I did my last dash this weekend as a full-time dasher. Since I started building @HotDropApp back on November 10, 2025, I've done nearly 4000 deliveries. I've also averaged 150+ miles a day since then. Outside of a couple days when I was sick, I haven't taken a single day off during that stretch. It's been a grind, it's taught me about dignity and humility, and it's fed into the core values of HotDrop as a platform. There is a bigger overlap than you might think between the dasher and the creator. Both make their own schedule. Both are often times at the mercy of an algorithm. And both find connection and camaraderie with others walking a similar path. There were many occasions where I'd be waiting for a shake at Freddy's or a baguette at Panera and I'd strike up a conversation with a fellow dasher. In those brief interactions, there is mutual understanding and respect. We'd lament Home Depot and how dehumanizing those offers are. Carrying a dozen 20 lb bags of mulch for a pittance. Or we'd ponder how DoorDashing feels differently than it did just a few months ago. And it would make that moment better. That next trip just a bit lighter, because in a line of work where you often go under-appreciated and unseen, that human connection can make all the difference. People in the creator space can feel that too. It's sought after, that sense of belonging and understanding. Whether you're just getting started streaming, or you're a mod in 10 different channels, or you're the person that always shows up first, we need each other to go farther. A lot of times we need each other to hang on. I built HotDrop because I think our world needs it. I've driven tens of thousands of miles and carried nearly as many bags of chipotle and mcdonalds in order to turn a dream into a reality. It's real, it exists, and now it just needs you. And I'll work just as hard to deserve you being there with me and everyone else.

You know what would make @HotDropApp even better? YOU! HotDrop is a place for anyone who is a part of the content creator world. Creators and their communities. This place was built for you. It will feel different and familiar at the same time. And your feedback actually makes a difference. Like something? Tell us. Gonna crash out because we don’t have something? Especially tell us so we can add or fix it! Your identity in this world has a home on HotDrop.

A couple things taught me more about content creation than streaming and making videos: being a viewer and being a dasher. For the long gaps where I wasn’t streaming, I was a viewer / lurker. One of the things I grew to appreciate was enthusiasm for me hanging out. How you’re greeted in a stream makes such a difference. When I say hi in @molly_funk_22 or @isOracle_ stream for example, how they respond makes a huge impact. Tone, annunciation, warmth, appreciation - all of those things in 2 seconds. Mods are the heroes here, too, in this regard. They deserve all the credit in the world. I also learned a lot from dashing while building @HotDropApp - hard to imagine there would be such overlap between the plight of the dasher and creator but there is, remarkably so. Dignity could be the most sacred thing in the creator space. Feeling as though the dream you’re chosen has worth. That you have worth. That your effort is seen and valued. Dashing taught me absence of dignity. It taught me how that impacts how you feel, about your situation and yourself. These two things are entwined. It’s interesting how as a viewer, all it really takes is for the person broadcasting to be excited to see you to make you feel seen and valued. Makes all the difference. I made HotDrop for many reasons. Chief among them is restoring and preserving dignity in the creator space. For the creator, for the viewer, and everyone in between.

The @HotDropApp journey is the creator journey. 🤞☝️❤️