Building a creator platform? Here's the litmus test:

If users stay because leaving hurts, not because you're valuable — you've already lost.

Lock-in isn't loyalty. It's fear. And fear means your product is weak, so you're making creators absorb the risk.

Real builders ship something that gets judged every single day:

Did it deliver value today?
Did it treat creators fairly today?
Would they choose it again today?

A strong platform can be left anytime. A great one gets chosen over and over.

That's the standard I'm holding myself to.