Today we’d like to introduce you to Grant Powell.
Hi Grant, we’d love for you to start by introducing yourself.
I’ve always been drawn to the intersection of creativity, technology, and business. My background began in the arts. I studied fine art and graphic design and was a founding member of the bands that eventually became Lifehouse and Dawes. Although my career ultimately took me in a different direction, that experience gave me a lasting appreciation for creators and firsthand insight into how difficult it can be to build a sustainable career around creative work.
I eventually moved into technology and digital strategy, where I discovered that I was equally comfortable thinking creatively and building the systems that bring ideas to life. Over the past 20-plus years, I’ve worked with companies including Google, Spotify, Coca-Cola, Disney, Porsche, American Express, and many others. Along the way, I helped create some pioneering digital experiences, including the first live-streamed concert on YouTube and one of the earliest web applications built on Spotify’s API.
I later founded Pomegranate, a digital agency and startup incubator that became Google’s first flagship agency partner. That experience allowed me to build teams, work with major global brands, and incubate several of my own technology ventures. I have always been a founder at heart. I enjoy identifying a real-world problem, understanding it from the user’s perspective, and then assembling the technology, design, and business model needed to solve it.
My career eventually brought me to Austin, where I served as Chief Innovation Officer at Carnegie Technologies. There, I helped conceptualize and build Triller before it was sold. That role deepened my experience in consumer technology, digital entertainment, and the changing relationship between creators, platforms, and audiences.
Those experiences ultimately led me to create Curios. The company began with a broader focus on digital ownership and collectible content, but the underlying mission was always much bigger: make powerful technology accessible and help creators earn more from their work. As we listened to our customers, that mission became increasingly clear and helped Curios evolve into the creator commerce and entertainment platform it is today.
Curios now gives authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators one place to sell and deliver nearly every form of content from ebooks, audiobooks, albums, and videos to printed books, special editions, merchandise, memberships, and more. We handle much of the complicated work behind the scenes, including payments, sales tax, fraud prevention, digital delivery, fulfillment integrations, and customer support. At the same time, creators retain control of their work, earn more from each sale, and gain a direct relationship with the people buying from them.
Looking back, my path may seem varied – from music and design to advertising, technology, startups, collectibles, and entertainment – but there is a consistent thread running through it: I like building things that make complicated systems feel simple and create better opportunities for people. Curios brings all of those experiences together. It combines my background as a creator, technologist, product builder, marketer, and entrepreneur into a company focused on solving a problem I care deeply about: helping creative people build stronger, more independent, and more sustainable businesses.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
It has definitely not been a smooth road, but I have come to believe that very few worthwhile entrepreneurial journeys are.
One of the biggest challenges has been building for markets that are changing in real time. Curios originally gained traction by helping companies and creators sell digital collectibles and other emerging forms of content. We grew quickly, raised capital, and reached significant milestones, but the market shifted dramatically. We had to look beyond the momentum and attention of the moment, listen carefully to our customers, and determine which problems were enduring enough to build a lasting company around.
That process required us to evolve Curios from its earlier positioning into a much broader creator commerce and entertainment platform. Making that transition was not as simple as changing our message. It required substantial changes to the product, business model, team, partnerships, and go-to-market strategy. We had to preserve the strongest parts of what we had built while being willing to let go of ideas that no longer served our customers or our long-term vision.
Another ongoing challenge is the sheer complexity of the problem we are solving. Creators are expected to be artists, marketers, ecommerce operators, fulfillment departments, customer support teams, fraud experts, and tax administrators all at once. Building a platform that makes those responsibilities genuinely easier means solving difficult technical and operational problems behind the scenes, while keeping the experience simple for the creator and the customer.
Like most founders, I have also had to navigate fundraising, hiring, changing market conditions, limited resources, and the constant pressure to decide what matters most. When there are a hundred things that could improve the business, the real skill is identifying the few things that will move it forward.
The greatest lesson for me has been to prioritize progress over perfection. I have learned to move quickly, listen closely, make difficult decisions sooner, and accept that changing direction is not the same as giving up. Sometimes it is the clearest sign that you are paying attention.
Every struggle has helped us better understand what Curios should become. Today, our mission is much clearer. We are building a platform that gives creators more ownership, more control, greater transparency, and a better opportunity to earn a sustainable living from their work. The road has not been smooth, but the obstacles have made both the company and me more focused, resilient, and purposeful.
As you know, we’re big fans of Curios. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Curios is a creator commerce platform and entertainment marketplace built to help authors, musicians, filmmakers, and other creators earn more from their work while doing less of the administrative work that comes with selling it.
For creators, Curios provides one place to sell nearly every format they produce, including ebooks, audiobooks, printed books, special editions, music, video, merchandise, memberships, subscriptions, and bundles. We also support multiple fulfillment options, including digital delivery, print on demand, third-party logistics, and creator-managed shipping.
Our goal is to remove as much friction as possible from running a creative business. Curios handles payments, sales tax, fraud prevention, secure content delivery, ecommerce technology, fulfillment integrations, and customer support. That allows creators to spend more time writing, recording, filming, and building relationships with their audiences.
What sets Curios apart is that we are fundamentally aligned with creators. On most purchases, the creator or rights holder receives 100 percent of the royalty or amount they set for the product. Customers generally pay Curios and payment processing fees separately. Creators also receive valuable customer information, including buyer email addresses, so they can understand who supports their work and build lasting relationships with those customers. That level of ownership and transparency is uncommon on large retail and streaming platforms.
Curios is also different because it combines a robust platform for creators with a marketplace and mobile entertainment experience for customers. Fans can discover, purchase, read, listen to, and watch content in one connected ecosystem. Instead of asking a creator to assemble separate services for ecommerce, digital delivery, audiobooks, video, physical fulfillment, memberships, marketing, and customer management, we bring those capabilities together.
We are particularly focused on serving independent creators, but our platform also works with publishers, distributors, production companies, and established entertainment brands. Our growing partner network helps bring more content, fulfillment options, and promotional opportunities into the ecosystem. That includes affiliate marketing tools that allow creators to expand their reach while remaining in control of how commissions are structured.
What I am most proud of is that Curios is not simply using the language of being creator friendly. We have designed the economics and functionality of the platform around that principle. We believe creators should retain control of their work, know who their customers are, have access to meaningful data, and earn as much as possible from every transaction.
I want readers to understand that Curios is both a destination for entertainment and an operating system for creative businesses. For customers, it is a place to discover and enjoy great books, audiobooks, music, videos, and other products while directly supporting the people who made them. For creators, it is a way to build a more independent and sustainable business without having to become an expert in ecommerce, logistics, taxes, fraud, or technology.
At its heart, Curios exists to create a healthier relationship between creators and their audiences. We want to make it easier for people to support the work they love and make it more rewarding for creators to keep producing it.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Some of my favorite childhood memories involve being outdoors with my family. I remember salmon fishing in the Pacific Ocean with my grandparents off the coast of Eureka, California, and camping in Joshua Tree with my brothers. Those experiences gave me an appreciation for nature that has stayed with me throughout my life.
I believe being close to nature makes us more human. Standing beside the ocean, beneath a vast desert sky, or among landscapes that have existed for millions of years reminds us how small and temporary we are. I do not find that discouraging. I find it grounding. It puts our problems and ambitions into perspective and changes the way we approach our work, our relationships, and our time. Those childhood experiences helped shape my curiosity about the world and continue to remind me to slow down, look around, and appreciate being part of something much larger than myself.
Pricing:
- Free/Trial
- LITE: $9/month
- PLUS: $29/month
- PRO: $69/month
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.curios.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/joincurios/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/grantpowell/
