This story was originally published on Passionfruit.
We’re sitting down with leaders on the business side of the creator economy to get their best advice for creators looking to launch and develop their careers. This week, we spoke with Falon Fatemi, the CEO and co-founder of Fireside.
Fireside is an interactive streaming platform with Web3 capabilities, co-founded in 2021 by entrepreneur Fatemi and well-known Shark Tank star and creator economy investor Mark Cuban.
In an interview with Passionfruit, Fatemi discussed Fireside’s vision for the future of creator streaming, the success of interactive, live, and Web3 elements in virtual shows, her advice for creators, and more. We also sought the insight of multiple Fireside creators, who also shared advice for those interested in the platform.
Scrolling through Fireside, you’ll see a variety of creative individuals—actors, celebrity chefs, sports experts, authors, filmmakers, comedians, business consultants, influencer marketers, podcasters, and even live fortune tellers. According to Fireside, it was able to attract over 3,500 individual creators to the platform, including a number of high-profile creators like Jay Leno, Adam Waheed, Craig Kilborn, Melissa Rivers, and the cast of HBO’s Entourage.
Fatemi described Fireside as a platform melding the streaming services offered by companies like Netflix and the interactive social networking capabilities offered by social networks like Twitch or TikTok. On Fireside, creators can apply to edit, create, share, and receive audience engagement analytics for both live and pre-recorded virtual shows.
Creators can then distribute and simultaneously live stream their shows created in Fireside to other platforms, like YouTube, Facebook, and Twitch. Interestingly, on Nov. 22, 2022, an internal Fireside memo from Fatemi was leaked by Variety, revealing the company’s acquisition of streaming platform Stremium. This acquisition will allow Fireside virtual shows made by creators to translate to Smart TV, Amazon Fire TV, Roku, and other TV devices—bridging the social media and traditional streaming divide.
