From Finance To Comedy - The Story Of How Supersnake Changed This Creator’s Career

In the Passion economy, a recurring topic is that (seemingly) silly jokes or content can open distant and locked doors and give people unexpected access to an exclusive world.

When asked about what to do in life, young people tend to mention becoming a pilot, race car driver or doctor. Increasingly, studies have also shown that Youtuber is becoming one of the most sought-after careers for teenagers. However, few seem to have considered a career in memeology. Supersnake is a forerunner in high-level memeology and can best be defined as a meme maker with creative copywriting and a visual imagination that enable the creator behind the account to produce memes that certain people can relate to and have a good laugh about.

What started out as a harmless bet between the founder Andreas Metaxa, who used to work in finance, and his friends quickly turned into what he now refers to as his new job. After seeing that his followers came back for what he created, Supersnake realized that he wanted to keep going in the same direction and provide people with high society satire.

Supersnake is an Instagram account filled with clever memes that analyze the most prominent "walking contradictions" found among the upper classes through a variety of "Starter Pack" memes. No one is safe from the Supersnake, especially not the wealthy students at boarding schools, nor the "Old Money Patriarchs", nor the bouncers in Ibiza.

The account attracts several A-list super fans, such as Leonardo DiCaprio, according to Metaxa because "it is an honest and fearless review of society."

Supersnake also has its own online store with a wide variety of merchandise for being a wealthy nomad traveling the world and "making mistakes on every continent."

The comedy featured on the Supersnake Instagram account can be described as satirical quips. The memes are targeted toward “rich people problems”, such as which ultra expensive car to bring to the dinner reservation. For the creator behind the account, it has open doors for his career that he would never expect.

Gustaf Lundberg Toresson: What is Supersnake?

Supersnake: I think Supersnake is a way of life and a mindset. It is basically acknowledging that you understand this world and you are a part of it but at the same time you are maybe conscious of its failings and the fact that it’s not a perfect system. I think it’s somebody that enjoys the good life but at the same time is aware enough to realise the many flaws in high society.

GLT: Where does the name come from?

Supersnake: So the name originally had a middle word I decided to drop because of commercial reasons. A snake is somebody that talks behind your back, and is kind of like this person who slithers around society with his tongue lashing these satirical quips at you. And I’m also petrified of snakes, so it’s kind of ironic.

GLT: When and how did you start?

Supersnake: It all started in December 2018. I was at dinner with friends and we were discussing memes and decided to make a bet. We decided to create meme pages and the bet was to see who could get the most followers after 3 months; that’s how it was born. It was just a random dinner conversation that inspired it.

GLT: How would you describe a typical Supersnake meme?

Supersnake: Satirical content that mocks high society and jetset life, but through the prism of all different stereotypes we encounter in this world. I think some are a bit more understandable to the wider following because they transcend popular culture more. Every meme is essentially devoted to a particular social stereotype and there is an accompanying caption that is like a short dialogue to impersonate the characters.

GLT: What are some of the personal or business opportunities that have come out of this?

Supersnake: So many, to be honest. I think as the brand has grown, opportunities have presented themselves in various shapes and sizes. We did a big activation with E11EVEN Miami, one of the biggest clubs in terms of revenue, and they brought me in to help with a small luxury cap collection and a series of Supersnake events at the club celebrating bitcoin and crypto. So they booked some amazing acts like Paris Hilton, Deadmau5, Major Lazer, Swae Lee, and G-Eazy to perform over the week. We are also developing some TV show concepts that I have written, which is incredibly exciting.

GLT: What can you say about the TV Shows?

Supersnake: There are a few different concepts we are working on. I first got approached by someone a while ago who wanted to do a documentary featuring me, focused on people in the creative world doing abnormal things. I declined because I don’t like to show my face at all, but he was a big producer so I pitched him a different idea. We then co-wrote a script about young, late 20’s men and women that all met at a Swiss boarding school and now living a lavish life in London. That show has been in development for some time and there should be some exciting news soon. There’s also another show that I’m developing with Adam Sandler's production company Happy Madison, which is incredibly exciting.

GLT: What other business areas have you branched into?

Supersnake: I started with clothing print on demand, but eventually started working with an italian manufacturer instead. We’ve produced Loro Piana material caps, hoodies, sweatpants, swimming shorts and buckets made from Prada’s recycled nylon. We’ve also done some other collaborations with brands including sneakers, underwear and sunglasses.

GLT: Are those product types a better business to be in?

Supersnake: The underwear collab was with a brand called Culprit, which is an American eco-friendly, sustainable brand. All of their underwear is made in the US with high quality eco-friendly materials. Then the sneaker collab was with a brand called Yatay, which is an Italian, sustainable, vegan leather sneaker company. We produced a limited run of sneakers in two colors and they were really popular. We sold them primarily direct-to-consumer, but also in some retail stores in Italy and the Middle East. The sunglasses are called “Snake Eyes” and it’s a collab with an amazing Miami-based brand called Tejesta.

GLT: Do you have a manager or an agent?

Supersnake: Yes, I have an agent now at UTA. But up until very recently I was operating with no representation at all.

GLT: How do you think the fact that you can break out without a talent agency or a manager affects employers and the normal 9 to 5. Does it become less attractive?

Supersnake: Yes, definitely. It was already unattractive to me. I mean, from the start I felt like the whole 9 to 5 didn’t suit me at all. I really didn’t enjoy working for someone else. I hated being told what to do, what time to show up to the office etc. When I worked in finance I was always told off for client lunches that lasted too long. I hated the feeling that I was being watched and criticized, even though I was just trying to bring in money for the firm. So, I guess the fact that I created something out of nothing and built it up with zero capital is pretty cool. I haven’t taken any loans or external investment and it’s all because of social media, because of Instagram, and if that can inspire others to take a risk and start their own thing, then amazing!

GLT: When you are not spending your time with Supersnake what are you doing with your time?

Supersnake: I travel a lot, I read a lot, I watch a lot of interesting stuff on the internet. I’m obsessed with constantly learning, so something like the Masterclass series or Diary of a CEO is highly appealing. I like to try and familiarize myself with different processes from highly-accomplished people in various fields. I love to act and perform, some Supersnake music will be coming soon.

GLT: What’s the music side of things going to be like?

Supersnake: I’m turning Supersnake into a music artist and he’s going to start producing and performing. It’s going to be another interesting monetization channel, but also something I really enjoy doing. I have a lot of relationships with existing artists through Supersnake and otherwise. People like Martin Garrix, DJ Snake, David Guetta and Tiesto are all fans of the page, as well as some DJ’s from the underground scene like Tale of Us, Rampa and Seth Troxler. There’s definitely an interest in leveraging those relationships and making dance music with Supersnake.

GLT: Was there a pivotal moment where you felt like this was taking off with Supersnake?

Supersnake: I’ve been asked that before and it’s hard to say because there have been several moments I guess. For instance one of the earlier pivotal moments was when Cara Delevingne followed the page really early on, and I was shocked; I think I barely had 1,000 followers at the time. Since then there have been bigger and bigger milestones, but I think that doing the collaboration with E11EVEN was a really interesting moment. I was in a massive nightclub, with celebrities everywhere, seeing my logo on screens all over the club. I saw a sea of Supersnake caps in the crowd, on all the waitresses and even on Diplo who was DJ’ing with Major Lazer at the time. I was just standing there by the DJ booth looking around and no one had any idea who I was. The anonymity felt great and I took a small moment to feel proud of what I had built out of literally nothing.

GLT: What’s the creative process like? Do they spring out of sudden shower thoughts or are you more deliberate?

Supersnake: I try to create every day but I don’t always succeed because I’m not super organized. I think I always intended it to be like that. That’s how it was at the start and I didn’t want to change my process because I didn’t want to change the formula that clearly was working. But it’s annoying because some days I want to post and I’m not happy with what I create, or it just doesn’t quite work out. I’m incredibly self-critical and therefore I often choose not to post because I don’t feel like it’s funny enough. Overall, I wish I was more organized and I wish I could post every day. But at the same time it’s good because I don’t want to overload the feed and make people sick of me.

GLT: What do you think is the biggest insight or surprise that you have felt since starting this account?

Supersnake: The way that it’s opened doors for me has been really surprising. I think if you are entertaining people and making them laugh they are really willing to take a meeting with you and help you out. For instance, a hero of mine is Leonardo DiCaprio. I reference him a lot in my memes and I love his movies. I was at a party in Miami and he gave me 20 minutes of his time, where he praised me and told me how much he loved my memes. He asked me “how do you come up with this stuff?” and told me that his friends send the memes to him and reads them; that was just a wild realization for me. I think because the nature of my work is not about me, people really do respond well to that. Essentially, I am the one putting in the effort every day to try to make people laugh, it’s a service that I’m providing. That has led to me creating some really valuable relationships.

GLT: What’s next for Supersnake in the long term?

Supersnake: I want to continue to entertain people and make them laugh as often as possible; that always has to be the primary goal. I would love to do more varied styles of content, more video, more animation and not just one dimensional memes. A long term goal is to really cement myself in Hollywood and write, produce and act as much as possible. I would love to throw Supersnake parties around the world and engage with my community in a more dynamic way.

Let’s see what the future holds.

The conversation has been edited and condensed for clarity.

@gltore on Instagram. hello (at) lundbergtoresson.com.