brand partnerships

Elijah Khsabo

Building an Influencer Marketing Platform While Bootstrapping Through College with Elijah Khasabo

In this episode of Talk Commerce, host Brent Peterson sits down with Elijah Khasabo, co-founder of Vidovo, a platform connecting brands with content creators. The conversation explores how Elijah built a thriving influencer marketplace while managing college coursework. He shares insights on the evolution of user-generated content pricing, the importance of engagement over follower counts, and why authentic human content continues to outperform AI-generated videos in driving conversions.

Key Takeaways

  • Content pricing has evolved significantly – UGC videos that sold for $10-$20 in 2022 now average $250-$300, with some reaching $1,000 per video
  • Engagement metrics trump follower counts – Comments and genuine interaction indicate a creator’s true influence more accurately than raw follower numbers
  • Consistency remains the primary success factor – Posting regularly and waiting until you have 100 videos before analyzing performance allows you to identify what resonates with your audience
  • AI video content faces authenticity challenges – While AI-generated videos attract views due to novelty, they struggle with conversion rates compared to real human creators
  • Controversy can drive viral success – Sometimes unexpected elements in content spark conversation and drive impressions organically
  • Holiday preparation should start months in advance – Testing creative approaches three to four months before peak shopping seasons provides valuable data for optimization

About Elijah Khasabo

Elijah started his entrepreneurial journey in high school by building a Discord community to 30,000 members through TikTok content. This early experience taught him the power of social media and video content. After high school, he attended community college while exploring various business ventures. Through his own dropshipping experiments, he discovered the value of quality user-generated content when a single video generated 15 million views. That revelation led him to create Vidovo.

Currently balancing college coursework with running a bootstrapped startup, Elijah has grown Vidovo to host over 15,000 creators and serve more than 200 brands. His platform sources approximately 100 new creators daily through organic channels like Reddit and TikTok. According to his LinkedIn profile, Elijah maintains a strong focus on helping others succeed, viewing personal growth as intrinsically linked to supporting those around him.

Episode Summary

The conversation begins with Elijah explaining his unconventional founding story. Unlike the typical college dorm room startup narrative, he built Vidovo from his bedroom while attending community college. His path to this business model started with building a massive Discord community in high school, which demonstrated the potential of social media influence.

After trying seven or eight different business ideas, Elijah landed on dropshipping. His third e-commerce store led to a breakthrough when he hired a UGC creator for $50 to produce content. Despite initial reluctance to pay upfront rather than his usual commission-based model, the investment paid off dramatically. “I posted it and it got 15 million views organically,” Elijah recalls. The video featured a door closer product, but what made it go viral was controversy. The creator had his toe visible in the video while demonstrating the product from his bed, sparking debate in the comments that drove massive engagement.

This experience shifted Elijah’s perspective. Rather than continuing with dropshipping, he recognized an opportunity to provide video content services to other e-commerce businesses. He built a roster of 13 creators through Instagram outreach and started selling videos for $20-$30. When he met his co-founder, who brought software development expertise, they formalized the platform into Vidovo.

Building a two-sided marketplace presented significant challenges. “Building two sides of the business, creators and brands, is very difficult,” Elijah acknowledges. However, the bootstrapping experience proved valuable for his development as an entrepreneur. The platform now operates with a job-application style model where brands post campaign briefs and creators apply to projects that interest them.

Discussing current trends, Elijah emphasizes that engagement metrics matter more than follower counts. “I personally look at the comments. What are people actually saying about this creator? Are they engaged with her video?” He cites examples of creators with hundreds of thousands of followers who lack genuine engagement because they built audiences for the wrong reasons years ago.

The conversation touches on consistency as the primary driver of success. Elijah shares advice from a TikTok social media director who recommended posting 100 videos before analyzing performance. His own brother grew from under 900 followers to nearly 20,000 in just a few months through consistent fitness content posting.

Regarding AI-generated video content, Elijah expresses skepticism about its conversion potential despite its ability to generate views. “Consumers just don’t find it authentic,” he notes. While AI videos attract attention due to novelty, brands seeking genuine connection with audiences continue to prefer real human creators. Interestingly, the rise of AI content has actually increased demand for Vidovo’s services as brands explicitly request real people and authentic content.

For merchants preparing for the holiday season, Elijah recommends starting creative testing three to four months in advance. While it’s never too late to launch campaigns, earlier testing provides data on what resonates with consumers. October 2024 became Vidovo’s best month ever, exceeding September’s numbers within just 13 days, indicating strong demand heading into the holiday season.

Throughout the discussion, Elijah maintains that his passion centers on helping others succeed. This philosophy extends beyond his platform to his approach as a founder. He values learning from other entrepreneurs, marketers, and industry professionals, viewing curiosity and openness as essential traits for growth.

Final Thoughts

The journey from a bedroom in community college to running a platform serving hundreds of brands demonstrates that timing, persistence, and recognizing opportunities matter more than following traditional paths. Elijah’s story reinforces that building genuine connections between brands and creators requires understanding both sides of the marketplace. As the influencer marketing industry matures and pricing reflects the true value of quality content, platforms that facilitate authentic relationships will continue to thrive. For entrepreneurs considering the creator economy, the question isn’t whether to start, but rather how consistent you’re willing to be in building your presence. After all, in the world of content creation and influencing, are you ready to commit to losing for 12 months before you start winning?


This has been produced in cooperation with Content Cucumber

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Arthur Leopold

Revolutionizing Creator Marketing: How Agentio’s Platform Transforms Brand Partnerships at ShopTalk 2025

In a recent Talk Commerce episode recorded live from Shop Talk, host Brent Peterson sat down with Arthur Leopold, CEO and co-founder of Agentio, to explore the evolving landscape of creator marketing. As a former president at Cameo, Leopold brings valuable insights into connecting brands with content creators. His new venture, Agentio, is transforming how brands engage with YouTube creators through an innovative automated ad platform.

Key Takeaways

  • Agentio automates creator content buying, starting with YouTube integrations
  • Traditional creator partnerships face significant friction in negotiation and scaling
  • The platform standardizes pricing based on CPM and historical performance
  • Current digital ad spend is $600 billion, while creator ad spend is only $10-15 billion
  • Unilever recently announced plans to allocate 50% of future spending to creators
  • Platform focuses on view consistency rather than follower counts
  • Content authenticity drives better engagement than traditional advertising

About Arthur Leopold

Arthur Leopold serves as the CEO and co-founder of Agentio, bringing extensive experience from his role as the first employee and president at Cameo. His background in bridging technology and consumer engagement positioned him well to identify the opportunities in the B2B creator space. Beyond his professional pursuits, Leopold maintains an active lifestyle, enjoying skiing, cooking, and fly fishing when escaping the urban environment of New York City.

Detailed Episode Summary

The conversation began with Leopold explaining how Agentio addresses the fundamental challenges in creator marketing. The current system, described as “hand-to-hand combat,” involves time-consuming negotiations and inefficient processes that prevent brands from scaling their creator programs effectively.

Agentio’s solution leverages first-party data to match brands with creators based on deep semantic understanding. For example, if a DTC glasses brand is seeking partnerships, the platform can identify creators who’ve previously discussed vision-related challenges in their content.

The platform’s innovative approach to pricing removes traditional negotiation barriers. By calculating rates based on a brand’s target CPM and the creator’s historical views, Agentio establishes market-appropriate pricing that benefits both parties. This standardization enables brands to execute large-scale campaigns in days rather than months.

Personal Commentary and Analysis

The shift toward creator-led advertising represents a significant evolution in digital marketing. Agentio’s approach addresses the core inefficiencies that have historically limited creator marketing’s potential. The platform’s focus on performance metrics and standardized pricing could help legitimize creator marketing as a scalable channel for major brands.

Memorable Quotes

“The future of advertising is creator-led. It’s a creator sharing a brand story on that brand’s behalf. It’s not another display ad, not another skippable video ad.” – Arthur Leopold

“We view it as an initial test with a brand, knowing that a subset of creators won’t perform because we’re testing. But we also have a high certainty and a predictability around which creators who will perform exceedingly well.” – Arthur Leopold

Engaging the Audience

To learn more about leveraging creator partnerships through Agentio’s platform, visit Agentio.com or contact Arthur directly at Arthur@Agentio.com. The platform offers particularly valuable solutions for brands looking to establish or expand their presence on YouTube.

Final Thoughts

As consumer content consumption habits continue to evolve, the creator economy stands poised for exponential growth. Agentio’s automated platform represents a significant step toward unlocking the full potential of creator marketing, making it accessible and scalable for brands of all sizes.

Find more conversations about the role of influencer marketing here

Ishveen Jolly

How OpenSponsorship is Transforming the Future of Athletic Partnerships with Ishveen Jolly

 I recently had the pleasure of sitting down with Ishveen Jolly, CEO and co-founder of OpenSponsorship, for an engaging discussion about the evolution of influencer marketing in sports. What struck me most about our conversation was how technology is revolutionizing the traditional athlete sponsorship model, creating opportunities for both established athletes and emerging influencers.

Breaking Down the Barriers in Sports Marketing

During our discussion, Ishveen shared how she identified a crucial gap in the sponsorship marketplace. As a former athlete herself, she understood the challenges of connecting brands with athletic talent. “Why is there not an Airbnb of our industry?” she wondered back in 2015. This question led to the creation of OpenSponsorship, which has now grown into the largest marketplace connecting brands with athletes for sponsorship deals.

The Changing Face of Influence

What I found particularly fascinating was OpenSponsorship’s recent milestone: over 50% of their deals now go to female athletes. This shift represents a significant evolution in sports marketing, and as Ishveen pointed out, it’s often because female athletes tend to produce more engaging content naturally.

Beyond Traditional Athletics

One of the most interesting revelations from our conversation was OpenSponsorship’s expansion beyond traditional sports. They’re now connecting brands with:

  • Financial influencers
  • Healthcare professionals
  • Food and recipe creators
  • Outdoor sports enthusiasts
  • Wellness experts

The Data-Driven Approach

As someone deeply involved in ecommerce, I was impressed by OpenSponsorship’s sophisticated use of data analytics. Ishveen explained their social listening capabilities: “If you’re a pet food company, we can show you all the athletes who have talked about dogs or posted content about dogs who have over 8% engagement rate and cost less than $500.” This level of targeting precision is transforming how brands approach influencer partnerships.

The Power of Authentic Content

During our discussion, Ishveen shared an insight that really resonated with me – sometimes the biggest names aren’t necessarily the best content creators. She noted that individual athletes who’ve developed their personal brands often prove more effective at producing engaging content than top-tier professionals who might be less experienced with social media.

Making Sponsorships Accessible

What truly sets OpenSponsorship apart is their democratization of influencer marketing. With a minimum threshold of 10,000 followers, they’ve made brand partnerships accessible to emerging athletes and influencers while maintaining quality standards that ensure ROI for brands.

Looking to the Future

As we wrapped up our conversation, it became clear that OpenSponsorship is just scratching the surface of what’s possible in the influencer marketing space. Their expansion into new categories and continued focus on data-driven matchmaking suggests exciting possibilities for the future of brand partnerships.

Key Takeaways

  • The influencer marketing industry has evolved into a multi-billion dollar sector
  • Content quality and ROI now outweigh celebrity status
  • Technology and data analytics are crucial for successful brand-influencer matching
  • There’s significant opportunity for athletes below the top 5% to secure valuable partnerships
  • The future of sponsorships lies in authentic content and measurable results

Final Thoughts

As someone who regularly speaks with innovators in the ecommerce and digital marketing space, I’m particularly excited about how platforms like OpenSponsorship are reshaping the landscape of brand partnerships. Ishveen and her team are creating a more accessible, data-driven, and efficient marketplace that benefits both brands and influencers.

To learn more about OpenSponsorship, visit opensponsorship.com or reach out to Ishveen directly at ishveen@opensponsorship.com.

Find more episodes about the latest in digital innovation here

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