Who Is Kyla Scanlon — And How Did She Become So Popular?

How do you make finance fun?

That’s the question Kyla Scanlon has been entertaining for the past five years or so. The 23-year-old influencer creates content around traditionally hard-to-understand finance topics and popular narratives which have been known to stem volatility in stocks such as GameStop Corp. GME and AMC Entertainment Holdings Inc AMC.

In an exclusive interview, Scanlon spoke with Benzinga about her motivations, perspectives on the generational shift in market participation, as well as current projects.

Motivations: “For me, it was never about making money," Scanlon said. "It was about understanding human behavior and sort of that intersection of psychology in the markets.”

Scanlon is part of the most striking generational shift in markets.

In the early 1900s, the “greatest generation” was taught to trust the government and take no risk. Now, however, some investors only trust themselves and their networks, such as TikTok, YouTube and Twitter Inc TWTR.

“I think the platform effect is really big because people will see a video on Twitter and they’ll be like ‘Oh, this isn’t text,’ so they’ll watch it,” the influencer said on her rapid growth sharing amusing takes on finance. “I feel like I do a good job of connecting the dots between all these various ideas that are happening in the finance space, and also developing memes around them.”

Going Big: “I’ve been writing online for a long time,” she said in using her small blog to connect with people over markets.

“I’m young and from Kentucky, so the only way that I knew people was through writing online.”

After years of unpacking esoteric concepts like reverse skew in gold, Scanlon ventured into video. With nearly five years of experience making content, Scanlon finally hit a chord causing her to quickly rise in popularity.

Scanlon cited her whacky and dark humor around Archegos Capital’s mismanagement of funds, among other recent developments, as the reasons for rapid growth.

“I left asset management back in February, started in tech, and … then I started doing TikTok more,” she recalled. “I think it was the Archegos video where that one really took off, and then, I had an Elon Musk video that did really well.”

“I never thought it would happen,” she noted.

Considerations: Feedback can be an issue.

“Sometimes I’m really sensitive to comments if somebody is like ‘Oh, I don’t like that video or you sound dumb,’” she said. “I’m like ‘Oh my, you just broke my heart into a million pieces.’”

Scanlon advised persistence. Other creators ought to push past the negativity and focus on making content more often.

“The biggest thing is not worrying about what people say or how they feel about the content. Just let it run free,” she said.

Evolution: “I’m very bullish on the metaverse,” she said in reference to virtual worlds and networks blended with reality. “It’s like gaming coming to the real world through VR/AR.”

If the concept of cryptocurrency gains further traction, Scanlon thinks the metaverse could also be a huge opportunity. Given that, she’s positioned her portfolio long on related names.

Going forward, the creator will continue making short-form videos and research articles, in addition to building out a YouTube and creator-facing platform.

“I’m really excited about that product with the backend being financial education.”