Ashley Mastronardi: So we spoke about the New York Stock Exchange Creator Summit with Justin Skip earlier, and I’m joined now by the emcee of the event, Akash Pasricha, anchor at The Information TV. So good to see you.
Akash Pasricha: Ashley, thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
Ashley Mastronardi: How was the event?
Akash Pasricha: Oh, it was amazing. I mean, it’s a celebration of people that know what it’s like to turn on a camera every day and, in many ways, do it on their own. I mean, these are creators in finance and tech creators who are running their own channels, in some cases inside media organizations, outside media organizations. It was such a special day and a really special group behind me right there.
Ashley Mastronardi: And you’re talking about this special group. What is the power of getting like-minded people aiming for the same thing into the same room, having conversations?
Akash Pasricha: I mean, you know, if you count the collective following of this group right here, you know, in terms of the audience, the number of X followers, YouTube subscribers, people on Instagram, I mean, the numbers are astonishing, really. And so, I mean, you’re kind of seeing a wave now of public companies turning to creators to get their message across to investors and to shareholders. And it kind of speaks to the power of this group right here.
Ashley Mastronardi: Can you talk about some of those examples? Because public companies are getting into the creator game. Why do people want a piece of this?
Akash Pasricha: I mean, you know, I think about Apple. I mean, Apple, they host their keynotes and they invite more creators now to these events, which is kind of astonishing. Streamers, people playing with the new iPhones, people doing backflips in the Apple Store. I mean, this is the way to get attention right now. And that’s the reason why it’s such a big market right now.
Ashley Mastronardi: And you are anchor and creator at The Information TV, focused on tech. Tell me about The Information TV.
Akash Pasricha: Well, the show, we started a little over a year ago. I mean, we set out with this mission that we were going to do an hour of video every day. We were going to have four segments, very similar to the way that people have done it on television. But we said we’re going to do it on our own. And it’s been an incredible success. We’ve had CEOs of public companies. We’ve had over 450 executives and entrepreneurs and founders on the show. And I’ve got to tell you, there is no louder time in tech right now to be covering it. So it’s a lot of fun.
Ashley Mastronardi: Akash Pasricha, anchor at The Information TV, thanks for joining us on Taking Stock.
Akash Pasricha: Thanks for having me. Appreciate it.
