“We're hiring folks like it could be indie folks that live that are in college in New York City... they're just sort of like making a bunch of content and we're giving direction and like we have almost like a chat of folks that are making content together that are coming up with different ideas together.”

Build A Stable Of Part-Time Creators: Pay Per Post, Post From Their Accounts, Test 20 Angles

Portola's TikTok engine isn't an in-house team or an influencer agency — it's a networked stable of part-time creators who post from their own accounts. They share a group chat for brainstorming, each tries different content angles, and Portola pays per post. One in 20 videos goes viral. This is cheaper than big influencer deals and naturally tests more angles faster.