Creator Science with Jay Clouse

Sid Yadav is the CEO and co-founder of Circle, a community platform trusted by creators like Jay and thousands of others to build membership businesses. Today, Circle has ~280 employees and has raised around $30 million.

Before Circle, he was the third hire at Teachable, where he helped build the infrastructure for the creator economy before the term even existed. He spent four years as a tech blogger, writing about startups five to ten times a day, and was one of the first people to ever cover YouTube—back when it was a dating platform!

The one thing Sid says separates successful communities from the rest

Circle Eclipse: what it is (AI partner + connective tissue + Discover marketplace) and why 80 of 100 engineers have been on it for 4 months

The “course as wrong abstraction” insight: why Sid saw self-paced courses heading toward terminal decline as early as 2018

By the end of this episode, you will understand why the most successful community businesses aren’t built around content — they’re built around a specific transformation.

Join the waitlist for early access to Circle AI

Full transcript and show notes

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Introduction

(01:44) Teachable origin story: the “I don’t want to play Tinder with you” email that started it all

(06:18) Tech blogger at Mashable — and the story of being first to write about YouTube

(09:15) ~280 employees, $30M raised — the scale of Circle today

(12:52) Why self-paced courses are in terminal decline (the leading indicators Sid saw in 2018)

(17:16) The “course as the wrong abstraction” moment — community as the right container

(22:00) Circle Eclipse: the three major updates launching

(24:00) The connective tissue opportunity: one plus one must equal ten

(33:19) Admin dashboard evolution — where Circle AI lives for returning users

(35:30) The morning brief: five recommended next steps, then you’re good for the day

(38:50) The biggest bet in Circle’s history: 80 engineers, 4 months, Spain offsite

(40:00) Member-side AI agents and where they’re heading

(43:24) Discover: from supply-side listing directory to the first real marketplace for transformations

(48:00) The promise: Discover will never market inside your community — ever

(51:55) Sid’s #1 recommendation: define your transformation

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE

#295: Community Building Trends for 2026 with Becky Pierson Davidson

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Every few years, someone asks you the question you've been avoiding. For me, this was it: does your show actually have a premise, or does it just require people to already know and like you?

Jeremy Enns is the founder of Podcast Marketing Academy, where his primary product is podcast audits. He has spent years analyzing what separates shows that grow from shows that stall, and he runs Podcast Marketing Academy to help hosts fix both. He has been a member of The Lab since the early days.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why podcast problems are almost always brand and product problems in disguise

The difference between a show that requires you to already be known vs. one that earns listeners on its own merits

What "killer concepts" are — and why a sharper premise makes episodes easier to produce, not harder

The case for featuring Lab members as guests, and why it could be the highest-converting version of Creator Science

By the end of this episode, you will have a new framework for auditing any creative project — including your own — and asking whether it's designed to grow or just to persist.


Jeremy's resources for US!

Podcast Marketing Academy

Killer Concept

Jeremy Enns on LinkedIn

Full transcript and show notes

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Cold open: what a "killer concept" actually is

(02:20) How this episode came to be: Jeremy's years of quiet notes on Creator Science

(04:04) What Jay actually wants from this conversation

(09:36) Where podcasting fits in the funnel — why it's the Lab's best front door

(13:23) "If you were starting today": the co-host question

(22:14) Does Creator Science have a premise? Jeremy's honest take

(26:11) The container model: Song Exploder vs. Reply All

(31:09) The density problem: why 80% of episodes aren't relevant to most listeners

(34:49) The missing IP: Jay's philosophy exists in his head, not on paper

(38:31) Why featuring Lab members could be the highest-converting version of the show

(44:51) A three-part lens: discovery, trust, monetization

(53:28) Jeremy's prescription: what the ideal Creator Science show looks like

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RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE

#273: How to create a scrappy industry report that elevates your brand | Jeremy Enns

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WHEN YOU'RE READY

Creator Science Newsletter

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Join The Lab (private membership community)

Get a Personalized Offer

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Richard van der Blom published his first LinkedIn algorithm report years ago as a curiosity project. This year, he and his team analyzed 1.3 million posts from 50,000 creators — and the headline number is hard to ignore: reach is down 60% for active creators over the last two years. Even harder to stomach: 80% of the comments Richard receives in the first five minutes of any post are written by AI.

Richard is the author of the annual LinkedIn Algorithm Insights report — the most data-backed independent study of the platform I've found. He's also been targeted by LinkedIn's legal team, banned from the platform, and watched the third-party tools he relied on get shut down one by one. He keeps publishing anyway.

In this episode, we talk about:

Why reach is down 60% for active creators — and why LinkedIn says that's intentional

What "topic fingerprinting" is and how to use it to re-teach the algorithm who you are

How your comments now shape your interest graph, not just your human visibility

Why LinkedIn newsletters are outperforming regular posts on reach, engagement, and conversion

By the end of this episode, you will understand exactly what changed in the LinkedIn algorithm, why the old playbook is working against you, and the specific moves to make in 2026.

2026 LinkedIn Algorithm Insights Report

Richard van der Blom on LinkedIn

Full transcript and show notes

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Introduction

(02:36) Richard's one-word description of LinkedIn in 2026: "turbulent"

(07:38) The shift from relationship graph to interest-based graph — the biggest change in 10 years

(11:36) Topic fingerprinting: how to re-teach the algorithm who you are

(14:47) Why commenting on the wrong posts actively hurts your reach

(16:41) Richard's 25-30 minute daily commenting system, broken down

(25:17) The free bookmark search trick for building curated feeds

(31:41) Newsletters vs. standalone articles — the numbers are not close

(35:16) LinkedIn newsletter analytics: click-by-link tracking is now live

(39:37) Optimal posting frequency: down from 5-6x to 2-4x per week

(41:18) Why text-only posts require exceptional copywriting to work

(43:20) What the top LinkedIn creators know that everyone else misses

(45:29) Richard's prediction: LinkedIn is at a crossroads

***

RECOMMENDED NEXT EPISODE

#188: Richard van der Blom – How the man behind the LinkedIn Algorithm Report uses LinkedIn.

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WHEN YOU'RE READY

Creator Science Newsletter


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Join The Lab (private membership community)

Get a Personalized Offer

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Josh is the founder of Upright Media, an operating partner for content creators handling operations, consulting, recruiting, and post-production. His clients include some of YouTube's biggest channels — Erak, Smosh, Emma Chamberlain, Dude Perfect, Matthew Beam, and Chris Williamson. He runs 11 full-time staff and about 40 contractors worldwide. He describes himself as a creator without a channel. This conversation also took a turn into what YouTube actually rewards right now, why "companionship content" is quietly eating the internet, and the concept of the "shitty flow state" — that experience where you put down your phone 35 minutes after opening Instagram and can't name a single thing you saw.

Upright Media

Brad Stulberg — The Way of Excellence

Monday.com (project management tool Josh uses)

Topper Guild (YouTube channel)

Speeed (James Pumphrey + Jesse Wood)

Full transcript and show notes

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TIMESTAMPS

(00:00) Josh's opening: don't lose sight of the big goals that motivate your team

(00:26) Who Josh Mattingly is and what Upright Media does

(08:16) Excitement vs. panic — how much of working 80 hours a week is actually anxiety

(12:49) Why most creators hire from panic — and how Josh reframes it around a goal

(22:35) Build the team around what you're doing well, not where you think you're going

(24:36) The positioning exercise: what is your channel, actually — and why it drives every hire

(20:36) Speeed channel case study: lean team, clear mission, "GQ for this generation"

(27:02) What YouTube is biased toward right now: real connection over spectacle

(30:02) The content spectrum: entertainment → education → companionship content

(40:01) The "shitty flow state" — why most of what we consume doesn't satisfy

(55:52) Hiring mistake: moving too fast — interview 10 more after you find "the one"

(56:56) Building a hiring committee as a solopreneur using peers and friends

***

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#175: Angus Parker – Ali Abdaal’s right-hand man shares a YouTuber’s guide to hiring.

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WHEN YOU'RE READY

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Every month inside the Lab, I do a full retrospective: wins, concerns, experiments, with all the numbers on the table. I've never felt comfortable putting the whole thing out publicly, but I do think the practice itself is worth sharing. So this episode is my lightweight version: three big wins from April, three things I'm genuinely worried about heading into May, and three experiments I'm kicking off. I'm also testing a new name for this format: the Big Three.

April was, by most measures, a really good month. A baby boy on the way, the biggest partnership deal I've ever signed, and a speaking slot at Press Publish LA. But sitting alongside all of that is a real anxiety: I'm watching my audience pull back, sales slowing, people tightening up. And I'm rebuilding a lot of the business simultaneously, too. This episode is me thinking out loud about all of it.


The Lab — Creator Science membership community


Circle — community platform powering the Lab


Press Publish LA — Colin & Samir's creator event, late May


Build a Beloved Membership — Jay's membership course (cohort coming July)

Full transcript and show notes

***

TIMESTAMPS

(00:14) Introducing the lightweight retro format ("the Big Three")

(01:38) Win #1: Baby boy on the way — and what it means for the next six months

(04:28) Win #2: Biggest partnership deal ever — Circle for the rest of the year

(06:03) Win #3: Speaking at Press Publish LA

(07:24) Concern #1: The oxygen mask moment — slowing sales and audience withdrawal

(09:47) "Give where it hurts" — the counter-intuitive move in uncertain times

(13:41) Concern #2: Rebuilding the business from the ground up

(18:56) Concern #3: Are we trying to do too much?

(19:25) Experiment #1: Building out the team (Ana, Ritzy, and Tubey in Slack)

(27:46) Experiment #2: The Membership Summit (June 23–26) + cohort in July

(30:41) Experiment #3: A new AI-forward product model, piloting inside the Lab first

***

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#291: 48 Hours With Clawdbot: How I’m Using It and Initial Reactions

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ASK CREATOR SCIENCE

Submit your question here

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WHEN YOU'RE READY

📬 Creator Science Newsletter


🚀 Get CreatorHQ (creator operating system)


🧪 Join The Lab (private membership community)

🧞 Get a Personalized Offer

***

CONNECT

🐦 Connect on Twitter

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***

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