We did something that made us look like amateurs when we’d sign a new influencer for Cal AI...
We paid every single one of them 100% upfront, before they shot a single video and before we saw even a dollar of return on the investment.
Everyone in the influencer marketing space will tell you that's backwards.
The "smart" move is to run a net-30 setup, where you pay after the content gets posted and you’ve confirmed it’s actually performing.
Paying upfront means you eat all the risk.
So if the creator flakes, ghosts, or posts something that flops, the money is gone.
We did it anyway, and it's one of the biggest reasons we scaled as fast as we did.
Because when you offer to pay a creator TODAY instead of 30 days from now, two things happen:
#1: You instantly become the most trustworthy brand in their inbox.
A huge number of influencers have been scammed before by doing all the work upfront and never getting paid.
So when you offer the cash before they lift a finger, they know you’re serious and you're no longer a risk to them.
#2: They'll usually take a lower rate for the collaboration.
Cash in hand is still king, and creators are WAY more motivated when they’re not wondering if or when they’re getting paid.
And when you're signing dozens of influencers a month, a few percent savings on every single deal for us meant we could continue to bring on more partnerships and scale faster.
So yes, we took on all the risk and we gave up all the leverage we had.
But what we got in return was cheaper rates, deals closed faster, and a reputation that made the next deal easier than the last.
The only real downside was that it made our own lives harder.
Paying everyone upfront meant we had money going out long before money was coming in.
But that was a price I was always willing to pay, because here's the thing about me…
I've struggled my whole life, and I was okay struggling a little longer because I knew what we were building was real.
The business growing faster was worth more than my comfort in the moment.
And that's the actual lesson here, the one that goes way beyond influencers.
The right call is usually the one that moves the business forward fastest, even when it means you personally have to shoulder more of the risk
- Jake
