The Weekly Bev - 29th Edition

🚴 Working with Peloton

My (most) recent trip to NYC was for a visit to Peloton HQ as the kickoff of their new Creator Ambassador Program. I’m one of 25 creators in the program, which runs through the end of the year, and it was a very special event. All 25 of us arrived in the city together with our first stop being the Peloton HQ. We got to hear from a handful of different Peloton teams about the product, the brand, and their intentions with the program. We also got to connect more with the other creators in the program, which is my favorite part because each person there has their own style, content strategies, and formats. Day one wrapped up with a quick presentation from a few Peloton instructors followed by a team dinner. It’s always cool when a brand makes the effort to bring creators together in person. It adds a special type of energy to the campaign and always makes me feel like I’m really a part of something exciting. Plus, the networking opportunities were amazing, and I bet Peloton will benefit from the audience cross-pollination alone, not to mention the added buzz.

On the second day of programming, we hit Peloton Studios for a 30-minute Kane Brown ride with Dennis Morten. We thought we were just going to be riding to Kane Brown music, but nope! The legend surprised us in person. I was riding next to a few other creators in the program, and they were definitely pushing me. I was pretty exhausted as we finished. If you happen to have a Peloton bike, go check out that ride. You’ll see me absolutely ripping it up.

After such an energizing meet up, I’m excited about what’s next: I’ve got four videos planned for Peloton by the end of the year, with one already done and another just wrapped up. This whole opportunity came my way thanks to the work I did on a Dove shoot, and I’m excited to continue delivering for Peloton. Plus, NYC is always a blast—I got to catch up with all my east coast homies.

💥 Hydrant Update

One of the most exciting aspects of the trip to NYC for Peloton was discussing Hydrant with the other creators and the agency that I worked with on the deal 👀 They had been exploring a different payments platform, but have not pulled the trigger because this other provider charges a SaaS fee since they don’t have a banking partner. The agency loved that Hydrant doesn’t charge a SaaS fee because we do have a banking partner. We’re continuing the conversation, and I’ll keep you guys updated on how that progresses. This is business development stuff is quite fun…

We’re really ramping up our B2B efforts, trying to get in front of as many agencies as possible. We’re building out an agency portal with our engineers and working on a pitch deck to show agencies how Hydrant can streamline their operations. The pitch deck will be going out this week, and my fingers are crossed for a good response. I will keep you updated as we get feedback. The idea is that even if freelancers haven’t heard of us yet, agencies can help bridge that gap and offer them our services.

On the product side, I’m obsessed with using the product myself. It’s one of reasons I’ve been so invested in Hydrant for so long now: it solves a need that I have as a freelancer. I just uploaded my own invoice through the platform, and as always, it’s an eye-opener. I always spot those little details—like the need for a drag-and-drop feature for invoice uploads—that can make all the difference for the user. When you use your own product, you catch things you wouldn’t otherwise. To put it in classic startup lingo, you must eat your own dog food.

The invoice I most recently processed through Hydrant had net 52 terms (🤮), and I was expecting to be paid on December 6th, but thanks to Hydrant I got paid in 72 hours—on October 18th. That’s the type of material impact I’m so excited to deliver for creators and freelancers. It makes such a huge difference to me personally having access to those funds a month and a half early. So much can happen during that waiting period, and before Hydrant it always felt like an anxiety cloud over my head just hoping to get paid on time. The skies have cleared up for me, and I hope other freelancers get the same feeling.

We’re cautiously optimistic as we await our launch cohort to factor their first invoices. The focus now is on ensuring we’re fully prepared to handle volume as we scale. I’m proud to say that when I meet new people—like at my recent Peloton trip—the first thing I want to share is that I’m the founder of Hydrant. It’s such a good feeling. Do you have any thoughts on the Hydrant website? Hit reply and let me know!