Mike Pusateri of Bent Pixels On Five Ways For Influencers To Monetize Their Brand

Expedite Payments: Get paid sooner! Waiting for accounts receivables can create cash flow issues for creators. Something we offer our influencers is ensuring they receive the capital owed to them promptly, reducing cash crunch situations.

As part of our series about “How Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand”, we had the pleasure of interviewing Mike Pusateri.

Mike Pusateri Founder/CEO Bent Pixels Born and raised in Silicon Valley, Mike is an entrepreneur at heart, with his first venture in business at age 11 and his first patent application at age 17. Since, Mike has built an impressive 15-year career in sales, marketing and business management, including successes in the healthcare technology sector where he consistently grew his business 20%+ year after year. Mike founded Bent Pixels in 2009, reaching profitability . The business continues to expand rapidly, with 2100+ video content partners on multiple networks and brand partners that attracts over 5 billion annual video views and 10,000,000+ unique viewers per month. Mike is proud to hold a degree in business and strategic management from California State University, Chico, and currently lives in Las Vegas, Nevada with his wife and two children. Mike volunteers his time each week to The Shade Tree, a Las Vegas shelter for women and children. Mike also financially supports The Prosthetic Outreach Foundation, which provides comprehensive prosthetics assistance to a remote Haitian community Cap-Haitian including prosthetics, education, local training and most importantly quality artificial limbs.

Thank you so much for doing this with us! Before we dig in, our readers would love to get to know you a bit more. What is your “backstory”? What brought you to this point in your career?

Since I was little I’ve had the entrepreneurial bug hustling and starting businesses. Fast forward to 2009, that lifelong of selling, building and finding ways to win helped me launch Bent Pixels and build it to a the leading independent, profitable business it is today, something I’ve very proud of. Bent Pixels has allowed me to foster deep relationships within the fast-paced and high-growth online video industry. Overseeing deals across four continents, me and my incredible team have facilitated collaborations among YouTube celebrity talent, esports teams, top-tier talent agencies, and major content owners.

Beyond my involvement with Bent Pixels, I enjoy advising new companies and entrepreneurs as well as investing in areas I can bring real value such as digital media and healthcare technology.

Giving back is important to me and that’s why I actively support charitable organizations such as The United Way, the Lung Heart Foundation, and the Shade Tree Foundation. The mindset of giving back has been the foundation to my success and I’m excited to do more.

Can you share the funniest or most interesting story that happened to you in the course of your career?

It all started with Shaquille O’Neal. Thanks to a fortuitous connection from a current Bent Pixels partner and friend had with Perry Rogers, a unique project with O’Neal emerged, ultimately leading us to YouTube.

Back in 2009, YouTube was an infant and I was working in healthcare technology, but had a side hustle building iPhone and Andriod apps for companies/celebrities and got the opportunity to build Shaquille’s iPhone and Android App, which was a free throw shooting game because you know Shaquille was money at the free throw line (wink). The app also included YouTube videos, and YouTube reached out and said they’d like to work with Shaquille as they had a $100M original content initiative going. As we sat in a meeting with YouTube and Shaquille, YouTube asked him who’s handling the backend of YouTube and Shaquille pointed to me — BAM Bent Pixels was born. The rest is history and we appreciate the opportunity we’ve had to work in this amazing, high growth space with YouTube because of that fortuitous day.

How have you used your success to bring goodness to the world?

We have leveraged our success to make a positive difference in the world. In the early days of Bent Pixels, I also had the opportunity to work at The Shade Tree, a women’s and children’s shelter in Las Vegas offering life-changing services promoting stability, dignity, and self-reliance. During my time there, I provided instruction on essential technology skills, assisting the women in organizing their resumes and preparing for interviews. I was with the organization for four years and it was an incredible experience. Witnessing these women overcome and break free from challenging circumstances was truly rewarding. From then on, I always want to make sure there is a philanthropic arm to my work.

Throughout the years, Bent Pixels has actively participated in various charitable initiatives. We have supported the United Way in Los Angeles and collaborated with charitable organizations that hold importance for our partners. We are committed to continuing our philanthropic endeavors and are currently exploring opportunities to initiate regular charitable projects.

Outside of our philanthropic initiatives, Bent Pixels has played a significant role in enabling content creators to achieve higher revenue than they could on their own. This contribution has fostered learning and growth particularly on YouTube. For me, it’s a powerful thing to help facilitate the democratization and evolution of content and empower content creators.

You have been blessed with great success in a career path that many have attempted, but eventually gave up on. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path but know that their dreams might be dashed?

First, you have to understand what your strengths and weaknesses and recognize that building a successful business requires collaboration. Seek out partners who complement your expertise, and fill in the gaps of your own weaknesses to supercharge the path to success. Cultivate tenacity to overcome challenges, view setbacks as opportunities for growth and keep pushing forward — resilience is the key to success.

Consistently delivering value is vital for running a successful business. Commit to excellence, innovation, and meeting customer needs in an ever-evolving industry. Adaptability, dedication, and market awareness are essential. Finally, prioritize a mindset that is focused on supporting and empowering your team. Value collaboration over hierarchy,and creating an environment where every team member feels valued and motivated.

None of us can achieve success without a bit of help along the way. Is there a particular person who made a profound difference in your life to whom you are grateful? Can you share a story?

Tom Santoli, our COO, who was brought in by Marty Cordova another partner of Bent Pixels. He is the perfect example of what I mentioned earlier about filling in the gaps. Tom fills those gaps in an entertaining way, often using analogies, stories, and euphemisms to convey his insights. I like to think of him as our defensive coordinator, always thinking ahead and strategizing to protect and propel our growth. He spots potential challenges, guides us away from landmines, and provides invaluable support behind the scenes. Although he may not always be visible, his impact is consistently felt. Tom Santoli is someone I am extremely grateful to have on our team.

So what are the most exciting projects you are working on now? How do you think that might help people?

Currently, we have several exciting projects in the works, including revamping all of our technology in a way that is going to supercharge our business across several verticals. We are also launching financial services for content creators. As the industry evolves, financial services are becoming increasingly vital for individual creators who have transformed their channels into businesses. We want to play a role in supporting that aspect of the creator economy, specifically for content creators on YouTube. It is an exciting opportunity to contribute to the success and financial well-being of content creators. The foundation of our business is selling media and driving various layers of monetization value to content creators, and this allows us to add another layer to that. By providing multiple layers of real value to content creators across different aspects, we can deliver tangible benefits and propel their growth.

What are your “Top Five Ways That Influencers Can Monetize Their Brand” . (Please share a story or example for each.)

From a Bent Pixels perspective, we specialize in exploring various revenue streams for influencers on YouTube. Here are the top five ways in which influencers can monetize their brand:

1. Media Partners: Work with a media partner like Bent Pixels that helps creators sell their inventory at a premium. This means packaging a creator or groups of similar creators into a premium portfolio and working directly with a brand. This strategy allows brands to actually run ads directly on a creators channel on YouTube, and can mean up to 300% more revenue for the creator without any additional work.

2. Optimize AdSense: AdSense forms the foundation of a creator’s business. We help influencers maximize their earnings by optimizing their channels and individual content, implementing effective content strategies, and safeguarding their creations.

3. Partner with Brands: It is essential for influencers to collaborate with partners who bring them branded content opportunities and revenue prospects.

4. License Content: Content is their business, and to run a business you need capital. Influencers can monetize their content library by licensing it interested parties. This generates capital that can be reinvested in expanding their team, hiring editors, or enhancing their content. The options are endless.

5. Expedite Payments: Get paid sooner! Waiting for accounts receivables can create cash flow issues for creators. Something we offer our influencers is ensuring they receive the capital owed to them promptly, reducing cash crunch situations.

These are the five key monetization layers that Bent Pixels focuses on, but there are other avenues for monetization, such as merchandise sales and branded products, which larger creators often capitalize on due to their audience scale. We offer a comprehensive suite of monetization strategies to help creators maximize their earnings and explore further opportunities in the dynamic world of influencer marketing.

You are a person of great influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger.

I think the democratization of content is a movement that has a profound impact on people worldwide. In just a couple of years, the number of professional content creators on YouTube has grown from 2 million to over 5 million, providing financial stability to individuals globally. This movement extends to South America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East, benefiting creators from diverse backgrounds. The continuous growth of new verticals creates more revenue opportunities, even for creators earning modest amounts. By embracing the democratization of content, we empower individuals, promote financial stability, and open doors of opportunity for content creators worldwide.

We are very blessed that some of the biggest names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch with, and why? He or she might just see this. :-)

I’d love to sit down with Neal Mohan, the newly appointed CEO of YouTube. He has an amazing background and a strong vision of the future focused on creator monetization and I’d love to spend a lunch meeting digging into that more!

What is the best way our readers can follow your work online?

LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/michaelpusateri/

Twitter: @m_pusateri

Thank you so much for the time you spent on this, and for your excellent insights!