Grade GTM brain

Grade helps brands, agencies and marketplaces track creator performance and pay creators across borders with tax and identity workflows.

category

Creator payments and performance payroll

market profile

  • text: Creator programs must reconcile variable performance rewards with international payouts and tax documentation.
  • text: Grade's YC launch describes a broader performance-payroll ambition, starting with creators; its live site concentrates on creator payouts.

personas

  • title: Creator partnerships or growth lead
    pains:
    • Tracking views and calculating bonus tiers across a large creator roster
    • Paying creators in multiple countries without slowing campaigns
  • title: Agency operations director
    pains:
    • Managing different payment rules across clients
    • Coordinating creator documentation and payout approvals
  • title: Finance or compliance lead
    pains:
    • Reconciling hundreds of invoices and tax forms
    • Understanding reporting obligations for cross-border creator payments

icp

  • text: Consumer brands and app companies running recurring UGC or influencer campaigns with performance bonuses.
  • text: Agencies managing creator payouts for multiple clients and marketplaces embedding international payouts.
  • text: Programs paying creators across borders, including EU programs facing DAC7 reporting; company size is not specified.

message pillars

  • text: Track content performance before paying.
  • text: Support variable pay alongside flat creator fees.
  • text: Consolidate payout documentation for finance.

objections

  • objection: Will creators need another account?
    response: The site says creators do not need an account; verify the payout and identity process for their country.
  • objection: Will it handle our pay formula?
    response: The site supports fixed and performance-based pay; test the exact calculation and measurement window before adoption.
  • objection: What will payout fees cost?
    response: Tracking is advertised as free with no monthly fees, but confirm transaction charges and FX in writing.

competitors

  • name: viral.app
    website: https://viral.app/comparisons/grade
    why: Competes on creator discovery, performance tracking and payouts.
  • name: Deel
    website: https://www.deel.com/
    why: Overlaps on global contractor payments; Grade emphasizes outcome-based creator payouts.

keywords

  • creator payout platform
  • influencer payment automation
  • UGC performance payments
  • creator DAC7 compliance
  • global creator payouts
  • creator payroll API

voice

  • Direct and pragmatic
  • Compliance-conscious
  • Focused on saving operational time

signals

  • text: A brand is recruiting UGC creators in multiple countries or expanding a performance-based creator program.
  • text: A marketplace or agency needs to consolidate creator payment and tax workflows.

stack

  • PayPal
  • Wise

pricing

model: unknown

motion

hybrid

channels

  • SEO
  • YC launch
  • self-service signup

confidence

medium

Founders

  • name: Lotanna Ezeike
    title: Founder/CEO
    role: CEO
    bio: 2x VC-backed founder. Previously product lead at Barclays, one of the world's largest banks, where I led product for digital payments. At my last company, I managed $10M+ in contractor payouts. That experience led me to build Grade, the API for paying AI agents and contractors based on performance.
  • name: James Heaney
    title: Founder/CTO
    role: CTO
    bio: 2x exited founder and now the CTO of Grade, the API for performance based payroll. Previously, I built and exited my first cryptography startup for over $5M while still in school, built and exited a consumer mobile app PrayScreen, built a rocket engine in my garage, and moved to San Francisco with my cofounder over a year ago. Excited by the future of payroll for the new global workforce and AI agents.

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