Launched a new vertical for a category of high-profile talent who were already established elsewhere on social but barely present on the platform. The organic, supply-first approach didn't attract talent. This talent already earned well from their existing brand deals and other revenue streams, so audience reach on its own was not a reason to move. Discovery worked against them as well, because a new channel with no watch history gives a recommendation system almost nothing to go on, and in many cases they were not yet producing the kind of content their audiences expected.
The approach changed to leading with monetization rather than audience reach, and to being selective about which talent came on. The ones who succeeded committed real time to the platform and produced long-form, narrative content made for it, rather than reposting short clips from elsewhere. As a result, the first cohort managed to secure premium brand deals, commerce integrations and events, which were commercial outcomes that proved that the platform was worth their time. The early launches also got structured, hands-on onboarding rather than being left to work it out, and the discovery constraints were raised with the product team as a priority.
When supply-side acquisition doesn't attract talent, the first question is what motivates the creator category being targeted. If the answer is financial, organic acquisition without monetization proof will not work regardless of how well the algorithm is tuned. The fix starts with sequencing rather than platform mechanics.