TikTok and YouTube Face New Competition With Clash App

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

TikTok and YouTube Face New Competition With Clash App

Before there was TikTok, the long since defunct Vine was the short social media platform. Now one of Vine's founders and one of its creators are pushing to build a new video app to help creators make money easier than they can on TikTok or any of the other crowded social media apps.

Clash rolled out new features on Tuesday that let anyone make money from videos regardless of follower count – the strategy is a direct response to companies like Instagram and YouTube, where creators have to be "verified" to earn any form of cash.


The startup is the result of two companies merging. Byte, created by Vine founder Dom Hofmann and billed as a sequel to Vine, was acquired by Clash CEO and co-founder, Brendon McNerney, former Vine content creator and creative director at NeoReach. Clash debuted last summer.

But, it relaunched this week with new features that gives creators the ability to shoot and edit videos in-app, share their content and earn.

Clash CEO and co-founder Brendon McNerney

McNerney wanted to create an app that gave creators the ability to make cash on social media without brand deals.

"I was still getting text messages from friends every weekend like hey I need another brand deal, I can't pay rent this week," McNerney told dot.LA. "I wanted to build something you know as a former creator, that was inherently easy and fun for creators to use, and also receive support directly from their audience."

Clash is entering a crowded market where social media companies apps like TikTok, Facebook and Snapchat are in need of content and luring creators with dollars.

But unlike most platforms that service the top 2% of creators, Clash was created with the small creator in mind.

"Part of that was rebuilding byte with the latest and greatest creative tools, but also making sure that it was really easy to share and earn," COO Justice Tention told dot.LA.

A key feature of the app includes "drops," which are digital goods that can be sent to creators from their fan base to show their appreciation and support (virtual tip-jar).

Once a creator earns 2,500 "drops," equivalent to $25 USD, the creator can then cash out using PayPal or Venmo at the end of each month.

"We see a lot of creators on TikTok and Instagram putting Venmo or PayPal links in their bio, asking for money and so we wanted to just go with what creators were using." Tention said.

For now, Clash will not take a cut from the creators, but that may change in the future. The app is free and available in the Apple App and Google Play store.

The company has $9 million in venture funding raised so far, backed by Reddit co-founder Alexis Ohanian's firm Seven Seven Six along with M13, Plug and Play Tech, and ACME Capital.

Correction: An earlier version stated that the app was available on Google Play. Clash won't be available on Google Play for a few weeks.

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Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

Relativity Space Launches World’s First 3D-Printed Rocket, But Falls Short of Orbit
Photo: Relativity Space

The largest 3D-printed object to ever fly had liftoff yesterday as Long Beach-based Relativity Space launched its Terran 1 rocket from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station.

Terran 1 lifted off from Cape Canaveral at around 7 p.m. PST March 22. It was Relativity’s third attempt at sending Terran 1 to the cosmos and the nighttime launch was quite a sight to behold. The clarity of the night sky was perfect to see the blue jets of flame cascading out of Terran 1’s nine Aeon 1 engines, all 3D-printed, as the rocket took off.

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What Is ‘Embodied Audio?’ And Can It Help Professional Sports Teams Fill Their Stadiums?

Samson Amore

Samson Amore is a reporter for dot.LA. He holds a degree in journalism from Emerson College and previously covered technology and entertainment for TheWrap and reported on the SoCal startup scene for the Los Angeles Business Journal. Send tips or pitches to samsonamore@dot.la and find him on Twitter @Samsonamore.

What Is ‘Embodied Audio?’ And Can It Help Professional Sports Teams Fill Their Stadiums?
Photo: Edge Sound Research

In 2020, the Minnesota Twins experimented with a new technology that brought fans the ability to physically feel the sounds they were hearing in the stadium in the back of their seats as part of a new immersive way to experience baseball.

The tech was made by Riverside-based startup Edge Sound Research, which built a mobile lounge – basically, a small seating section equipped with its technology and on wheels to travel around the stadium – for Twins fans to experience what it calls “embodied audio” around Target field. It was a bid on the Twins’ part to keep fans more engaged during the game, and Edge Sound Research CEO Valtteri Salomaki said the Twins were impressed.

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samsonamore@dot.la

B Capital’s Howard Morgan On The Key To Early Stage Investing

Decerry Donato

Decerry Donato is a reporter at dot.LA. Prior to that, she was an editorial fellow at the company. Decerry received her bachelor's degree in literary journalism from the University of California, Irvine. She continues to write stories to inform the community about issues or events that take place in the L.A. area. On the weekends, she can be found hiking in the Angeles National forest or sifting through racks at your local thrift store.

B Capital’s Howard Morgan On The Key To Early Stage Investing
Provided by LAV

On this episode of the LA Venture podcast, B Capital Group General Partner and Chair Howard Morgan discusses his thoughts on early stage investing and the importance of company ownership.


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