YouTube
Every essay
Taking the long view on short-form video
The year is 2077. You're reflecting on your life, your creative career, and the body of work you're leaving behind.
8 min read→Jul 17, 2022How I launched a YouTube channel
This was a pretty crazy week. This week we launched a brand new YouTube channel with the first-ever VIDEO episode of my podcast,
5 min read→Episodes about YouTube
His EXACT System For Writing Scripts With AI — Former Ali Abdaal Scriptwriter, George Blackman
My guest is George Blackman, a YouTube scriptwriter who got his start writing full-time for Ali Abdaal and has since written scripts for creators from 30,000 to over 10 million subscribers.
Listen or watch→May 26, 2026What 16 Years Behind YouTube's Biggest Channels Taught Josh Mattingly About Hiring And The Current State of YouTube
Josh is the founder of Upright Media, an operating partner for content creators handling operations, consulting, recruiting, and post-production. His clients include some of YouTube's biggest channels — Erak, Smosh, Emma Chamberlain, Dude Perfect, Matthew Beam, and Chris Williamson.
Listen or watch→Mar 10, 2026Meet The Man Who Solved YouTube (With Data)—Richard from 1of10
Richard is the co-founder of 1of10, a research platform built by YouTube strategists, and his team has quietly been behind the scenes for some of the biggest channels on the platform—helping creators accumulate over 2 billion views through a repeatable, data-backed system.
Listen or watch→Nov 30, 2025I helped a YouTuber design his membership
Meet Tommy. Tommy has a YouTube channel dedicated to helping Americans retire in France.
Listen or watch→Nov 18, 2025David Altizer — How to Make Great Thumbnails (For Non-Designers)
David Altizer is the co-creator of Thumbnail Academy and has quickly become one of the most sought-after thumbnail designers around. David’s clients include Kurtis Connor, Jolly, Max Fosh, Hayden Hillier Smith, and now me.
Listen or watch→Nov 11, 2025A question about the future of this podcast... [Voice Memo]
A change I’m considering, and a question for you about the future of this podcast.
Listen or watch→Oct 28, 2025How to LEGALLY Protect Your Channel (YouTube Lawyer Tyler Chou Explains)
Tyler Chou spent nearly two decades as an entertainment attorney in Hollywood, with senior roles at Disney, Skydance, BuzzFeed, before starting her own YouTube channel, which brought her into this world of creators.
Listen or watch→Sep 23, 2025From ignoring short-form video to 3.5 billion views | Pat Flynn’s Pokémon juggernaut (Part 1)
Pat Flynn (also known as Deep Pocket Monster or the Should I Open It Or Should I Keep It Sealed Guy) is the man with the most famous thumbs on the Internet. Pat has been a staple in the online business community for over a decade.
Listen or watch→Aug 5, 2025Meet the Appliance Repairman Making $1.8 Million on YouTube Shop | Benjamin Schlichter
Ben Schlichter is no ordinary YouTuber. He doesn’t do challenges or video essays. He talks about appliances and makes a LOT of money doing it, but not in the way you think.
Listen or watch→Jul 15, 2025Colin & Samir on the future of their channel and the creator economy
Colin and Samir, the most influential duo in the creator economy, on how to build a YouTube channel that stands the test of time.
Listen or watch→Feb 11, 2025Mark Manson – Why YouTubers aren’t making more money
Mark Manson is an entrepreneur. He is an author who wrote the best-selling book, The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck. Mark is also a YouTuber.
Listen or watch→Dec 31, 2024Garrett Kennell – How thinking big helped Michelle Khare attract 4.8 million subscribers
Garrett Kennell is the Chief Creative Officer for - and husband to - Michelle Khare. Garrett has been working on the channel since Michelle’s very first video all the way back in 2016.
Listen or watch→Nov 5, 2024ChefPK – How this YouTuber makes merch people actually buy
Chef PK is a cooking YouTuber whose anime food channel has done 67,000,000 views. But that's not what we're talking about today. We're talking about physical products.
Listen or watch→Oct 1, 2024How I Would Hit 100K YouTube Subscribers in 1 Year (If I Could Start Over)
We hit 100,000 subscribers in just a little over 2 years. But here's the thing –we could have done it faster.
Listen or watch→Sep 3, 2024Paddy Galloway – How he makes any niche go viral
Paddy Galloway is arguably the world's best YouTube strategist. With more than 10 years of experience and 10 billion views generated, Paddy is one of the most respected YouTube authorities on the planet.
Listen or watch→Sep 2, 2024"Has YouTube been worth it?" [Voice Memo]
Reflecting on our YouTube journey to 100K subscribers
Listen or watch→Jul 16, 2024Zack Honarvar – What he learned from working with 10,000 creators
Zack Honarvar started managing YouTubers like Yes Theory and Airrack BEFORE they were the massive channels you know them as today. He also co-founded CreatorNow, a learning community that’s helped creators like Jenny Hoyos and Daniel Wall blow up their channels.
Listen or watch→Jun 4, 2024Aprilynne Alter – Breaking down the video that blew up her channel (755,000 views with <1000 subscribers!)
Aprilynne Alter is a YouTuber who abandoned her 20,000 subscriber channel to completely start over a year ago. Over that next 8 months, she tried everything. Nothing was working until she got 755,000 views on a video she posted with less than a 1,000 subscribers.
Listen or watch→May 14, 2024Jake Thomas – YouTube title expert shares his secrets for getting clicks.
Jake Thomas is a title specialist whose channels have over 100 million views because he spent thousands of hours studying viral titles and the psychology of what makes people click. He’s the man who solved YouTube titles.
Listen or watch→Apr 18, 2024Tony Santos – How to find, hire, and work with great video editors.
Tony Santos is a YouTube editor with over a decade of experience working with people like Thomas Frank and Noah Kagan.
Listen or watch→Mar 5, 2024Thomas Frank – How to build a successful tutorial channel.
Thomas Frank is known as THE guy teaching Notion on his channel, Thomas Frank Explains.
Listen or watch→Dec 21, 2023Angus Parker – Ali Abdaal’s right-hand man shares a YouTuber’s guide to hiring.
Angus Parker is the General Manager for Ali Abdaal.
Listen or watch→Dec 5, 2023Danny McMahon (aka Dodford) – YouTube’s New Golden Boy.
Danny McMahon is a filmmaker taking YouTube by storm.
Listen or watch→Oct 10, 2023Jenny Hoyos – How she averages 10 million views per video (YouTube Shorts)
Jenny Hoyos averages 10 million views per video. A masterclass on YouTube Shorts — hooks, structure, retention and why her videos travel.
Listen or watch→Sep 12, 2023Jon Youshaei – Ex-YouTube employee shares the best growth advice (that you’ve probably never heard)
Jon Youshaei is a former YouTube and Instagram employee and host of the Created podcast.
Listen or watch→Aug 29, 2023George Blackman – How to script your videos like Ali Abdaal and Ed from Film Booth.
George Blackman is a scriptwriting consultant for top YouTubers.
Listen or watch→Aug 8, 2023Nuseir Yassin – The price of growing Nas Daily to 12 million subscribers
Nuseir Yassin started Nas Daily to highlight incredible people and places on the planet, and posted a video every day for 1,000 straight days.
Listen or watch→Jul 25, 2023Phill Agnew - The psychology MrBeast uses to hook you
Phill Agnew, host of Nudge, on the behavioral science behind MrBeast’s hooks — and how any creator can use the same psychology ethically.
Listen or watch→Jul 11, 2023What we’ve learned in our first year on YouTube (feat. our editor, Conor Conaboy)
This week, the Creator Science YouTube channel turns one year old!
Listen or watch→Jul 4, 2023Ed from Film Booth — The Most Entertaining Educator on YouTube?
Ed Lawrence, creator of Film Booth, on how he teaches YouTube growth without being boring — production, packaging and what most educators get wrong.
Listen or watch→Jun 13, 2023Paddy Galloway – The most sought-after YouTube consultant on the planet
Clients include MrBeast, Jesser, Ryan Trahan, and Noah Kagan
Listen or watch→May 30, 2023Jamie Rawsthorne – How to steal an idea (and get millions of views)
Jamie Rawsthorne is the former half of the Zac and Jay show and current Youtube advisor to clients like Codie Sanchez and Morning Brew
Listen or watch→May 9, 2023Kevin Espiritu – How Epic Gardening went from a blog to a video empire.
Epic Gardening has 2.5 million subscribers and nearly 300 million views on YouTube alone.
Listen or watch→Mar 14, 2023Sean Cannell – How YouTube is changing and what works in 2023
Sean Cannell is the founder of Think Media and the author of YouTube Secrets.
Listen or watch→Feb 21, 2023Chris Williamson – How his podcast exploded to 70 million downloads and 125 million views
How Chris Williamson went from club promoter to one of the biggest podcasts in the world — the decisions, the growth levers, and what he’d do again.
Listen or watch→Feb 7, 2023Kevin Parry – How he goes viral on EVERY platform
Kevin Parry is a stop-motion animator and video wizard who creates fun animation and mind-bending illusions!
Listen or watch→Jan 31, 2023Behind the scenes of my first solo YouTube video (our most successful video yet)
We released our first-ever solo video on the channel yesterday. And so far, it's the most successful video on the channel yet.
Listen or watch→Dec 20, 2022Sarah Renae Clark – How This YouTuber Built A $200K/mo Coloring Book Empire
Sarah Renae Clark is a YouTuber who creates coloring books to help you overcome anxiety and create something you can be proud of.
Listen or watch→Dec 13, 2022Hayden Hillier-Smith – Logan Paul's former editor on the future of YouTube
Streamy-winning editor Hayden Hillier-Smith (Logan Paul, Sam & Colby) on editing like an artist, retention, and where YouTube is going next.
Listen or watch→Nov 8, 2022Jake Thomas – How to write great YouTube titles
Jake Thomas of Creator Hooks on the psychology behind YouTube titles that get clicked — the patterns, the mistakes, and how to test your own.
Listen or watch→Sep 6, 2022Sara Dietschy – Algorithm Anxiety, Reinventing Yourself, and Advice for Small Tech YouTubers
Sara Dietschy (rhymes with peachy) is a YouTuber and content creator based in Dallas, Texas.
Listen or watch→Aug 9, 2022Thomas Frank – Getting nerdy about YouTube and why he created a second channel
Thomas is a YouTuber, podcaster, and author who helps people become more capable and productive.
Listen or watch→Jul 13, 2022BIG Announcement: We're on YouTube!
Why we decided to make Creative Elements a video show.
Listen or watch→Oct 5, 2021Ali Spagnola – Making outrageous music and videos while trying to befriend the algorithm
Ali Spagnola is a musician, comedian, and artist. Ali creates outrageous videos including turning her car into a Chia Pet, covering her apartment with fur, or putting 3200 PopSockets on her wall! She also creates "What If" videos where she remixes popular music into the…
Listen or watch→Aug 10, 2021Roberto Blake – The story behind 12 years, 531K+ subscribers, and nearly 35 million views on YouTube
Roberto Blake is dedicated to building the Creator Economy. He’s focused on helping Creators and Influencers build brands and businesses online.
Listen or watch→Jul 27, 2021Chris Sutherland – How a Physics professor built an audience of 2M+ followers on TikTok (in less than two years!)
Chris Sutherland is a former collegiate Physics professor turned full-time content creator. Chris began posting videos to TikTok in January 2020, quickly going viral and building an audience of more than 2 million followers.
Listen or watch→Jul 13, 2021Charli Marie Prangley - Building a YouTube Channel with 200K subscribers (on the side!)
Charli Marie Prangley is the creator of the YouTube Channel CharlieMarieTV. Every week, she shares insights into life as a professional designer alongside tutorials and advice on design tools and concepts.
Listen or watch→Dec 15, 2020Ali Abdaal – Making a living as a part-time YouTuber
Ali Abdaal is a Cambridge University medicine graduate, now working as a junior doctor in the UK's National Health Service (NHS). He started making YouTube videos in his final year of medical school at Cambridge University in the summer of 2017.
Listen or watch→Dec 8, 2020Matt Ragland – Becoming a full time YouTube creator after 10 years of side hustling
Matt Ragland is an independent creator. His YouTube channel showcases videos on the Bullet Journal process, productivity, and time management.
Listen or watch→Sep 29, 2020Ran Segall – How a freelance designer's YouTube hobby paved the way to becoming an educator
Ran Segall is the creator of Flux Academy. Previous to Flux, Ran was a freelance designer with nearly 20 years of experience.
Listen or watch→Aug 18, 2020Matt D'Avella – Freelancing, filmmaking, podcasting, and finding success on YouTube.
Matt D'Avella is a filmmaker, YouTuber & podcaster that explores what it means to live a good life. Matt directed Minimalism: A Documentary About the Important Things, which was acquired by Netflix in 2016.
Listen or watch→May 26, 2020Amy Landino – Leveraging YouTube, building an audience, creating a persona, and being all in for the conversation forever.
Amy Landino is the creator of the award-winning series AmyTV and author of the best-selling book Vlog Like a Boss; How to Kill It Online With Video Blogging.
Listen or watch→