In the summer of 2020, while the world was locked down, a small group of ambitious writers on X/Twitter decided to stop competing and start collaborating. They called themselves the 100K Club. The premise was simple: a private DM group where they could share strategies, give brutal feedback, and cross-pollinate their growing audiences. At the time, members like Sahil Bloom and Trung Phan had roughly 10,000 to 15,000 followers. Today, Sahil Bloom has nearly a million, and almost every member of that original cohort has scaled to 300,000 followers or more. This isn't just a story of individual talent; it is a masterclass in creator economy growth through the power of social proximity.
The Genesis of the 100K Club
The original group featured a heavy-hitting lineup of creators who would eventually dominate the business and tech niches on social media. This included Sahil Bloom, Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, Nick Huber, Austin Rief, and Trung Phan. They weren't just shouting into the void; they were building a social media networking strategy that allowed them to treat Twitter like a "free university" while leveraging it as a social club.
Interestingly, the group wasn't for everyone. Notable creators like Julian Shapiro and Cortland Allen were part of the chat at various points but eventually left. As Trung Phan noted in his recent reflections, leaving a group chat can be awkward, but the remaining core members found that the shared focus on audience building and high-leverage content changed their lives. The 100K Club serves as a blueprint for any creator looking to move from the middle of the pack to the top 1% of their field.
The Power of Social Proximity
Why does a mastermind group accelerate growth so effectively? It comes down to social proximity. When you are in a room—even a digital one—with the top 1% of your field, you gain access to inside baseball that isn't shared in public threads. Whether you are a medical researcher or a Car Dealership Guy, being part of that top-layer conversation forces you to elevate your game.
As Trung Phan explains, once a few leaders in a niche start exchanging ideas, no one else in that field can afford to concede that ground. This creates a growth flywheel: the high-quality information attracts more high-quality followers, which in turn attracts celebrities, CEOs, and athletes to the conversation. To achieve creator economy growth, which Goldman Sachs projects could reach $480 billion by 2027, you don't just need better content; you need to be in the "room where it happens."
Step-by-Step Guide: Forming Your Mastermind
Building an influencer mastermind group requires more than just adding people to a group chat. It requires intentional curation and a creator collaboration playbook that ensures high signal-to-noise ratios.
Step 1: Identify Your Growth Cohort
Look for peers who are at a similar stage but possess different strengths. If you have 10k followers, don't just target creators with 500k; target those with 15k to 30k who are growing fast. Look for people who are "one percenters" in their specific niche. For example, a specialized tool like Stormy AI can help you discover creators in your specific niche, allowing you to filter by engagement rates and audience quality to ensure you're inviting high-signal partners into your circle.
Step 2: The High-Value Outreach
Don't send a generic "let's collab" DM. Reference a specific piece of their content that provided value to you. Suggest a low-friction way to help each other, such as a feedback loop for upcoming threads or videos. The goal of your social media networking strategy should be to prove you are a value-add, not a value-taker.
Step 3: Set Group Norms and Expectations
A mastermind group dies when it becomes a "shill group." The 100K Club succeeded because it focused on brutal honesty. Set rules for the chat: no spamming, mandatory feedback on at least one post per week, and a focus on sharing original reporting and data rather than just re-sharing wire pieces.
Feedback Loops and Strategy Sharing
The secret sauce of any successful mastermind is the feedback engine. Before Sahil Bloom or Shaan Puri would post a viral thread, it often went through a vetting process within the group. This internal peer review helps identify cognitive blockers and refines the "oomph" needed to go viral.
Consider the example of a viral thread about a vendor dispute. A creator might hesitate to send a firm email for fear of being the "bad guy." In a mastermind group, peers can suggest using tools like ChatGPT to draft a "good cop, bad cop" response that maintains professionalism while securing payment. This type of tactical sharing is what separates a casual chat from a high-growth mastermind.
Managing these relationships at scale can become difficult as your network grows. Sophisticated creators use an influencer CRM like Stormy AI to track their interactions, ensuring they are consistently providing value to their core mastermind members while also discovering new potential collaborators through AI-powered search tools.
Transitioning to Business Partnerships
Audience building is often just the first step. The real leverage in the creator economy comes when you transition from content distribution to product ownership. Members of the 100K Club and the Hustle alumni network, like Steph Smith and Trung Phan, have shown that a large audience can be the ultimate launchpad for SaaS products and services.
For instance, Trung Phan launched Barely AI, a productivity tool, by leveraging his distribution on X/Twitter. Similarly, creators are now launching service-based businesses like productized design agencies that generate six or seven figures in ARR almost instantly upon launch. When you own the distribution, you become the advertiser, which is the highest-margin position in the ecosystem.
The Future of Creator Collaboration
As we move further into an AI-driven world, the barriers to entry for content creation are vanishing. This makes community and proximity even more valuable. Whether it's through a niche Discord community or a private WhatsApp group, the creators who band together will always outperform the solo operators.
The creator collaboration playbook of the future involves more than just retweeting each other. it involves co-investing, building shared SaaS tools, and creating "super apps" of content that dominate specific niches. By focusing on productivity uplifts—like using AI to localize content for non-English speakers—creators can unlock trillions of dollars in global market opportunity.
Conclusion: Building Your Own Club
Scaling from 10k to 100k followers isn't a solo sport. It requires a social media networking strategy built on trust, feedback, and shared goals. The 100K Club wasn't a fluke; it was a deliberate choice by a group of creators to aggregate their influence and push each other toward excellence. To start your own, begin by identifying your peers, offering genuine value, and setting high standards for the group. In the creator economy, your network truly is your net worth. Start building your room today.