There’s a legion of workers sitting behind their desks and unloading trucks, fantasizing about one day chasing their dream careers. Now, hundreds of people have found million-dollar success by pursuing their passions on digital marketplace Whop. And its CEO, Steven Schwartz, wants to bring his vision to the masses.
“The future’s gonna look like everyone is complete of their own agency, and [are] spending their days doing the work that they find way more fun than what they’re doing today,” he tells Fortune. “They shouldn’t have to worry about money—it’s coming with the work that you’re finding passionate. We want to build that world.”
And so far, the $1.6 billion social commerce platform—where users monetize their expertise, content, and businesses—has succeeded in realizing the cofounder’s mission. The company says it has minted over 650 millionaires and counting, with people hitting seven-figures selling services such as coaching business programs and skills courses, as well as items like meal kits and vitamins.
One entrepreneur, Shelby Haas, brings in $1 million monthly by teaching remote sales on Whop. Troy Adashun is a self-made millionaire thanks to selling his health products on the platform, Alpha Lion Supplements; and podcast host Jay Shetty even runs his coaching business, the Jay Shetty Certification Shool, on Whop.
Whop provides a one-stop-shop platform where people sell their services and physical products—albeit, often to much nicher audiences than others like Etsy. But many who are finding their corner of consumers are now living off their pursuits.
Schwartz’s own entrepreneurial career is a product of his work philosophy. As a kid of military parents practicing medicine, he grew up bouncing around the world—selling water in the streets of China, and refereeing hockey games in Springfield, Illinois—navigating his childhood across many cities, including Honolulu and Chicago as well.
Before high school was even up, Schwartz had already worked for a New York City hedge fund. And in college, during his time at NYU Stern School of Business, he also interned at Accenture in Singapore. Throughout his brief career to date, Schwartz has kickstarted three companies in addition to creating Whop back in 2021. And now the 26-year-old founder is hoping that professionals do not have to dread clocking in for their work shifts.
“The idea that people can have fun while working is very foreign to most people, but has been solved by some,” the Gen Z leader continues. “We just want to bring it to the rest.”
From building sneaker bots to running a 22 million-person platform
At just 13 years old, Schwartz started working out of his childhood bedroom, building and selling iOS apps that could quickly snap up in-demand sneakers. The then-middle school entrepreneur created the bot operation with Cameron Zoub, who would be his fellow cofounder (and Whop’s chief growth officer) in the years to come. Their business, Sole Sniper, sold bots that ranged from $20 to $500 and quickly bought popular shoes before they sold out. It was inspired out of frustration with a fractured internet economy—the same annoyance which led them to cofound one platform where people sell, connect, and get paid: Whop.
The gig that had really pushed Schwartz into his current career trajectory was a college internship at financial services giant Accenture. As a summer analyst and undergraduate student at NYU, Schwartz worked at the company’s office in Singapore programming projects for major businesses in Southeast Asia. His responsibilities included creating chatbots for shipping companies, which set him up to keep selling the tools after leaving the $108 billion company. Schwartz loved to build, but wanted to pursue a passion over growing his stable corporate career.
It wasn’t long until Schwartz took aim for the founder life. The same year he completed his undergraduate degree in 2021, the fresh-faced graduate founded Whop alongside Zoub and Chief Technology Officer Jack Sharkey. And over the five years since, the company has since raised around $272 million in total funding. In 2023, Insight Partners led a $17 million Series A funding round with notable angel participation from Peter Thiel and The Chainsmokers. Whop also enjoyed a Series B of more than $50 million led by Bain Capital Ventures; and just this February, Tether invested $200 million, setting the company at a $1.6 billion valuation.
Today, Whop says it has around 22 million platform users, with 50,000 to 60,000 streaming in daily. The platform supports around $4 billion in annual commerce generated by businesses across 145 countries, amounting to $300 million in monthly sales. The company says everyday, around 10 to 15 Whop users make their first $20,000 on the platform.
Schwartz prefers to hire job candidates who work hard, play hard
While many tech companies like Meta, Amazon, and Microsoft are pulling back on their recruitment, Whop is currently in a hiring stretch. The company has 120 full-time staffers and is recruiting for 40 open roles across engineering, growth, and design. In May, the growing digital marketplace onboarded 16 new staffers alone. Schwartz says that overall, it’s a good thing that Whop is bringing on a litany of new employees; however, it also requires more effort to protect the company culture.
“We’re just recruiting so many new people,” he explains. “Now, I think as numbers go up, there’s a lot of added problems that come, and that a lot of times people think are very important relative to anything else. They’re not.”
One way to avoid picking the bad apples is by having an intentional vetting process. Schwartz says the company looks for a few key traits during hiring rounds to ensure talent are the best possible match. Creativity is a part of the equation; the best applicants are able to drum up ideas and actually put them into motion.
But the most critical quality that Schwartz looks for in Whop talent is being able to build end-to-end—whether it be technical like engineering, or creative like writing. Candidates who see their ideas through have a leg up in the company’s interview rounds.
“The only thing that really matters is: has this person built something? Is it impressive and cool? And if so, then welcome to the team,” the CEO continues. “We look at energy. How fun is it to be with this person? Do you find yourself wanting to spend a lot of time with them? That’s a good trait.”
