The co -founder of only fans, Tim Stokeely, reveals his next act.
Stokely is launching a rival subscription platform called submarines that will shelter both the content safely and for adults under one roof.
So, how will the submarines be different from only fans? The company focuses on helping creators to create audiences more easily and allows users to go from free content to paid content.
Stokely said these efforts include an Instagram -type exploration flow and a youtube -type show functionality. These will be without advertising and designed to direct viewers to paid options such as subscriptions, private messages and individual calls. A blow on Onlyfans has been that it is difficult for creators to build an audience on the platform, and they often have to count on platforms like X and Reddit to generate traffic.
Although individual calls are available on platforms like Cameo, they do not exist on only. Stokely described it as a “new source of lucrative income” which can earn “bonus rate”.
‘I have never really left space’
Stokely founded fans only with her brother Thomas and his father Guy in 2016. They sold the company to the entrepreneur Leo Radvinsky two years later. Stokely, who was previously CEO of Onlyfans, resigned in 2021.
The site, which exploded during the pandemic, remained a machine to earn money and won Radvinsky more than a billion dollars. He also generated a number of rivals like Fansly and Fanvue.
Stokely said that after leaving Only Fans, he took the time to recharge.
“I caught up with friends, I went to football with my father and I have traveled a little. But I never really left space,” he said. “I receive messages every day from creators, and so it took long before I retired.”
In the meantime, he tried himself in other companies. Stokely joined an air startup as a director in 2024, and in April, another creator’s application startup he co-founded, called Zoop, has teamed up with a cryptocurrency foundation to submit an offer to buy Tiktok, reported Reuters.
“Give creators everything they need in one place”
The submarines are faced with challenges by presenting adult and non-adult content. Pornography is not authorized in Apple or Google App stores, so the company must use a web application instead.
Stokely argued that using a web platform helps creators avoid costs in the application.
However, submarines will have to compete with other platforms such as Patreon, Sublack, Pass and Fanfix, which do not allow pornography, and can use web invoicing to avoid costs while having their own applications. This could limit the appeal of the platform to non-adult creators.
The creators take a reduction of 80% of the profits on submarines – the same distribution of income as on only fans – and can also gain reference costs.
Stokely said the company is currently working with agencies and integration creators. He said that the platform is designed for a wide variety of creators, including podcasters, athletes, musicians and adult stars. Some first artillerymen on the platform include the expert in self-proclaimed lingerie Satera St. Jean and the podcaster Alex Chisnall.
Stokely bets that the mixture of free content and paid by the platform will appeal to the creators. He called subcontractors of submarines a “game changer” because he places the paid profile of a creator directly behind his free content.
“Creators need more than a simple pay wall,” he said. “It’s about giving creators everything they need in one place.”
businessinsider
