Ed East founded Billion Dollar Boy in London in 2014 to turn creator-led content into a channel global brands could plan and measure, and the agency now runs hubs in London and New York.

This month the group completed its acquisition of Creator Authority, a LinkedIn-first B2B creator agency based in Santa Monica whose clients include Amazon, Adobe and Mastercard, and it expects global revenue to exceed $100m in 2027.

Named ADWEEK’s Social/Influencer Agency of the Year for 2025, the business reported 24 per cent global revenue growth over the past 12 months.

He tells Business Matters why he chose independence over venture capital, and why he thinks founders should design for agility.

What do you currently do at Billion Dollar Boy?

As founder and global CEO, I steer the strategic growth, international scale and long-term vision of Billion Dollar Boy across our global hubs in London and New York.

My day-to-day focuses on driving our mission to make creator-led brand building an accountable, primary media channel for enterprise brands. That means continuing to scale our BDB Group ecosystem, including our proprietary AI intelligence platform, Companion; our creator community, FiveTwoNine; and our suite of end-to-end campaign management services at Billion Dollar Boy, to drive genuine, full-funnel business impact for global marketers.

What was the inspiration behind your business?

The initial spark hit me back in 2012, while I was working in the entertainment industry in Los Angeles, watching emerging digital talent on YouTube and Instagram build hyper-engaged, fiercely loyal global communities.

I realised early on that these creators were not just posting pictures. They were acting as complete production studios, writers and cultural conduits all in one.

Yet back in 2014, when we pitched creator campaigns, most CMOs still viewed social media as a fringe experiment. I saw a massive gap between changing media consumption habits and how traditional advertising was structured.

I launched Billion Dollar Boy to bridge that divide. The idea was a modern agency that could give creators the respect and infrastructure they deserved as creative partners, while offering global brands the technology, risk management and rigorous measurement required to make creator investment a core line item.

Why has Billion Dollar Boy moved into B2B creator marketing?

B2B is one of the most significant growth opportunities in creator marketing. In October we acquired Creator Authority, a LinkedIn-first B2B creator agency founded by Brendan Gahan and Cassie Jackson, whose clients include Amazon, Adobe and Mastercard.

Our survey of 1,000 marketing decision-makers in the UK and US found that one in five had invested in B2B creator marketing this year. Brendan joins us as senior vice president of B2B, and we expect the group’s global revenue to exceed $100m in 2027.

Who do you admire?

I have immense admiration for our creator partners. The sheer agility, grit and entrepreneurial drive it takes to navigate constantly shifting platform algorithms while building self-sustaining businesses is remarkable.

And they are not just creating content. More than 88 per cent are now launching their own products or services, showing they are one of the leading communities of modern business growth in the UK.

I also deeply respect the forward-thinking brand leaders at companies such as Unilever, Heineken and L’Oréal who took early leaps of faith with us. They were not scared of failure; they were bold visionaries who recognised early that shifting large portions of their ad spend towards social and creator-first storytelling was not a gamble, but the future of brand building.

They have since built whole creator ecosystems and the infrastructure to support them, and they are reaping the rewards.

Looking back, is there anything you would have done differently?

I do not like to say there have been many regrets in my career, as any failure is also a learning opportunity.

Expanding into America, in particular, was a steep learning curve, but an important one. The years of learning have helped us to grow faster now, and with more confidence.

What defines your way of doing business?

Independence, creator instinct and a people-first ethos define everything we do at Billion Dollar Boy.

We chose not to take institutional VC capital, which gave us the independence and agility to make long-term investments in our own technology, open strategic global offices and protect our culture without chasing artificial growth targets.

Internally, that mindset translates into how we care for our team and partners, putting people first. That approach has helped us to maintain an 85 per cent staff retention rate. We extend the same respect to talent, offering creators fair market pricing, flexible payment terms and genuine career support through our FiveTwoNine platform.

Strategically, we combine our Creator Instinct framework with quantitative insights from Companion’s database of more than 170 million creator profiles worldwide, and qualitative insights from FiveTwoNine’s creator community, to make sure our campaigns land culturally and perform commercially. That is what sets us apart.

What advice would you give to someone starting out?

My main advice to entrepreneurs starting out is to build a business designed for agility.

In our industry at least, the media landscape is very dynamic. In my 12 years as founder of Billion Dollar Boy, algorithms have changed at extraordinary speed.

So, instead of building rigid, bureaucratic processes, design systems for agility, with pre-approved guardrails, that allow your team to move fast and capitalise on new developments in your industry. In the age of AI, that feels more timely and appropriate than ever.

Secondly, take sensible risks. Keep complete control over your core values, and focus relentless energy on building long-term, repeatable enterprise value rather than chasing short-term transactional wins.

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