Return on Creators

Co-Founder & CEO

The Roc Crüe

Leading new agency initiatives
Cultivating new and existing partnerships
Guiding forward-looking strategy and execution

Head of Strategy

Trndsttrs

Guiding Strategy. Getting out of the team's way. Helping brands crush on TikTok Shop.

Trndsttrs Media is a Gen Z owned & operated agency that helps brands connect with modern consumers.

We are social media marketing gurus, content creators, social influencers, and trendsetters 🚀.

Founder & CEO

Seven years ago, I was just a kid with a hunch.

Brands didn't understand Gen Z. 

I saw the gap and knew it had to be fixed.

But the thing about being an 18 y/o dropout with no experience, clients, or money?

No one gives a shit.

I had to go prove it.

I scratched. Clawed. Worked like hell to just get a chance.

I got a shot and took it.

Trndsttrs was born. 

The idea became a team.

A team that would prove our thesis brick by brick. 

The stakes grew and so did the team.

We helped McDonald's navigate COVID. 

We launched your favorite brands on TikTok and hacked the algorithm.

We changed the vertical content game forever. 

We helped brands break through the noise. Built creator partnerships that mattered. And ran campaigns that didn't sell into culture, but shaped it.

We built, pound for pound, the best Gen Z team in the world.

But here's what they don't tell you about building something from scratch:

You don't just learn how to solve problems. 

You learn to spot the ones that keep coming back.

For years, we solved the same problem over and over again.

Every campaign, every deal, every strategy—it all pointed to the same gap.

The brand <> creator ecosystem is broken.

We worked around it. We filled the gaps ourselves.

Until one day, we realized we weren’t just filling the gaps.

We were building the solution.

Now I find myself building RoC (return on creators).

Not a new idea—it’s the culmination of everything we’ve built, everything we’ve learned, and every challenge we’ve solved along the way.

This is our moonshot. Beaten and battered grapes forming our magnum opus.

I'll continue to operate with Trndsttrs as the premier social commerce agency—partnering with a select group of brands to drive results on the fastest-growing commerce platforms in the world.

Jake Bjorseth

Closed The Biggest Deal of My Life This Weekend 

She's been with me in building two companies.

Dropping out of college to pursue this crazy dream.

Starting our influencer operation from the ground floor into the thing we're the absolute best at today.

Following me and that dream from her family in Kansas City to Los Angeles and now Florida.

She's the only one that's been with me through it all.

Missing dates I couldn't find the time for.

Rarely any budget for birthday or anniversary gifts.

Dealing with the chaos of the entrepreneurial life we chose.

I owe it all to her.

Amanda, now let's go get you a new last name people can't pronounce and go build one last venture together:

A family.

Social Commerce + Creator Marketing | Mom's Favorite Son

Vine is back. Sort of. 

And it says a lot about where the internet is going.

I spent this morning thinking about something wild:

A decade-old app just resurfaced…

And somehow, it feels more relevant than half the platforms that launched this year.

Vine (now revived as “diVine”) brought back 100,000+ of its original 6-second videos.

And it’s taking a hard stance: no generative AI uploads. Only real humans, real cameras.

This hit me for one reason:

We’re officially entering the era where nostalgia is a strategy.

Consumers don’t just want new features anymore.

They want a feeling.
 
They want the internet they grew up with.

They want identity back.

And the comeback of Vine tells us something brands need to pay attention to.

Short-form didn’t win because it was short.

It won because it felt raw.

It felt human.

It felt like creativity had constraints again.

Today, platforms are bloated.

Feeds are flooded with AI sludge.

Authenticity feels algorithmically filtered.

So of course an old format suddenly feels refreshing.

Here’s the real takeaway:

The next wave of social isn’t going to be “more.”
 
It’s going to be less.

Less polished.

Less synthetic.

Less optimized for machines.

More human.

More native.

More emotional.

Brands that embrace this shift will cut through the noise instantly.

Not by trying to out-AI everyone.

But by returning to constraints that force creativity.

If you’re a marketer, creator, or brand leader… ask yourself:

Are you chasing complexity?

Or are you building for the internet people miss?

Times I've Been Asked If I Had A College Degree:

0

Times I've Been Asked About Case Studies:

3,000+

Meritocracy: holding of power by people selected on the basis of their ability.

Don't take for granted just how unique this moment in time is.

For thousands of years, your success depended on who your parents were.

For the last century, it was your college and degree based on grades you got at 16 years old.

Today, it's... what you can actually do.

Mamdani's campaign for NYC mayor was a marketing masterclass.

What opposition will claim as "the kid who promises pizza for lunch and kool-aid in the water fountains" is dismissive of the true strategic brilliance.

This campaign was a mirror image of Trump's 2016 run.

The policies vastly different, but the strategies identical ->

1. Simple Messaging
Trump didn't present a complicated immigration plan. He promised to "build a wall" and "have Mexico pay for it". 

It was a visual example able to be explained by supporters in one sentence.

Mamdani's message was incredibly simple:

Lower Rent
Free Buses

Not a convoluted policy on property taxes on corporations, rent subsidies, etc... 

2. Social First
Mamdani was everywhere. His face inescapable across social media.

Trump's 2016 was the first of its kind: a social-first political strategy leaning on Meta, not programmatic.

Mamdani's team from design to creative to messaging to marketing was always social first. 

3. Community Centric
Whether it was bodegas, clubs, or even a UGC-driven scavenger hunt, Mamdani's team took to the streets.

The online content is only a signal to forge the grassroots movement IRL that you really need to win votes.

Meeting culture where it is time and time again.
--
This will not be the last populist election we see. 

Changes are this is yet another trailblazing example of what is to come.

Label it what you want, but the real story here is a marketing one, not a political one.

My passion for entrepreneurship and marketing is all a facade.

A trick played by my own brain against my subconscious.

And all of this you see is nothing more than the outlet for the real motivation.

For some, that intrinsic motivation is money.

Attention for many more.

More nefarious things, but helpful, for others.

For me, I know all too well the hidden desire that makes me tick.

Competition.

I've had an obsessive need to compete, and win, since as young as I can remember.

Nothing could ever just be a fun game to play.

Sports, activities, school work, video games...

I didn't care what it was, I needed to win.

I used to find ways to cheat playing freaking Uno with my family.

I spent 20 minutes last night watching a Youtube video on strategies for the card game "Spades" so I can crush my buddies this weekend.

It's a problem... 

But it's who I am.

And it ain't changing.

Maybe I need a therapist.

Or maybe I need a business that lets me work with hundreds of brands getting the chance to compete everyday across every category.

If you're a founder, I know the same is true for you.

There is some intrinsic motivation behind it all that is the real reason you do what you do.

Find that motivation.

Cut the crap trying to convince yourself you were born to sling enterprise software or CPG products on the internet. 

Lean into that intrinsic motivation and design your life for it.

You'll be glad you did

TikTok isn’t the Silk Road.

It’s Rome.

The Silk Road was a trade route.

Rome was a world order.

TikTok isn’t just connecting culture and commerce…

It’s centralizing it.

Here’s the real analogy:

Rome didn’t just influence the world, it dictated it.

All roads led back to Rome.

And all influence led out of it.

TikTok operates the same way today:
👉 Trends begin there
👉 Narratives spread from there
👉 Products are validated there
👉 Purchases happen because of it

Not because TikTok is “randomly powerful.”

But because of its origin.

A cultural empire disguised as a social app.

Most platforms distribute influence horizontally.

TikTok funnels it vertically.

It’s not a marketplace of ideas,

It’s the epicenter where ideas are minted, ranked, and exported.

Creators orbit it.

Brands depend on it.

Consumers treat it as truth.

And whether we like it or not…

Every road in modern culture now leads back to TikTok.

The companies pretending TikTok is just another platform are the ones falling behind.

The ones treating it like Rome, the undeniable center of cultural gravity, are the ones winning.
—

If you want to understand where culture, commerce, and attention are heading…

Don’t study trade routes.

Study empires.

Evan J.

Straight Up Growth

Over $1 Billion in Amazon sales
Straight Up Growth will empower you to execute a strategy to meet your tough sales targets

CEO and Co-Founder

Modern Sales Pros

Modern Sales Pros is the world's largest community for leaders in sales, operations, enablement, and related disciplines. Our mission is to help our community learn how to solve the biggest challenges they face (and would otherwise bang their heads against the wall trying to solve). Our 13,000 members learn from each other through our online message board and through amazing in-person events.

Member

Nextiva

Develop strategy and oversee projects for 30 professionals in Sales and Marketing for SaaS division of $170M company (total business is now up $20M from $150M)

Business Segment Leader - NextOS/SaaS

7-Figure Business

Co-Founded business from scratch that went from 0 to $1.5 Million in about 14 months
Taught Inc. 5000 and Fortune 500 sales leaders, salespeople and SDRs sales acceleration best practices leading to upselling and retaining 100% of the clients I oversaw.
Build go to market plan and objectives to capture demand with a focus on the needs of marketing and sales leaders at venture capital-backed High Tech and AI companies 
Continuously conduct market analysis with key users to continuously optimize our market position
Manage budgets, client accounts, business systems and provide advisory to operations team

Co-Founder

Naava

Developed GTM Strategy with High-Profit Margins 
Hired, Trained and Coached Team on Systems, Processes, and Messaging to Optimize Results
VC Funded Start-Up from Finland Expanding into the US Market

Head of Sales USA

XpertHR USA

Key team member in saving the US division from nearly having the lights go off when I was first hired to stable 59% YOY growth 
Influenced the product and marketing strategy by working closely with legal editors, product professionals, and marketing to release new content and new features 
Negotiated for sales acceleration technology and then enabled the team to adopt new processes in SalesForce.com leading to enhanced reporting and 3X revenue growth in 2014
Became a go-to contact for product knowledge, messaging and user stories for critical team members

HR Business Consultant

ON24

Directed and led projects with multiple internal and external stakeholders including marketing professionals, webinar business consultants, legal, finance, procurement and engineers to increase the ROI of virtual events for Fortune 500s and companies looking to grow faster. Taught clients primarily how to leverage ON24's webinar technology to dramatically increase their sales revenue as well as to track and measure their results with analytics to continually improve.  

Generated the most revenue in the history of the company in a quarter in the business development role. Trained, mentored and hired business development rep that went from limited experience to second best performance in the history of the company in his first quarter.

Helped clients to complete complex events to meet sophisticated and technical needs in conjunction with sales engineers to provide a massive ROI using relationship building skills and understanding their business challenges.

Webinar Business Consultant

CoStar Group

Recognized as top 10% performer based on call activities, meetings to demonstrate company products, and training existing clients.

Managed $1.3M book of business with 550 stakeholders.  Responsible for all new business, training, product implementation and up selling. 

Trained real estate brokers, financial institutions, banks, appraisers and property owners how to use CoStar's commercial real estate transactions and for lease/for sale information for underwriting, property analysis and market analysis

Account Manager

Marcus & Millichap

Prepared and provided expertise on comprehensive valuations for over $200,000,000 of prospective investment opportunities utilizing discounted cash flows, direct market cap methodologies and sales comparable evaluations

Mentored by and assisted #11 agent in sales volume out of a firm of 1300 investment specialist with the marketing and closing of real estate transactions

Created marketing materials that included extensive market data, financial analysis, and historical information on investment properties and their surrounding areas

Led property level due diligence on transactions analyzing rent roll, tax and operating statements

Commercial Real Estate Broker

FOX Broadcasting Company - FOX Television Shows

Assisted with development of pitch books with in-depth analysis of investment considerations and the recommendation for clients that aligned with their strategic goals

Evaluated data and managed existing contracts for television advertisements

Media Sales Department (Internship)

Over $1 Billion in Amazon sales

My Why: Helping Good People Grow Good Online Businesses

I have always had a strong preference for working with the most reputable firms that offer the best services or products in their market.  The desire to help my clients grow by increasing their new business development efficiencies and find venture capital to fuel their growth is what drives me.

Learn more about us at StraightUpGrowth.com

Over $500 Million in Amazon Sales and $25 Million on Amazon Ads Spent
Straight Up Growth will empower you to execute a strategy to meet your tough sales targets

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The Battle

Jake Bjorseth

Evan J.

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The Battle

Jake Bjorseth

Evan J.

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Jake Bjorseth's LinkedIn Performance

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