• Launched in 2019 on the market, the MYM social network is revolutionizing practices and experiencing a meteoric rise.

  • Billed as a "private fan-club" and claiming 6 million subscribers, it allows creators to deliver exclusive and paid content to their subscribers, including erotic photos or pornographic videos.

    What to cause some controversy.

  • Behind this very lucrative model: Pierre Garonnaire and Gaspard Hafner, two childhood friends from the Loire.

Social networks ? “I half know how to make a story on Instagram. At home, they are even prohibited, ”he confesses, his eyes amused. Because that is the whole paradox of the situation. Gaspard Hafner, 34, and his childhood friend Pierre Garonnaire, 36, made a sensational entry into the market. In just two years, barely. To the point of shaking up its codes, revolutionizing its practices. And to cause controversy.

MYM (Meet your model), a network they launched in 2019 without any funding, is already all the rage in France.

The figures speak for themselves: the site has 6 million users, 5,000 of which are connected every day.

This represents an increase of 900% between 2019 and 2020. The concept, which consists of sharing exclusive and personalized content with its fans, quickly won over.

First, models, influencers and starlets from reality TV who feed 60% of the content offered on the site.

"Private fan-club"

What is less well known, however, is that the concept was born out of a friendship, sealed around twenty years ago in the green regions of the Loire Valley. On the side of Saint-Etienne. “In Feurs, to be precise, Pierre Garonnaire rectifies with a sweet pride. Our parents were friends. We got to know each other when we were 10 years old ”. Their respective paths will however take them away for a while. Pierre will go between Rhône and Saône, study at EM Lyon before starting a legal course at university and going to work in an agency in Paris. Gaspard will stop him from school when he comes of age. "I missed the bac twice," he admits, laughing. I had learned to develop websites from the age of 13 so I started my own online business at 18. "

Their professional trajectories will meet again one summer evening in Lyon in 2018, from where it all started "by chance".

The idea germinated through a model friend "with 50,000 followers" on Instagram.

"We thought that she had a lot of subscribers, she was in great demand by her fans but that did not generate any income for her," continues Pierre Garonnaire.

We thought of this concept: a private fan club with the aim of converting the free community into a paying community.

"

Up to 150,000 euros per month

An idea that will turn out to be juicy very quickly. Against the promise of being able to chat privately with their models, to have access to exclusive content, fans are willing to pay 12 or 24 euros per month. Sometimes 100 euros. The price is freely set by the creator who thus recovers between 75 and 80% of the income. The most resourceful can thus earn “150,000 euros per month without any product placement”. The rest falls into the pockets of Pierre and Gaspard.

Backstage tours, make-up tutorial, diet advice, coaching sessions, signings, private conversations… Everything is currency.

Including naked photos or “adult” videos which represent 20% of online content.

"We assume, slice Pierre Garonnaire.

We do not see the reasons why we would ban them.

Within the framework of the law, anyone can publish what they want as long as the majority is required and access is chargeable.

These contents are not accessible on a search engine, it is necessary to know the account and pseudonym of the creator for that and to subscribe to it.

"

Independent ethics committee

"There is no pornographic content in open access", insists Gaspard Hafner, thus wishing to thwart the criticisms of which the application is regularly the target.

Creation of an independent ethics committee, moderation of content, verification of the information provided by the creators, certification of accounts, protection of minors ... "Everything is done for the site to be as healthy as possible", assure them in unison. two fathers.

“Without certification, the creator cannot be remunerated and cannot post new content or converse with his subscribers.

Exchanges of personal contact details are not authorized.

Any allusion or proposal for a meeting on the part of the creator entails the immediate suspension of the account.

Malicious users are blocked and banned, ”they add.

“The industry is booming.

It generates cash and inevitably, it makes people talk.

This arouses jealousy, ”said Gaspard.

Since 2019, the start-up has been taking a bite out of the market.

Three million figures achieved that year, ten times more the following year.

And 60 million planned for the end of the year 2021. The ambitions of the duo do not stop there: a turnover of "120 million euros at least" for 2022. For this MYM is preparing to draw an unstoppable argument: to develop paid live content such as concerts or other stage performances before the end of the year.

"A real demand emanating from artists", still relatively few present on the site.

But also a way for the French to conquer the rest of the planet.

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