People

John Hu’s Stan Powers Influencer Millions
By James Moreau | 10 Sep, 2025

Struggles with monetizing his own social media helped John Hu built Stan, a platform that empowers creators to turn their followings into businesses.

John Hu is co-founder and CEO of Stan, an all-in-one platform designed for creators to monetize their online presence.  Stan’s customizable storefront can be linked from a creator’s social media accounts, enabling the sale of digital products, courses, and services.  The platform also includes features for email list building, managing appointments and affiliate programs.

Hu started Stan in 2021 after experiencing the difficulties of trying to monetize his own social media following.  Today the 31-year-old has over 429,000 followers across the biggest social platforms. 

Stan reported $28 million in annual recurring revenue in 2024, doubling the previous year’s, and multiplying over 15-fold the first year’s.  The platform helped generate $172 million of income for its 70,000+ creators who pay between $29 to $99 per month for the service.  A shining example is Jenna Peterson who has made $2.5 million and counting with Stan’s help.

Among VC firms and angel investors who have taken stakes in Stan are Forerunner Ventures with a $5 million seed round investment in 2022.

Before founding Stan Hu worked as a senior associate at Norwest Venture Partners and as an investment banking analyst at Goldman Sachs.  The Chinese American graduated from the University of North Carolina in 2016 with degrees in finance and computer science.  He began Stanford’s MBA program in 2020 but dropped out two years later to focus on Stan.