, such as monetization, creator mental health, events, etc. They will then be able to contribute to discussions on these topics.”
How Canopy is different from other creator-focused products
“I think it's important to have a suite of tools that work for you - from editing software to pricing calculators to link-in-bios. One thing that I believe is missing is a dedicated community for creators, a place to learn, share, and spill the tea. After all, knowledge is power. Currently, the creator ecosystem is highly fragmented. Some creator-focused products have their own invite-only communities, but you have to pay for their tools to get into the community. Community is not their product or focus area; it is an afterthought. Whereas, community is the product for Canopy. It is our sole focus, and our commitment is to build a community where you can not only gain industry insights to help grow your career but also have a safe space and support network to hype you up on the days when you really need it. And you'll be rewarded the more you contribute to the community and help other creators grow.”
Learnings from her tenure at TikTok
"During my entire time at TikTok, we operated as a lean and scrappy startup. It was a fast-paced and dynamic environment, and I learned how to move quickly, adapt, stay agile, and listen to customers. From both companies, I saw what worked and what didn't work when building long-term relationships and trust with creators. So, I will definitely apply those learnings to our go-to-market strategy.”
Interested in joining Canopy? Sign up here to join the waitlist. Ayomi is also happy to personally onboard any creators who are readers! You can reach out to her directly at ayomi@underthecanopy.io.
