GoKawiilThis story appears in the May 2026 issue of Entrepreneur. Subscribe »
Everyone wants attention. But few understand how to capitalize on it.
For example: We live in an attention economy, where one viral video can in theory change your life. Virality sells products. It launches brands. It creates celebrities. As a result, every founder is supposed to act like a creator, and every brand must produce content. We’ve optimized our lives and goals around the pursuit of eyeballs and numbers. But say you actually do manage to create a viral video. What then? Do you just…make more viral videos? Produce more content? Join the world’s largest hamster wheel, just running and running, contorting yourself into whatever the internet seems to respond to?
Megan Pete has thought a lot about this, because she’s a product of that attention economy — and evidence of its transformative power. Back in 2013, while attending Prairie View A&M University, she was an aspiring rapper known for her freestyling talents. A few of her videos went viral on Instagram. She started racking up followers under the name Megan Thee Stallion. Then she scored a record deal. Her song “Hot Girl Summer” became the anthem of the season in 2019, followed by collabs with Beyoncé and Cardi B, followed by massive fame, fortune, three Grammys, nearly 75 million social media followers, a documentary, a swimsuit brand at Walmart, a tequila brand, a Popeyes franchise, fancy clothes, fancy cars, fancy friends…
But wait. This could have gone another way, and she knows it.
People could have seen her on social media. They could have clicked “like,” and maybe even followed her. And then they’d have moved on to the next video, the next personality, the next thing to forget. She could have chased that high, producing more of the exact same thing, video after video, desperate for attention. After all, this is what befalls most people who blow up on social, or who have a momentarily hot song, or who score their 15 minutes of fame: they get the attention they crave, then ride it straight into obscurity.
Why? Because most people don’t understand something extremely important, Megan believes.
“People share things for the sake of being seen — versus being understood,” she says. “I never was trying to just be seen. I wanted you to feel something. When you see me, I want you to feel like, ‘Oh my gosh, I know her. Or I want to know her.’”
Being seen versus being understood. That is what made her a success. As Megan became famous for her music and swagger, she also unfurled a more complex personality: She loves anime. She talks openly about therapy. Her father was incarcerated for the first eight years of her life, and both of her parents died before she was 25. (She’s 31 now.) “I was forced to be independent,” she says. “Nobody’s going to help me. Nobody’s going to give me anything.” Her fans know this well. She calls them hotties, and she loves her hotties. She essentially tells them: We’re all out here striving, just trying to do our best.
This, she believes, is why the hotties love her so much. Yes, she is talented, and she makes really good music. But there’s a lot of talent out there in the world, and songs only last a few minutes. So if you want longevity, no matter what industry you’re in, then you must optimize for the thing that lasts longer. It isn’t about being seen, or (if you’re building a brand) silly stunts or performance marketing. It’s about translating that visibility into a deeper, ongoing relationship. People must feel invested in you, not just the thing you make.
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