Forget Courses, Launch This In 2026 To Survive AI | 087

In this episode, I sit down with Jay Clouse, founder of Creator Science and one of the top thinkers in the creator economy, to talk about how to build sustainable memberships, price high-ticket offers, and stay ahead of AI disruption.

We dig into Jay’s insights from 250+ creator interviews, the future of online courses, and how group coaching programs quietly outperform larger audiences.

Jay shares the onboarding system behind his high-retention membership, how he scaled his Lab community, and why trust, not attention, is the metric that matters most in 2024.

If you want to grow a stable, high-leverage creator business, this is a masterclass.

Timestamps:
00:00 Introduction
01:20 Why AI is going to disrupt course creators
03:42 Hyper-personalized learning vs static curriculum
07:11 What to build next if courses are dying
10:47 Rethinking memberships and peer-to-peer communities
17:21 Pricing for renewal instead of first-year sales
22:04 Why he removed the member cap
25:30 Objective criteria for curating communities
27:00 Who earns the most per follower
30:39 Done-for-you vs group coaching vs DIY
34:32 Building sticky products that actually retain
39:04 The onboarding system behind Jay’s community
46:57 Keeping members engaged after 6 months
50:54 Building habit loops and true community
54:20 Why in-person events are now a priority
58:03 Being authentic when you’re always “on”
01:00:53 Don’t optimize for attention—optimize for trust
01:02:28 Where to follow Jay

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Learn more about the podcast: https://nathanbarry.com/show

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Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanbarry
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Follow Jay:
Website: https://www.creatorscience.com
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jayclouse
X: https://twitter.com/jayclouse
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@jay
Podcast: https://www.creatorscience.com/podcast

Featured in this episode:
Creator Science: https://www.creatorscience.com
The Lab: https://join.creatorscience.com
Kit: https://www.kit.com