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Patreon co-founder and CEO Jack Conte has responded to Bricks & Minifigs about taking down YouTuber Reckless Ben’s post from their platform. He took to Patreon’s official YouTube channel and his own JackConteExtras on June 2 and said in a 50-second video titled “Take Down Notification: Reckless Ben’s Patreon Account,”
“Dear creator community, my name is Jack Conte and I am the CEO and co-founder of Patreon. On May 29th, Patreon received an official takedown request filed by Bricks & Minifigs for media and accounts related to Reckless Ben and an ongoing dispute regarding a local LEGO consignment issue.”
Jack Conte, 41, then showed copies of the verified complaint with exhibits, a request for immediate content removal pursuant to a temporary restraining order, a motion for the TRO and a preliminary injunction, sent from the aftermarket speciality LEGO chain to his subscription-based company for creators and patrons.
He then responded:
“So, after an extensive review and investigation by Patreon’s trust and safety team, we have, in fact, unfortunately determined that Bricks & Minifigs can stuff it. We are keeping Ben’s page up. And if Bricks & Minifigs doesn’t like that, they can sue us. Patreon out.”
In the wake of his now-viral video, netizens are surprised that this same Jack Conte is one half of the indie musical duo, Pomplamoose, with his wife, Nataly Dawn.
X user Yeet (@Awk20000), who shares news “for and about streamers” reposted Jack Conte’s video, underneath which comments filled about his connection to both Patreon and Pomplamoose. One commentator @stileyp wrote:
“Whoa, that’s the guy from Pomplamoose.”
Several others joined the conversation and shared similar reactions.
“How am I just now finding out that Jack Conte of self-titled and Pomplamoose fame is the CEO of Patreon?” an individual asked.
“Always forget that Jack Conte from Pomplamoose is Patreon’s main guy,” another user wrote.
“Holy f**king BASED... I've been a fan of Jack Conte's music for years now, and actually had no idea he was the CEO/ co-founder of Patreon...” a fan wrote.
Others continued to weigh in.
“POMPLAMOOSE GUY IS THE CEO OF PATREON????? WHAT?????” a netizen expressed his shock.
“TIL that the CEO of Patreon is the singer from Pomplamoose. That is sick af,” another one wrote.
All about Jack Conte’s Pomplamoose and how it led to the birth of Patreon
Multi-instrumentalist and arranger Jack Conte and his longtime girlfriend, Nataly Dawn, formed the indie pop/ funk duo Pomplamoose (a misspelling of the French word “Pamplemousse” meaning grapefruit) in Corte Madera, California, in 2008. Dawn is a singer, songwriter, and bassist.
They sold over 100,000 video-songs online within a year, including originals like Hail Mary and covers of popular and existing songs like Beyoncé’s Single Ladies.
Around 2012, they were already making approximately $400,000 a year and even hired a team (four band members, one tour manager, one sound engineer) to handle their scheduling, tour dates, merchandise sales, and more. Yet, the couple was looking to make money from their YouTube videos.
Jack Conte reportedly spent three months producing the music video for their song Pedals, but maxed out his credit cards. This is when he felt completely burnt out. In March 2022, he told CNBC Make It:
“I sat there in a puddle of bottled water, crying like a baby. And it was so dumb.”
The Pedals video amassed millions of views, but generated little revenue. This is when Jack Conte got desperate to figure out a better way to make money through music, while also helping fellow creators get paid for their work.
He called up his freshman roommate, fellow musician, and developer Sam Yam and together launched Patreon as a subscription-based platform which connected creators directly to their patrons’ wallets.
Yam and Conte both studied B.A. Music at Stanford University.
Back then, music biz writer, analyst, and critic Bob Lefsetz and his followers launched an email campaign claiming Jack Conte was trying to hide his Patreon affiliation and was allegedly falsifying Pomplamoose’s tour budget, which was seemingly $11,000 short. Lefsetz claimed it was a “marketing stunt” to raise funds for the platform (which it did).
By August 2013, Patreon raised $2.1 million from a group of venture capitalists and angel investors. Within the next ten months, the company raised another $15 million via a series A round led by Index Ventures’ Danny Rimer. By 2016, the amount had doubled in the series B round, led by Thrive Capital and Patreon was flourishing with $47.1 million. That same year, Jack Conte and Nataly Dawn got married.
Meanwhile, Jack claimed in a Medium blog and an interview with USA Today that he received no salary as the company’s CEO, nor did Pomplamoose make much money from the tours. Instead, he and his wife only earned from the bare minimum proceeds of their band. Conte also cleared the air that he never tried to hide that he was the co-founder and CEO of Patreon and it was mentioned in his X (formerly Twitter) bio.
In a blog posted on the Medium website, Jack Conte also shared how he explained at the end of his Petals music video that he was one of the individuals behind Patreon and how it came to be.
Conte further mentioned how he hosted a three-hour webcast for his fans of both Pomplamoose and Patreon, after the latter raised $15 million in the series A round. Not only that, but he started a vlog for his patrons, explaining his “balancing act of CEO and artist.” Jack’s article on Medium ended with the clarification:
“At the end of almost every video in my YouTube catalog since Patreon’s launch, I talk about my work at the company. I couldn’t possibly be any more open or public about my role as CEO at Patreon.”
The musician-businessman noted that with “exposure,” there was bound to be haters, conspiracy theorists, and more. But he urged everyone to go through the facts and then go ahead and “disagree respectfully,” while he went and shook things off.
Today, the description of Patreon on its website reads:
“Patreon is the best place for creators to build community with their biggest fans, share exclusive work, and turn their passions into lasting creative businesses. Starting... is free for creators and their fans. If they want to start earning an income, they can choose to launch their own digital shop or run a paid membership. Here, creators get a direct line to their communities. That means they never have to worry about ads or algorithms getting in between them and the people who matter most.”
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As of May 2006, Pomplamoose has over 2.05 million YouTube subscribers and 710 million views from 645 videos. Meanwhile, Patreon, which is headquartered in San Francisco, has had over 300,000 active creators and 80 million active patrons as of April this year.
Besides Pomplamoose and Patreon, Conte is also the co-leader of the funk band Scary Pockets and founder of another band, Magaziine, which releases weekly music videos and covers on the platform.
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