Eric Wei began the corporate Karat Monetary to assist creators with the monetary aspect of their careers, however he did not cease there.
After spending a while working with a consumer roster that features Ludwig, Alex Botez, and Wendover Productions, Wei determined to make content material of his personal. On The Karat Podcast, he interviews creators (lots of whom work with Karat) about their journeys to creating it, with visitors starting from the chess streamer (and grandmaster) akaNemsko to Patreon CEO Jack Conte. That did not hold him busy sufficient, so Wei began the podcast The Pleasure of Lacking Out alongside good friend and co-host Chloe Shih to speak about life of their 30s after spending a lot time of their 20s working for different individuals — or in Wei’s phrases, to “just yap.”
Credit score: Mashable Composite: Zooey Liao/ Picture Credit score: Getty Photos/ Finest Purchase/ B&H Picture/ Karat Finance
We caught up with him at VidCon 2025 to study extra about what he makes use of to create all this content material, run Karat, and keep sane via all of it.
Rode wi-fi microphones
As a podcast host, Wei cares about good audio. “You can get away with not great video — you can’t get away without good audio, and you always want to have backups,” he informed us. The Rode Wi-fi Professional system comes with two Lavalier mics and a receiver, a timecode system for syncing up audio and video, and 32GB of reminiscence for as much as 40 hours of recording time.
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Knowledgeable-level digicam from Sony
There’s nothing improper with utilizing an iPhone — it is what Wei himself did when he first began out. ”You don’t necessarily need to have the best cameras,” Wei informed us. “For me, it’s because I realized I wanted to feel more legitimate. The [Sony camera] has leveled the playing field to shoot a professional-looking podcast.”
Whereas it is definitely not the most cost effective digicam on the market, Wei’s footage speaks for itself. As he notes, it is also comparatively versatile, being sufficiently small to make use of as a vlogging digicam however upgradeable sufficient that it could possibly be used on a extra skilled rig.
His Karat bank card
Wei began the Karat bank card as a result of he noticed how laborious it was for creators to open enterprise accounts with conventional banks. “As a creator, it’s fun to make content, but eventually you have to care about things like, how do I pay my taxes? How do I track how much money I’m making? How do I know my tax write-offs? And I think it’s important to set up a business bank account, a credit card, and my company obviously customizes and focuses on that specifically for creators,” mentioned Wei.
On-the-go protein
“ I always have a protein drink in my bag,” Wei informed us. “I’m a big believer that you can only have a healthy mind and be inspired when you have a healthy body.” To show his level, the co-founder pulled his empty Core Energy protein shake bottle out from his bag.
Mashable was reside on the Anaheim Conference Heart final week, protecting VidCon 2025. Take a look at our protection of your favourite creators, the most recent traits, and the way creators are rising their followings, their affect, and making a residing on-line at Mashable.com.
