Cameo

Episode 1: "Crap Champ" DUDE Wipes CEO, Sean Riley, delivers in the premiere of Zeitgeist: The podcast that shares how breakout brands got built Sean didn’t just break the DTC mold—he set it on fire! Shark Tank smack down and a life-sized foam butt on MTV have one thing in common... They built Dude Wipes—a $200M empire that turned baby wipes into a pop culture phenomenon. Armed with frat-boy hustle and zero apologies, he turned an uncomfortable truth (“baby wipes are better”) into a brand that’s rewriting the rules of retail. This is no MBA case study. It’s a raw, unfiltered confession packed with: •  How to survive Mark Cuban’s “I’m out” and win him back •  Beating Big Toilet Paper without a big budget •  Riding a toilet paper apocalypse to explosive growth •  Turning bro humor into a retail juggernaut From frat house burritos to C-suite swagger, Sean spills the stories PR teams wish he’d forget. If you’re building a brand or burning the rulebook, this is your blueprint to break out. Step past the Red Velvet Rope. Subscribe to Zeitgeist and listen to Episode 1 now.

I’m thrilled about yesterday’s federal ruling that Apple violated antitrust laws, a massive win for creators everywhere. The 30% Apple tax has long burdened talent and the developers supporting them, siphoning off earnings that could fuel their creativity. This decision, which bans Apple from charging fees on external purchases and restricting developers from linking to alternative payment methods, could dismantle that tax, putting more money directly into creators’ pockets. At Cameo, we have long been outspoken about the harm this has caused in across ecosystem. For example, after Apple’s 30% tax off the top, creators earn only 52.5% of their cameo booking fee. To get to parity with what they earn on web, creators need to charge in-app purchasers 42% more than the same video costs on web. Making matters worse, we were explicitly not allowed to warn consumers in our app that prices are higher in our iOS app vs on Cameo.com. Doing so literally had got us kicked out of the App Store in the past. As a developer this puts in us a major bind. Do we force talent to price themselves the same in app vs on web meaning they earn less for the same work (which has caused many of our top talent to be “unavailable” in the iOS and Android apps), or do we allowed them to jack up their prices by 42% in app so they can make "equal pay for equal work" at the expense of the fans paying to support them. It was a lose-lose. Apple’s restrictive policies have stifled innovation. Despite having an Award winning 4.9 Star app, our team has long deprioritized development on our iOS app because encouraging orders to flow thru IAP meant higher prices for our customers and lower earning for our creators. For years our leadership team has debated entirely shutting down our consumer app because it had fallen so far behind our web experience. Thanks to the Epic Games v. Apple case, we’re seeing a path to a fairer app ecosystem where creators can explore new platforms, access better payment options, and build stronger connections with fans. Imagine a world where talent keeps more of their earnings and innovates without punitive fees—that’s the future this ruling unlocks. Innovation and funding in the creator economy has stalled the past few years and this decision has the potential to be a major inflection point in its rebound. Cameo is all in for creators, and we’re ready to lead the charge in building a vibrant, creator-first app ecosystem that celebrates talent, rewards creativity, and connects fans like never before. It’s time to build again on iOS. LFG 🚀