Every other short-video platform pays creators 3-5% of ad revenue. We pay 50-60%. People ask us constantly: how is that sustainable? The answer is that the current industry standard is the thing that doesn't make sense — not our model.
Where the Money Goes on Other Platforms
When an advertiser pays $10 to run an ad on a creator's video, a traditional platform keeps $9.50–$9.70 and pays the creator $0.30–$0.50. The platform justifies this by pointing to infrastructure costs, moderation, product development, and executive compensation. The creator — who made the content that brought the audience — gets a fraction.
This model made sense when platforms were building something genuinely new and expensive. In 2026, the marginal cost of streaming a video is negligible. Cloud infrastructure has commoditised. Yet the revenue split hasn't moved.
Teka's Model Is Different by Design
Teka was built from the start on the principle that the creator is the product. Without creator content, there is no platform. Advertisers pay for audiences. Audiences come for creators. The value chain is obvious — the fair split is not 95/5, it's closer to 60/40.
Our 40% covers actual costs: server infrastructure, payment processing, moderation, product development, and business operations. We run lean and reinvest in the platform. We don't run on a model that requires extracting most of the value from creators to fund executive bonuses.
Why It's Sustainable
At scale, a 40% platform take on genuine ad revenue is a highly profitable business. The difference is that we're choosing to grow more slowly and share more generously, rather than extracting maximum value from creators in the short term. Creators who earn real money stay on the platform. Creators who earn almost nothing leave. Long-term retention of high-quality creators is the only way to build a sustainable video platform — and that requires paying them properly.
The Referral Structure Amplifies This
The referral programme is funded entirely from Teka's 40% — creators who bring in new creators earn 10–30% of our share, not the referred creator's share. This means the 60% creators keep is always intact. The referral bonus is Teka sharing its own margin to incentivise growth, not taking from creators to fund other creators.
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