How Beluga Gained 5 Million Subscribers in 4 Months (Interview)

[Music] I'm like sitting in my bed. It's late at night. I looked at my ideas. I'm like,

night. I looked at my ideas. I'm like,

"Hey, like I could make this Discord one." The biggest video I've ever made

one." The biggest video I've ever made in my whole life.

He's one of the fastest growing creators in history. And his YouTube channel has

in history. And his YouTube channel has more than 10 million subscribers. So,

you've made hundreds of videos every day as a 12-year-old. I've made like 1,000 videos. It doesn't seem like they were

videos. It doesn't seem like they were getting too much views. Like, why'd you keep going? I got 100,000 subscribers

keep going? I got 100,000 subscribers within the week. What? That it blew up.

What? Yeah. Like if you average out the amount of money that I've made over all my videos to that point, it's probably like a few cents per video. You could

get more money if you just worked at McDonald's. Yeah. I was not motivated

McDonald's. Yeah. I was not motivated for at least half of the Beluga videos.

You grew what? 4 million subscribers in 3 months. Yeah. What are the components

3 months. Yeah. What are the components to make a viral YouTube video? Um,

as I finish editing this conversation with Beluga, it's clear he's going to be one of the biggest creators on the planet. I'm honored to have helped him

planet. I'm honored to have helped him not get deported by getting him his O1 visa. Um, but otherwise enjoy the

visa. Um, but otherwise enjoy the nuggets of gold from one of the fastest growing creators on the planet. Welcome

to Extraordinary, the origin stories of Extraordinary People. I'm Cel Wen, the

Extraordinary People. I'm Cel Wen, the founder at extraordinary.com. I appear

with Braden Boyco, also known online as Beluga. He's one of the fastest growing

Beluga. He's one of the fastest growing creators in history, and his YouTube channel has more than 10 million subscribers. He's achieved what most

subscribers. He's achieved what most people dream of despite only being 22 years old. And he recently received his

years old. And he recently received his 01 extraordinary ability visa. Today,

we're going to go over his origin story and learn the secrets behind how to be a successful creator. Braden, how long

successful creator. Braden, how long have you been making videos? I've been

making videos for a very long time. Uh,

since I was 12, I made like a thousand videos in total or I was over a thousand. Malcolm Gladwell has this

thousand. Malcolm Gladwell has this expression of the 10,000 hour rule. Oh,

I think I probably put more than 10,000 hours into YouTube. I mean, each video takes maybe 10 hours on average and then uh that's just making videos. Where did

you grow up orig? Yeah, so I grew up in Canada, a very small small town uh place called Winnipeg. there's like not a lot

called Winnipeg. there's like not a lot of things to do there. So, that's

probably one of the reasons why I got into making videos. So, I I played a lot of Minecraft, I guess, growing up. And I

decided to start filming the things that I did there. I would build a lot. And

the only thing better than than building and showing your friends is showing the internet. Um, and it's pretty funny.

internet. Um, and it's pretty funny.

Like, if you look at a lot of the successful YouTubers, a lot of them started out with Minecraft. Um, there's

a there's a good reason for that. Oh,

why do you think that is? I have like Mr. Beast channel here. Yeah. Worst

Minecraft saw trap ever.

All right.

Where am I? What just happened? So, Mr.

Beast, the biggest creator, his first video were Minecraft videos. Similarly,

it seems like a PewDiePie over here.

Yeah, PewDiePie's videos are also Minecraft.

It looks like your channel was also Minecraft as well. Yeah. Yeah. I started

with Minecraft. So, like I think the reason is because if you're just online a lot, um you're going to be drawn to maybe creating and if you're online a

lot back then, Minecraft was the big thing. So, they just kind of intersect.

thing. So, they just kind of intersect.

It's also a great game to just get footage and like film things. Yeah.

There's so much you can do. Everyone is

a hit Minecraft YouTuber. Here I am showing you how to make a Minecraft piggy. It was very, it felt very natural

piggy. It was very, it felt very natural to just start making videos on YouTube.

It wasn't like a decision. I woke up and I'm just like, "Yeah, I'm going to be a YouTuber now." Early on, you were just

YouTuber now." Early on, you were just like browsing it. You found this website from the middle of nowhere in Canada.

Yeah. And then you started playing Minecraft or you saw YouTubers playing Minecraft. You're like, "Hey, why why

Minecraft. You're like, "Hey, why why not make videos?" Yeah. Like I see over here you have like how to change your skin in Minecraft key, how to dye armor.

You clearly were um making tutorials.

Hey guys, it's NSP Gamer here. I'm

showing you how to generate your skin for Yeah. So, a lot of those tutorials

for Yeah. So, a lot of those tutorials like I didn't really plan out the tutorial video. I would make those

tutorial video. I would make those videos after I discovered how to do something like in the game. So, when I learned how to dye armor, I would just the next day film a tutorial how to do

it and tell everyone. Um, and I think that's how you should make tutorials to be honest. Yeah. And and how did you

be honest. Yeah. And and how did you film it? Um, I just used my iPod. I

film it? Um, I just used my iPod. I

pointed it towards the TV. It was on a tripod. Um cuz I couldn't record my

tripod. Um cuz I couldn't record my screen back then. I didn't have a capture card. What made you continue to

capture card. What made you continue to make videos? Um I mean it wasn't really

make videos? Um I mean it wasn't really like a decision that to keep uploading.

It was just like a thing that I did.

Like it was just part of my routine to make these videos. Um again, I mean I I could I could stop any time, but just kept going.

You're you're an addict. I mean so Okay.

So you could you're 12 years old. Uh

what was your routine? Like would you make it like every day or just like play Minecraft? Yeah. So like the content

Minecraft? Yeah. So like the content that I made was just centered around the things that I did. So when I was really into playing Minecraft every day and building, I would just set up the camera

every day when I got home from school usually. Um and then I would just film

usually. Um and then I would just film it and that was like my routine for a long time. And then when I got into

long time. And then when I got into other things, the content evolved. So

you made hundreds of videos every day as a 12-year-old. Yeah. Mostly for fun. It

a 12-year-old. Yeah. Mostly for fun. It

doesn't seem like they were getting too much views. Like why'd you keep going?

much views. Like why'd you keep going?

Yeah, like they didn't really get a lot of views. Maybe like like less than 100.

of views. Maybe like like less than 100.

Um, but I wasn't really thinking about that back in the day. I mean, I was super young. Um, obviously money matters

super young. Um, obviously money matters a lot when you're a kid, but you don't really do things for the money. Um, like

I didn't even care at all. I wasn't

monetized for like five years. Holy cow.

Yeah. Uh whereas nowadays someone wants to start YouTube, they're like, "How do I get monetized, you know, month one, uh yeah, they're trying to speedrun that like 4,000 watch time." Yeah. Yeah. And

if that's your approach, you might be disappointed like going into it, but I just didn't have time to get disappointed cuz like I did I didn't care. I didn't care about making money

care. I didn't care about making money even about views. Uh I just wanted to make entertaining videos. Uh, but at some point I realized that views correlate with entertaining videos that

it's like a good metric you can use to tell if your videos are good. Yeah. And

then I started to care more about views.

So, you're making hundreds of videos.

They weren't really getting too many views. What was the first video on the

views. What was the first video on the channel that really blew up? I think the first one that blew up was a tutorial on how to get themes on your PlayStation.

Uh, which which is very funny because it's a Minecraft channel. The whole

thing is Minecraft. That's basically the whole audience. Yeah. And then I just

whole audience. Yeah. And then I just made a video on how to change your theme. And then I blew up.

theme. And then I blew up.

Yeah, I see it right here. You have like 134K views 10 years ago. Yeah. Change

themes. Uh well, what did that make you realize? That's like what video number

realize? That's like what video number was that as well? Um, I can't remember the video number, but I also know that when that video blew up, I wasn't really I didn't even know that it actually blew

up until like I sorted by channel by popular at some point. I saw like this has over 100,000 views. Like what? Um,

but again, like when I was on YouTube back then, I was very self-aware of like you weren't thinking about views. You

were just doing it for fun because it was literally childlike curiosity. Yeah.

It was a bit later after that that I decided to really like try try hard at YouTube. Yeah. Um because again like the

YouTube. Yeah. Um because again like the first few years I'm just having fun. It

was really after I got into lucid dreaming and then decided to start a channel there that I also decided to try optimize those videos and make them

really good. So, it seems like you did

really good. So, it seems like you did some tutorials, they really caught on and then you got into a niche and well, I mean, why did you start the channel?

Why why did you just keep on the Minecraft channel like posting content?

It wasn't really like a huge a huge decision to like ship the content. I

just really got into lucid dreaming and then I loved the topic. I realized there was no good videos on YouTube about lucid dreaming. So, then I decided to

lucid dreaming. So, then I decided to just make videos there. Uh, I didn't really have a huge audience on my gaming channel, so it didn't really feel like I was leaving. So, you started a new

was leaving. So, you started a new channel, um, Explore Lucid Dreaming, which has 1.3 million subscribers. You

have a gold play button for that. Yeah.

It's crazy. I I think this is the biggest lucid dreaming channel on YouTube as well. Yep. And you started it because uh, you wanted better videos

around the topic. Yeah. Uh, this was six years ago. So you were what, 14? No, 15,

years ago. So you were what, 14? No, 15,

16. Yeah, I was like I was like 15, I think. Billy's I got a lucid dreaming. I

think. Billy's I got a lucid dreaming. I

was very young. I'm like 14. Hey guys,

welcome to the channel. This is actually my very first video and I'm still getting things set up. And you may have noticed that I don't really have any subscri so I would really appreciate it if you

subscribe to the channel here. Oh wow.

Immediately goes into subscribing. you

just started going on a rampage of making all sorts of tutorials on lucid dreaming. Yeah. So, so like until that

dreaming. Yeah. So, so like until that point I had experience running this gaming channel. So, I knew like the ins

gaming channel. So, I knew like the ins and outs of YouTube of like telling people to subscribe and how to structure a video. Um, so I noticed that that

a video. Um, so I noticed that that videos made on lucid dreaming were just very like they weren't optimized for YouTube. So that's literally just what I

YouTube. So that's literally just what I did is I did I took that that mindset that entertainment value like I just wanted to make the topic entertained I

guess. Right on. Yeah. Yeah. I I watched

guess. Right on. Yeah. Yeah. I I watched some of them. They're they're very entertaining. I feel like you have a

entertaining. I feel like you have a knack for making and editing something into like a simple topic like lucid dreaming into something very compelling.

Yeah. Like where do you think you picked that up? Um I don't It was it was almost

that up? Um I don't It was it was almost like just the videos that I wanted to see about lucid dreaming were not on YouTube and I just had in my mind what those videos could look like. Like the

tutorials I'm like why can't someone just break down a technique, make it relatable, make it simple? Cuz before

then you had to either read a book that is very long, very boring or you had to like watch some lecture. Um, so I just like made the tutorials that I wanted to

see and those are obviously inspired by other YouTubers, I'm sure. Um, this

channel has 1.3 million subscribers, but it didn't always have that much traction. When did it first start taking

traction. When did it first start taking off? One of the videos went viral. It

off? One of the videos went viral. It

was called Things You Should Never Do in a Lucid Dream. Um, so until that point, I think all the videos would get like a few hundred views. Wow. I think it was like the maybe like the sixth or seventh

video that blew up and then the whole channel blew up with it. Um Yeah. Wow.

So you made six videos, they were getting hundreds of views and then one video blew up. Yep. Um what did you how did it feel then? How how big did they

go? Well, it was pretty awesome because

go? Well, it was pretty awesome because like it wasn't just that video that went viral. The whole channel did well

viral. The whole channel did well because of it. Yeah. Um because it it turns out that all of the other videos that didn't blow up were actually good videos and people watched them after

they watched that because of that one viral video. I had like I I got 100,000

viral video. I had like I I got 100,000 subscribers within the week. What? That

blew up. What? Yeah. Okay. What was

going through your mind? It Well, it was crazy. Like I'd never had a channel that

crazy. Like I'd never had a channel that big. I'm like, "Holy crap, I've got this

big. I'm like, "Holy crap, I've got this audience." Like what? Yeah. Um now I

audience." Like what? Yeah. Um now I actually have to start thinking about the videos because I know people are going to watch them. So, right. Yeah.

Before you made them for yourself, like really just fit like, "Oh, you want it to enter be entertaining? Like all the other videos suck. Let me let me like make things that tutorials for other

people." Yeah. Um and then suddenly

people." Yeah. Um and then suddenly there's this influx of I guess viewers and subscribers. And where were you at

and subscribers. And where were you at the time? When that video blew up, I was

the time? When that video blew up, I was at the lake actually, so I wasn't I wasn't able to make more videos. Um, but

I I remember like where I was when I checked my phone and I saw the video just blowing up. The chart was like this and then went like that. Like it was on

YouTube for several weeks and it Oh, views. Wait, what? Yeah. So, so the

views. Wait, what? Yeah. So, so the video was just there. Yeah. Oh, and then somehow at some point it just took off, but the algorithm picked it up. Yeah.

Why? Why did that happen? Um, well, it's kind of hard to like know why YouTube picks up certain videos. I think it has to do with just like demand and like

some videos are just better for certain times. Like when when Squid Game season

times. Like when when Squid Game season 2 came out, uh I think Mr. Beast tweeted or or he said that his Squid Game video just got another massive influx of

viewers. Yeah. Um, but again like or it

viewers. Yeah. Um, but again like or it could also just be that YouTube realized that people were watching this video more than usual and it was being watched

to the end. So then it it just like triggered this cycle that blew it up. Um

cuz like all the time YouTube constantly checks videos to see like how they perform.

Yeah. And at some point if it does better it'll keep recommending it and then it'll know the demographic to recommend it to. Yeah. But it was also interesting. It wasn't just like a

interesting. It wasn't just like a random video. You were on a channel

random video. You were on a channel specific to lucid dreaming. So when it found its audience, the audience went on to go um watch all of your other videos,

which I guess increased the session time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um it was pretty

time. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um it was pretty great like the fact that that video blew up in the topic that I was that the channel was for. I posted like I tried to do every other week before it blew

up. Uh whereas after the video blew up

up. Uh whereas after the video blew up and I had an actual audience like okay no matter what have to post on here I think it was every week. That was

interesting. So you were what 14 15 at the time but you just told yourself hey I'm going to post every other week.

Yeah. And you stuck to it. Yeah. Well it

was very easy to like stick to it. I

think it didn't really feel like work.

And so after it blew up you went to making one video a week. Um, what did you have to do to adhere to that? Um, I

think I just had to be consistent with it. I mean, I had to write I had to

it. I mean, I had to write I had to write the scripts, um, voice them out and do editing. So, I just had to make sure I had time. U, but again, back then

it was pretty easy to have the time cuz I didn't have anything else to really do except for school. Yeah. Um, and after that video blew up, I was I was actually earning money as well. Oh, wow. It was

like the most I'd ever made ever. Um, so

I'm like, "Hey, I don't even have to go get a job." Yeah, I've actually earned.

What video number was that? Like 400,

500? Oh, yeah. Probably. Probably like

500 videos. Like, if you average out the amount of money that I've made over all my videos to that point, it's probably like a few cents per video. So, yeah.

Wow. So, 500 videos are making you like 500 bucks. Yeah. Like, you could get

500 bucks. Yeah. Like, you could get more money if you just worked at McDonald's. Yeah. What? I But that

McDonald's. Yeah. What? I But that wasn't the point. That wasn't the point.

You just wanted to make videos for yourself and you and you really liked it. Yeah. So, I just kept I just kept

it. Yeah. So, I just kept I just kept uploading. I uh covered all the topics

uploading. I uh covered all the topics in lucid dreaming that I could. And

again, I was very consistent. So, I

actually had an audience that was building up. We made a Discord server

building up. We made a Discord server and and a community and everything.

Getting the blowup is very fun and you get a lot of dopamine from that. But

then it's like you look at the path ahead and it's hard work. It's like

every week I have to post for years and that's exactly what I did. Um, and then that that is what built up the channel.

That's why it has so many subscribers.

You have like 2.4 billion views. I

watched the clip of Magnus Carlson on Joe Rogan and he's just like I I'm always thinking about chess. I always

think about chess. Is it the case for you that you're always thinking about videos or making videos? I think so.

Yeah. But like if I see something that's really cool, I'll think about how do how could I like make something on this for YouTube? Like usually it's YouTube. Um

YouTube? Like usually it's YouTube. Um

like again with the tutorials that I made, if I learn something new, my my focus would shift from okay, like well this is really cool, but now how can I

share this to YouTube and make a video on it? Um, so yeah, like maybe it's just

on it? Um, so yeah, like maybe it's just the way that I see the world. That's so

interesting. I I also kind of feel a similar to that. I wonder where it comes from. It's just like um I guess from a

from. It's just like um I guess from a from an early age you were sharing tutorials and um it somehow appealed and helped people

and that reinforced that. It could be the case. Yeah, I'm I'm sure there's

the case. Yeah, I'm I'm sure there's like some some deep psychological reason about why people are drawn to things in general and YouTube being one of them.

Um cuz I'm sure it you know there's a lot there's a lot of motivations I'm not even aware of but I just know that I love doing it. So why did you stop

making videos on this? Um I'm a dream.

Yeah. So, I think I I just had that channel for so many years and there was a point where I I covered every single topic in the lucid dreaming space. Um,

and I wanted to do more as a creator. I

wanted to kind of cover other topics outside of lucid dreaming. Yeah. Like it

was very fun for many years, but you can't do the same thing forever, right?

Like like I could have just became the lucid dreaming guy. Yeah. And that was my whole life. Yeah. And my everything that I am is just this one topic. But

the only problem was that's not who I am, right? Like my life isn't that one

am, right? Like my life isn't that one topic. I actually just love making

topic. I actually just love making videos and now it's time to to like branch out. Uh so that's what I did and

branch out. Uh so that's what I did and I made Beluga. It's pretty interesting where most people would get complacent with their successes, but you wanted

more and um you started a new channel, Beluga. What was that like? Why did you

Beluga. What was that like? Why did you What was the origin of Beluga? Yeah. So,

I just wanted to I wanted to make videos in a topic outside of lucid dreaming and I thought I could just do random video essays. I could do comedy. I mean,

essays. I could do comedy. I mean,

comedy sounds like a lot of fun. Um cuz

cuz uh I did like my my sense of humor did shine through in the lucid dreaming videos, but there was kind of a limit to like how what I could do cuz it was always like a tutorial or something.

Yeah. You had to make it about lucid dreaming. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was kind of

dreaming. Yeah. Yeah. So, it was kind of limited. So I for Beluga the plan was if

limited. So I for Beluga the plan was if I could make videos maybe in comedy maybe about 10% of the views that explore lucid dreaming did that was the biggest thing I had I would still be

happy because now I get to create in a completely new space. Yeah. Uh so for Beluga really like I had no plan starting out. It was like I would just

starting out. It was like I would just make any video which is a very bad strategy if you're trying to grow a channel. Yeah. Cuz like people aren't

channel. Yeah. Cuz like people aren't going to subscribe if there's no topic.

Yeah. unless they just like really like you. Uh but yeah, like my first few

you. Uh but yeah, like my first few videos I did a Minecraft documentary and then I I downloaded Minecraft on my DS

and then played it which is really fun.

Yeah, I loved filming that. Um I made a video narrating like a a man getting attacked by a goose. Oh, they have like an insane amount of views right now. But

when you first started Beluga, what was that like? I mean, it's a fresh channel.

that like? I mean, it's a fresh channel.

There was pretty much nothing on it.

Yeah, I I mean I wasn't really getting views, but I wasn't disappointed. Like,

which is kind of funny because I had this big channel, so I almost expected like on that channel when I upload now I should get at least 10k 30k views. Uh

but when I posted videos to Beluga and they got like 89 views, I it was fine. It was like, okay, it's a good video. I believe in this video. I

good video. I believe in this video. I

think it was really good. Yeah. Um here

it is. Now it's on YouTube. What's next?

What's next? Yeah. What was next? How

did you think? I mean, it seems like Berluga was extremely experimental. Um

it you started it cuz you wanted to explore other things and it's it looks like you have all sorts of range of um different types of videos. It's like you

have one that's like it's mathematically unlikely you will watch the man attacked by goose renaming. Yeah. Uh you have this Minecraft documentary. Uh yeah,

this ex exposing dream on cheating. Oh

yeah. But but what is it like? So if

you're a new channel, which this was once a new channel, how how did you go about um finding what to do and blow up?

Yeah. So I think the strategy of the start is just like do whatever ideas whatever ideas that you have, execute them as quickly as possible. So for for Beluga the plan was I have to upload

every week and the video like there's not really a topic but it just has to be a video that I want to make. Yeah. I

think is good. Um so then you know week by week I would get an idea. I would

make it into a video and again like nine out of 10 of those ideas are probably not great. You know not going to get a

not great. You know not going to get a lot of views and but all you need is that one. And once you get that then

that one. And once you get that then you've been doubled down. How many

videos did it take for Beluga to start going viral? It was like four. Four or

going viral? It was like four. Four or

five. Four or five videos. Yeah, it's

about your fifth video. Um on World War I, the Discord mods we like. Yeah. Well,

the video that actually started to blow up first was the Minecraft video, the Minecraft hack. Um which is funny

Minecraft hack. Um which is funny because that's that's not related to the Discord videos at all. Yeah. But it was just a really good video that I believed in. like I was hyped when I was making

in. like I was hyped when I was making it and I think it was like a week after I posted that it started to blow up on its own. Um, so I could have gone down

its own. Um, so I could have gone down that route. I was actually going to make

that route. I was actually going to make another another documentary. Uh, it was all scripted out and I think I even filmed it but at that time like beluga blew up like the Discord stuff so I did

that instead and I'm glad that I did.

Interesting. Yeah. So you would have kept making like uh Minecraft tutorial documentaries. Yeah. Um, but it looked

documentaries. Yeah. Um, but it looked like this this Discord video went viral.

Yeah. How did how did you come up with uh this Discord format? I mean, how did how did this this this video here? Is

this the one Discord moms be like? Yeah.

Yeah, that's it. So, that's the genesis for Beluga. Yeah. And everything else

for Beluga. Yeah. And everything else earlier than that looks like a bunch of experimentation. Yeah. I mean, what do

experimentation. Yeah. I mean, what do you think's the secret to early experimentation to before you find something that goes viral? Yeah, I think you just have to like trust your gut and

then execute your ideas as quick as you can. Um because like usually when you

can. Um because like usually when you get like if if you just get hit with a really good video idea, what you could do is you could sit down for like a

month and you can really sketch it out and you can make all these little pivots before you even put anything out there and you might even stray away from the original thing that made that idea

great. Uh, or you could just make the

great. Uh, or you could just make the video the same day and put it out tomorrow. And then if you just repeat

tomorrow. And then if you just repeat that again and again, one of those ideas is going to be a hit. So that's that's what I did and that's the strategy I think is just literally like take the

idea that is at the top of your mind, make it as quick as possible and then move on and put it out there. Yeah. You

had to put it out there. You were like every week I have to post a video. Yep.

That's that's interesting. That's the

only way you know if your ideas are good or not, right? Yeah. I mean, were you ever very attached to an idea? How did

you feel when you've invested so much into something you thought was going to work and it flopped? That probably

happened a lot. Yeah. Like it definitely it definitely sucks. Um I would say I I did that less with my earlier channels because I just didn't think it through.

So I would just make videos impossibly.

Uh which is good. But I did have like a lot of plans before I even started Beluga on all these potential channels that I could have done. Um, and I think all of those plans I need to make a

single video. Uh, because you were

single video. Uh, because you were overthinking it. Yeah. And you might

overthinking it. Yeah. And you might have been lost in editing. Yeah. So,

what's that? That that seems like the biggest problem I notice with creators.

Like, what do you think are the biggest things people who want to be viral are doing wrong? I think they're just

doing wrong? I think they're just overplanning and they're like they're just in it for the wrong reasons as well. A lot of people are at least if

well. A lot of people are at least if you want to be a creator. Uh like some people are just doing it to make a lot of money or to be really wellknown. And

I think like if that's your motivation that's going to that expectation is going to be shattered very quickly and you're not going to work hard. Yeah. Um

if you're in it for just the love of creating then you're going to figure out all the details. You're going to figure out what it is you like to create. Yeah.

Yeah. And then you're going to go to that niche and as a result you're going to make the best stuff in that niche.

Yeah. Um and you're going to learn all the skills necessary because the end goal is it's worth your time. Like I

never really had to sit down and force myself to learn how to edit. I would

just edit as I made videos cuz it it was like a necessary step in the process. It

never felt hard. It never felt like work or I had to force myself. Um, I think that like you can make it a really hard experience being a creator if you just

aren't interested in the topic and you hate editing and you know you don't want you're doing because you want to be big.

Yeah. But that would suck. That would

suck. Yeah. And what what advice would you then give someone who wants to start a new channel? What did you do here that you think led it to be viral so quickly?

Yeah. I think I I gave myself a lot of freedom with Beluga and I think that's what you want to do. Like I I didn't create the channel with a topic in mind.

Yeah. And I didn't try to be perfect either. Like I did I didn't uh A lot of

either. Like I did I didn't uh A lot of people want to be perfect. Yeah. My

first video has to be has to be perfect.

Oh, I got to I got to script it out. I

got to be I got to look flawless. Oh my

god, I need this camera. Yep. I mean,

what was your equipment then? It it was very bad. Like I I didn't really have

very bad. Like I I didn't really have much equipment at all. The laptop? Yeah,

just a laptop. What was your gamma? Um I

just use my phone from iPod. I bought other tripods. Well,

from iPod. I bought other tripods. Well,

actually like I think that stuff matters less than than you think. Like even for Beluga, most of the footage that I get just like going around filming things is with my phone. You um cuz people don't

watch a video for the camera, they watch it for the idea and the person. Um and

there are there are cases where a good camera makes sense. Like if you're doing a whole, you know, reality TV show need good quality. Yep. All these things. uh

good quality. Yep. All these things. uh

or like a podcast. It's nice to have good good people to look at. Yeah. You know, but other than that, it's like it doesn't really matter. Um but but my my advice

really matter. Um but but my my advice so if you're starting a channel is give yourself freedom. Allow yourself to just

yourself freedom. Allow yourself to just basically allow yourself to just execute your ideas as quickly as possible and uh and don't overthink it. And also, don't

worry if it's not perfect because people are worried that they're going to make a video and it's going to be bad and everyone's going to watch it, but it's actually like no one's going to watch it. No one's going to watch it. You're

it. No one's going to watch it. You're

not going to get any hate comments.

Yeah. Right. Um and it seemed I think what was interesting was you told yourself, "Hey, I'm going to post try and post every week um despite not

getting to views. This is a new channel.

Yeah, I'm gonna post whatever I want.

That's interesting. Yeah. Um and uh I'll keep going, but I'll keep doing it every single week. Would you recommend? Yeah.

single week. Would you recommend? Yeah.

Say I think that's a really good goal to have when you start a channel. Like your

goal shouldn't be based off of I need to get 1,000 subscribers by the end of the month. Yeah. Cuz then like what do you

month. Yeah. Cuz then like what do you what do you even do, right? Yeah. Like

oh, I just to make good videos. Like

what does that even mean? Um and if you don't hit that goal, then what happens, right? You just quit. Yeah. Um like my

right? You just quit. Yeah. Um like my goal was just the schedule. It was just I will post every week. That is very attainable goal. It's something I can do

attainable goal. It's something I can do and I'll figure out everything else. And

like that that was my goal. Yeah. How

did you find the Discord format? How did

that video come to be? Yeah. So the idea just like hit me when I was just I was like making a sandwich or something. I

just I just thought about like Discord and the messages and Discord mods. It

was like the most random thing and I'm like, "Wow, dude, there could be a video here. This is a really funny skit."

here. This is a really funny skit."

Yeah. The Discord era. So, you're like 18 at the time. It was just during COVID, correct? Yeah, it was during CO.

COVID, correct? Yeah, it was during CO.

The thing the thing I wanted to The thing I wanted to explore was just like um you made a video, but then you didn't

like the video and then you decided to make a like to meet your deadline. Oh,

yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Um, yeah. So, so

I got the Discord idea, right? It wasn't

a breakthrough moment. I just put it into my phone, like in my notes, and then just moved on with my day. And then

the deadline started to approach for having to make a video. It was like the day before I had to upload, and I was working on a different video that I thought was better. Yeah. It was called

Face Wheels be Like, right. I was cuz I don't know. I just I thought it was

don't know. I just I thought it was funny. I was going around. When I was

funny. I was going around. When I was shooting all this footage, I had this like setup. Um, I think I put like a

like setup. Um, I think I put like a thing around my face and I was like slowly unwrapping it and I got all this like footage and I didn't like it. Yeah.

That night. Um, so literally the night before you had the hard deadline of I'm have to post this week. The night before you filmed all this videos for a face be

like. Yeah. And you didn't like it. I

like. Yeah. And you didn't like it. I

didn't like it. So So what could I do?

It was like, well, I can't re-shoot the footage because it's almost midnight and and you It's not possible. I could give up on my goal and not post, but that's

not acceptable. That's not That's not

not acceptable. That's not That's not acceptable. Oh, wow. I like that. Yeah.

acceptable. Oh, wow. I like that. Yeah.

Like if I get if I if I said, "Okay, I'll just delay it. Then I'll just do that more and I'll just I'll quit." So,

like I I can't give up. I have to post a video. What can I do? I'm like sitting

video. What can I do? I'm like sitting in my bed. It's late at night. I looked

at my ideas. cuz I'm like, "Hey, like I could make this Discord one." And that's what I did. I posted the next day.

It will happen. It blew up. It blew up.

Yeah. It was the biggest biggest video I've ever made in my whole life on YouTube. And it was just because the

YouTube. And it was just because the night before you had to make a video.

Yeah. You didn't like the video you produced entire week or had you scraed that. You looked at your phone. You you

that. You looked at your phone. You you

had all these notes of different ideas like I'm going to make this so that I need the deadline. Yeah. And that blew up. Yeah. Like at at the start it was

up. Yeah. Like at at the start it was like, "Okay, I have to make a video to meet the deadline. This is terrible.

Like what do I do?" And then I I started like making the Discord video and maybe like a a few minutes in, I'm like, "This is really funny." As I was writing the script and it was it was a fun

experience. Uh it didn't feel like work

experience. Uh it didn't feel like work again. It was like it's like playing a

again. It was like it's like playing a video game almost, right? Like just

having fun. Yeah. Just doing it. And

then Yeah. Yeah, I just made the video and and I knew it was really good as I was making it. Like this is so funny. So

then I quit out, but I didn't expect it to blow up cuz I also made a lot of videos in the past that I also thought were good that I blew up. It must be very humbling where like you've you've

probably made hundreds of videos by then. A bunch of them you Okay, this is

then. A bunch of them you Okay, this is good. Yeah. And you post it out there

good. Yeah. And you post it out there and then they don't really Yeah. Yeah.

Like the video where I downloaded Minecraft on my DS and like filmed that whole process. I thought that was going

whole process. I thought that was going to go super viral. That was going to be huge. Yeah. It's like I ordered this

huge. Yeah. It's like I ordered this special card from Amazon to do it. Yeah.

I figure out how to get it on my DS and I would go around and I would get footage of me like in the woods with my DS for like some some reason. You're

playing Minecraft. Yeah. Playing

Minecraft. Took a long time to make that video and it did not even a fraction as well as as a particular one. Yeah. So

what what did that make you realize? I

think it's like you have no idea to tell or you have no way of telling if an idea is good or not until you actually do it and then you can look back and then figure out why something's good. Hence

why you just have to keep doing things and trying out all these ideas. Yeah, it

seems incredibly exploratory of all these different formats. I'm going to make a documentary. I'm going to make this meme. I'm going to make this like

this meme. I'm going to make this like hey YouTube clickbait thing. Uh let me try to make you a vase review. I don't

like that video. And then let me make this Discord format. Um, and so what was going uh through your mind by like the sixth video on Beluga, right? You've you

you tried this format, it didn't work.

This Discord video is popping off. Yeah.

What went through your mind? Well, as

soon as the Discord video blew up, it finally clicked like how good of an idea it actually was and how much I could do with it. Like I remember instantly

with it. Like I remember instantly realizing, hey, I can make a hundred videos in this format. Yeah. on all

kinds of topics. I create all these characters, have all these storylines, like this is the best video that could have blown up. Like, it was so cool of

like what I could do and it was all revealed after that video did well and I thought about making more. So, it was it was actually like after the first

Discord video blew up, I went into an insane schedule of posting every other day. Wow. Which is crazy. Um, I I

day. Wow. Which is crazy. Um, I I respect everybody who uploads that fast or daily. That that's insane. Um, but it

or daily. That that's insane. Um, but it was never hard to like get the next video idea for Beluga because as soon as the first one blew up, I instantly had

like 50 written down. Wow. Yeah. So, you

always had your notes app, you have all these ideas and you would just keep track and so you always had videos that you could go to or you could try. Y if

you didn't like one, you would scrap and you go and try and make another video.

Yep. And uh and um Wow. So, and then you shifted your schedule from one video a week to one video every other day. Yeah.

What did you have to do to meet that upload schedule? Uh well, I definitely

upload schedule? Uh well, I definitely had to wake up very early. How? Every

other day, like 3:00 a.m. So 3:00 a.m.

Yeah. You're what, 18 years old? Yeah.

You're 18 years old. I was 19. You're

19. You're making these videos. One

blows up. You're you realize you tried out all these different random formats that you thought were interesting and then you realized, "Oh this is the golden format." Yeah. And then you

golden format." Yeah. And then you locked in. Yeah. Went beluga mode and

locked in. Yeah. Went beluga mode and you were waking up every day at 3:00 a.m. Every other day at least I was

a.m. Every other day at least I was waking up at like 3. How did you do with the school? Oh, I got like so much stuff

the school? Oh, I got like so much stuff going on. Well, like how did you do it?

going on. Well, like how did you do it?

So, it actually blew up over the summer between my first second year of university. So, I was able to just like

university. So, I was able to just like lock in and not do anything else. Yeah.

So, I wasn't distracted, which is good.

How many hours did it take to um make a beluga video and how much intensity did it require for you to post every 48 hours? Yeah, it was it was probably 10

hours? Yeah, it was it was probably 10 hours I think per video, which like people will will underestimate the amount of time it takes. You got to write out the script. You got to like

get all the everything you need, all the the screenshots and everything and the recordings. You have to like edit it,

recordings. You have to like edit it, which the editing on those videos is super tight. Like the music I I sync it

super tight. Like the music I I sync it up with every message. I think about the timing. Everything has to look really

timing. Everything has to look really good. Y um so probably like 10 hours. Um

good. Y um so probably like 10 hours. Um

but I always had the energy to do it and I always had the time because I actually cared. It was like this was this is the

cared. It was like this was this is the thing like I like when blue blew up like this is it. Um what else would I be doing? What else would you be doing?

doing? What else would you be doing?

Right? It's like if I'm sitting in my chair and it's 4:00 a.m. and I'm editing a video and I have 3 hours remaining to to edit. I'm like, well, I could do this

to edit. I'm like, well, I could do this or I could get up and do something else and what else would I do? Like this is what I want to do, right? So it's very

easy. How do you think blowing up has

easy. How do you think blowing up has changed your view of yourself?

I don't know. I I think it's I I just when I achieved something that was I thought it was impossible pretty much.

Um I mean I I believed in myself a lot, but it was like one of those things like could I actually have a channel that gets 10% of the views of the explorers to dreaming? Maybe. Will it equal it in

to dreaming? Maybe. Will it equal it in subscribers? Probably not cuz that took

subscribers? Probably not cuz that took years to build. Yeah. Little did I know you would do 10 times the amount of like success or like hund times. Um

so I think when you when you accomplish something that you thought was impossible, then you realize that you can do anything. Yeah. And that's that's probably what changed like for for me is

I just realized the agency that I have on this planet and there's nothing that's really off limits.

Um you don't have to be a genius. You

just have to try and you got to be consistent. Yeah. And go at it and be

consistent. Yeah. And go at it and be uncompromising. It seems like Yeah. Like

uncompromising. It seems like Yeah. Like

for me to create this channel that absolutely blew up. Like now when I look at really cool things that people made, I can see how they did it and I can I

can see myself doing something similar if I really try. Like it's not unattainable, right? I don't I don't

unattainable, right? I don't I don't need a certain IQ or or connections or anything. Just do it. Yeah. Yeah. And

anything. Just do it. Yeah. Yeah. And

you were almost bounded to blow up again because you were consistent with the channel. Um and then you found a format

channel. Um and then you found a format and you had early glimpses of like, oh damn, this this this channel could be bigger than Explore Lucid Dreaming, which at the time was probably what, a

few hundred thousand. Yeah. A few

hundred thousand. Yeah. Or 19. But

you're like, wait, this could be bigger.

Yeah. And then you went all out into it knowing that this format was golden.

Yeah. Well, how do you find a golden format on YouTube? Um, so yeah, like you just tend to experiment. I think they're like you golden formats are not obvious. I think

like they're very not obvious. It's like

good ideas. Like you think that it's obvious that you're going to be sitting down brainstorming ideas and oh, here it is. This is the thing. Yes. But it's

is. This is the thing. Yes. But it's

like usually the best ideas you have, you dismiss them or you think yourself out of them. Like even the the idea for the first Discord video, I didn't like a

light bulb didn't go off and I didn't just make it that day. I just put it in my phone and lived life. Um the only difference was that I put myself in a

position to execute ideas very quickly.

Yeah. Where I was able to actually realize that was a golden idea by making it. Yeah. There's been people who have

it. Yeah. There's been people who have been making videos probably longer than you, who don't have as much success as you, but you've been able to do much

more in such a smaller time frame. And

it and Nal has a quote where it's it's not actually 10,000 hours. It's 10,000

iterations. Yeah. Getting on an upload schedule where you're iterating and experimenting every other day is just absolutely insane. Yeah. Like I I know

absolutely insane. Yeah. Like I I know very few people who do that. and you

were uncompromising with meeting it, right? You had to upload every 48 hours.

right? You had to upload every 48 hours.

You know, you're willing to adjust your schedule. You're willing to wake up at

schedule. You're willing to wake up at 3:00 a.m. Now, it was during the summer

3:00 a.m. Now, it was during the summer where you didn't have school. What

happened when you had school? I kept to it. You kept it. How you kept through

it. You kept it. How you kept through it? I just I just reorganized my life to

it? I just I just reorganized my life to meet those goals. And again, it was it didn't like it was hard work if you look at it objectively. Like I was working more than the average person definitely

because I was waking up insanely early, working, going to school, getting back, working late into the night. Um, but

like it it wasn't that hard because it was what I wanted to do and like I had this insane energy to just like I wake up in the morning, I got 5 hours of

sleep and I felt super ready to go, refreshed. I just did it. Uh that's how

refreshed. I just did it. Uh that's how I stuck to it as I wanted to. You wanted

to Yeah. You were getting momentum pretty right. You you found something

pretty right. You you found something that worked. Yeah. Uh I feel like genius

that worked. Yeah. Uh I feel like genius is almost like seeing cliners of something working. Yeah. Reorganizing

something working. Yeah. Reorganizing

everything to focus on that. Yeah. And I

think like people will get this confused with motivation and they'll think that like like you need to be in the motivational state to do any of this. I

was not motivated for at least half of the beluga videos that I was making.

Yeah. Like sometimes I would sit I would be sitting editing and it was like I was very tired and I didn't want to do it.

But I had this higher goal of like this thing I wanted to achieve. And that

doesn't change. It's like I wanted to build this into one of the biggest channels and see how far I could go. So

like even if I felt demotivated that day, I would still push through it. So I

think like you shouldn't chase motivation. You should set the highest

motivation. You should set the highest possible goal for yourself and then any move towards that goal is going to make you extremely like energetic and just wanting to do

it. Like you're going to feel great.

it. Like you're going to feel great.

Yeah. There's like self-esteem to watching you yourself adhere to making moves on that goal. Yeah. Like that

that's where the satisfaction from making each Beluga video came from.

there's movement towards that goal cuz I knew that like even if I don't want to make this video, this is going to put me one video closer to my first million subscribers and then two million and

then three and like how far can this go?

So yeah. Yeah, I think um do you think this is this is the secret behind all successful YouTubers like the consistent

upload schedule? I think so. Yeah, I

upload schedule? I think so. Yeah, I

think it's uh you have to be consistent um for sure and you have to care and you have to like your topic uh cuz that's the only way you can actually make great

videos in topic and you've been able to explore all sorts of different types of videos, formats, topics, just whatever that comes to your mind. It seems like you know inspiration was there and you

were able to act on it immediately.

Yeah, it's pretty cool. Like like if you look back at my history on YouTube, it like doesn't make sense. Like I may I make meme videos

on Discord and then I also made lucid dreaming tutorials. Yeah, it's like

dreaming tutorials. Yeah, it's like completely disconnected. Completely

completely disconnected. Completely different formats. And people are like,

different formats. And people are like, "Oh, they don't connect." But it's like the underlying motivations for making those videos are the same. Like I just made the lucid dreaming videos cuz I

love lucid dreaming. I made the Discord ones because I had this other goal, you know, to explore my comedic side. Um,

and I made gaming videos way back in the day because I just love that process, you know. So, you've been able to

you know. So, you've been able to reinvent yourself many times despite being 22 years old. You have 2.4 billion views under your belts. And it seems

like, you know, Beluga seems to be three to four years, three years old now.

Yeah. Um, and still and still you're finding new formats. You're

experimenting with them. Uh, and some some of them are working, right? Like

let's see from the past few days letting 800,000 people edit my homework. This

video, this video is doing 1.2 million views. I mean, that's doing pretty well

views. I mean, that's doing pretty well for something so recent. And then you posted something 13 hours ago. Uh, but

even then I see you have like some VR chat like you're you're willing to iterate and even if the like how do you deal with videos not going so well?

Yeah. I think if there's a video that I don't want to make and I only make it cuz I think it's going to do well and then it flops and it sucks. But if

there's a video that I just love making, it's just really fun. Like the VR videos, those never really did insanely well. Um, and maybe I had high

well. Um, and maybe I had high expectations for them, but I still like the process. So, like it's not the end

the process. So, like it's not the end of the world if they don't succeed. Um,

I say like you don't want to force yourself to do something that you don't believe in. Um, so that's like my that's

believe in. Um, so that's like my that's my strategy. And because of that, if a

my strategy. And because of that, if a video does really well or it doesn't do well, it's it's the same. It's fine

because you just he believe in every video. And yeah, you choose the videos.

video. And yeah, you choose the videos.

Yeah. Yeah. It also seems like um do do you still keep a list of video ideas? Do

you always have them with you? I'm a

very long list on my phone. I mean, I use it less nowadays because I'm trying to make the videos as quick as possible because I get them. Um or I just like

know which videos next. So, but I have very long list.

What What do most creators do wrong when they start new channels? Uh I think they try to lock into a topic or like a format. um or they think certain things

format. um or they think certain things matter that don't towards making the videos. Um like it's not about length.

videos. Um like it's not about length.

You just want to give yourself space to be creative when you're a new YouTuber and then realize why you want to do YouTube and just like follow that passion. Sounds very very like broad,

passion. Sounds very very like broad, but you you were following your curiosity and like what what you thought was interesting to you. Yeah. Um and uh

the important part seemed like you you you kept adhering to the schedule and you're uncompromising. Yeah. With that.

you're uncompromising. Yeah. With that.

Yeah. Like you don't want to commit to an idea, but you want to commit to a schedule, right? Yeah. I think that's a

schedule, right? Yeah. I think that's a it's a good idea. Um and you also want to be able to like kill ideas if they're not good. Uh which if you're trying to

not good. Uh which if you're trying to get into YouTube and you have a really big ego, you're going to get humbled quickly. Yeah. Uh and you would do two

quickly. Yeah. Uh and you would do two things. It's like if you make a video

things. It's like if you make a video and it doesn't succeed, but you have a big ego, then you could say everybody's wrong. This abyss format is the best

wrong. This abyss format is the best thing and people just don't know. Yeah.

And you're just never going to change and you're always going to get like 20 views, you know? Or you could say, I was completely wrong or like I I'm just not

good at this video. Like this is just it's a skill issue. How do I get better?

And then you get better and you pivot to something that works better and and that that's how you grow up. So yeah. Yeah. I

think Yeah. You don't show me as someone with that much of an ego. Yeah. I think

that plays very well with the content that you make where you're able to not as personally take um you know the

results of videos not doing as well as you hope for. How do you learn from videos flopping? What is like the way to

videos flopping? What is like the way to do so? What is the mindset you should

do so? What is the mindset you should take so that you continue to uh find videos that actually do well?

Yeah. So, like the video flops, usually it's just has really bad retention, which means people aren't watching it, which means it's just like not entertaining. And you could try to like

entertaining. And you could try to like look at it objectively and see like why aren't people entertained? you could ask people, you know, um you'd see if the video is confusing, you know, YouTube is really good. They give you a lot of

really good. They give you a lot of analytics, so you could see like all these charts and you can see where people drop off. Um and so if you see everybody dropping off at a certain point in the video, you should be able

to know why. Like you should have some idea, I think. Um but like if your video doesn't do well, just like compare it to videos that you've made that do well,

see where things are similar and where they're different. Um, I think a lot of

they're different. Um, I think a lot of videos can be very experimental. You're

like taking a risk and if it doesn't work out, it basically just means that that you're wrong. And uh, yeah, GG GG.

Yeah, buy by by something. But but as you said, um, when a video doesn't do well, you look at the watch time, you see where people drop off, and then you

think to yourself like, and you analyze it, hey, why did people drop off here?

or why did people watch as long? Yeah,

you can look at the actual part of the video and and look like, okay, like I I I had this like really banger uh intro sequence and then I went to a period where like I'm just talking from the

camera. Yeah. And it's very like it's

camera. Yeah. And it's very like it's really hard to be objective when you look at your own work and your own videos cuz like you're always biased towards things you make. like every

video that a new YouTuber makes I think is the greatest video on YouTube or like is really good and it's worthy of views and it's very possible that it's not uh

but but like it's it's just hard to realize that I think like after being on YouTube for so long if a video doesn't do well I can look at it and figure out

like just like why it didn't do well and like see your biases. Yeah, you see see the biases. I can look at my thinking as

the biases. I can look at my thinking as I was making that video and I can see what's wrong. So, a lot of it is like,

what's wrong. So, a lot of it is like, do people know what they're watching? Is

there a clear story here? How different

is it from the audience that currently has? Um, just like how easy is it to

has? Um, just like how easy is it to follow? Am I delivering on what the

follow? Am I delivering on what the title and thumbnail says? All these

things you you learn um after being on the platform. What it the opposite is

the platform. What it the opposite is you can look at videos that did extremely well. Like you can sort by

extremely well. Like you can sort by most popular and you could say like why are these videos the best and you could probably realize why. Like for Beluga the most viewed video, second most

viewed is when your phone is at 1%.

That's just so relatable and it's a very clear story when you watch it and there's so many things that that video did right and I've studied them and that's what I I apply into future

videos. Wow. Yeah. You mentioned a lot

videos. Wow. Yeah. You mentioned a lot of different concepts. What are the components to make a viral YouTube video? Um

video? Um I think uh it's got to be if you want to go viral, it's got to be worthy of going viral. So what can you do? Probably

viral. So what can you do? Probably

something that no one else has done.

Like that that could go viral. So, if

you walk across like the desert with no food and water and no sleep and you film it, that would go viral, but there's probably a reason why it hasn't been

done. So, you want you want to find

done. So, you want you want to find things that maybe haven't been done, but are doable and then try to tackle those.

There's no intrigue. Yeah. How do you go about thinking um about a video um when you're in the process of making it? Do

you think of the thumbnail? do you think of the title? Like how how how do you make a video? Yeah. I always start with the thumbnail and the title at least for

beluga videos. Um like it's extremely

beluga videos. Um like it's extremely important. It's like if you're writing a

important. It's like if you're writing a book, like what are you going to call it and what are people going to see when when they see it on a shelf? It's like

like how how is this video going to appear on YouTube? Um and I really want to know that before I even make it because it guides everything. like

you're setting the expectations for the viewer. Um it's just so important. I I

viewer. Um it's just so important. I I

always start with title and thumbnail, right? Yeah. Because it's people do

right? Yeah. Because it's people do judge the book by the cover. Yeah. And

they because of the thumbnail or the title, they come in with a certain expectation. Yep. And which you need to

expectation. Yep. And which you need to meet in that video. Yeah. But like if it's a really good thumbnail and and title, usually that means it could be a very good video because like what what

is a good title? It's something that's relatable, that's captivating, that's interesting, and a good thumbnail clearly communicates that. So if you have a a good title and thumbnail pair,

then you just have a good idea that can easily be communicated and it's visually interesting and that translates into a good video. It's like when your phone is

good video. It's like when your phone is at 1%. Yeah. I just I knew the title

at 1%. Yeah. I just I knew the title instantly. I knew what the thumbnail

instantly. I knew what the thumbnail would be. Yeah, cuz it's so relatable.

would be. Yeah, cuz it's so relatable.

It's so obby. Yeah. And then you was easy to make. I'm like, "Wow, like what that Yeah, that is very relatable. I

I've been there and then and then it's oh, it's from Beluga. It's probably very entertaining." Yeah. And you meet that

entertaining." Yeah. And you meet that expectation. Mhm. How do you do that? I

expectation. Mhm. How do you do that? I

think it's that's just like execution.

Like, well, now you have their click.

Can you actually deliver on whatever it is? Um, for me, it's like, can I tell a

is? Um, for me, it's like, can I tell a good story? Uh, at least like a lot of

good story? Uh, at least like a lot of the videos where a Discord conversation was the thumbnail, it's like people are here for the conversation. Yeah, it

continue. It goes right into the conversation. Whereas if you went into

conversation. Whereas if you went into like, "Hi, I'm Raiden. Welcome to my video." They would probably just look

video." They would probably just look out. Yeah. Yeah. Intros. I think intros

out. Yeah. Yeah. Intros. I think intros are going to go out of style very soon, right? It should just be thumbnail

right? It should just be thumbnail directly into what the thumbnail is proposing. Yep. Like ideally the perfect

proposing. Yep. Like ideally the perfect YouTube experience is you see a thumbnail and you like click on it and then the video just starts from there and shows you exactly what you want to

see instead of like like if you click on a video and the person's in a completely different setting and they're not even mentioning the title and thumbnail.

You're like, "Am I going to get what I clicked for?" Yeah. and you start to

clicked for?" Yeah. and you start to wonder and then you think about clicking off and that's like within the first second of the video people should know what they're watching and that you're

going to deliver on the exact thing that you made them click for. Yeah. Yeah. So

there's two components. One is

optimizing for clicks on that video which needs a very compelling relatable thumbnail and title. Yeah. And then when they land on that video, you need to optimize for watch time or for them to

finish the video. And that means meeting their expectation and building an engaging Yeah. experience. Yeah. And a

engaging Yeah. experience. Yeah. And a

lot of that is like you learn by doing it more. Like the more videos you make,

it more. Like the more videos you make, the better quality of things you you could put out. Uh so like execution is

most of it. The idea does matter a lot for YouTube, but like still execute.

Yeah. Yeah. The idea like making Yeah.

All All these thumbnails and titles are very concise and very simple. Yeah.

Which also seems like it appeals to a wider audience. Yeah. Like generally the

wider audience. Yeah. Like generally the more simple and relatable something is, the more the more views it'll get. Like

my channel sorted by popular, all of the videos. Like it's literally it just goes

videos. Like it's literally it just goes down in relatability as you scroll to like less popular videos, right? Like I

wish you could sort the channel by least popular, but if you if you could then you'd probably just not understand the title and thumbnail and very niche videos. Yeah, that makes a lot of I

videos. Yeah, that makes a lot of I actually never thought about it that way. Like as you scroll, popularity is

way. Like as you scroll, popularity is actually source for relatability. Yeah.

And like when the hacker finds your password where your phone's at 1% when you cheat in school. Cahoot. I I mean a bunch of people probably don't know Cahoot, but Yeah. Um like older people

don't, but all the young people who were on the internet cuz there co were like, "Oh my god, Cahoot, this isn't what we're doing for quizzes." Yeah. Um and

you you seem to have like rode that um like trends and you know, pop culture extremely well. Yeah. There's like a

extremely well. Yeah. There's like a certain balance, too. It's like you want to be relatable, but you also don't want to be too general. Otherwise, you're not exciting. So, like you got to find that

exciting. So, like you got to find that balance. Yeah. Like for my Cahoot video,

balance. Yeah. Like for my Cahoot video, if I just said like quiz or something.

Maybe it would the average it would be more broad, but it wouldn't it wouldn't be intriguing to people. But yeah, like another good example of delivering on expectations are like the videos I'm

making recently where I'm sending a lot of people on my Discord server over to places. Uh, those videos are doing

places. Uh, those videos are doing really well, but like the one I posted today is my most views I've gotten in like a year. Wait, really? From a video for for like the early the first 12

hours fall back. It might hit a million views. Brand new format. Yeah. Wait,

views. Brand new format. Yeah. Wait,

have you seen anyone do it? Like, no.

No, nothing. You have this massive Discord server with like 80 800,000 people. Yeah. Pending 1 million. And I'm

people. Yeah. Pending 1 million. And I'm

just sending them to like You're just sending them to a Google doc and then you're sending them to Netflix. But the

way you introduce it is like it's there's like a story there. Yeah. Right.

It's it's relatable. It's um Oh, like Netflix raised the prices. Gosh, like

they're cramming on and sharing. Let me

share with like 800,000 people. Yeah.

Yeah. It's like it's funny cuz like ideas there's they just kind of like they click and then they finally click.

It's like so obvious but you never really plan it out. So I just realized like I have this massive Discord server.

There's all these people. I just want to send them at random places. Yeah.

Because I've always thought it's literally just cool that like what if like something just got flooded with people. So that's what I'm doing. Um but

people. So that's what I'm doing. Um but

the videos I'm very clear on like delivering like uh immediately at the start of the video you see the server size. You see me titing up the message.

size. You see me titing up the message.

Yep. And you see people start to arrive.

There's no there's no intro.

There's no there's no Hello everyone.

Today we are going to be sent No, it's like you just get it's into the sauce.

Yeah. Yeah. Right away. Yeah. Like I see here it's it's just we're wishing this many people good night if I click on it.

Yeah.

Oh, there's a server. Yeah. There's

there's me. And then you're like on everyone. Yeah. And then Yeah. Five

everyone. Yeah. And then Yeah. Five

minutes in you're typing the message.

Yeah. Bingo. How did he send it to? And

then that's it.

realm.

No. Holy

Yeah. You fined the uh you finder the Discord format and in many ways you just pioneered a new format. Yeah. It's it's

brand new. No one has done this. No. Um

why why do you think this idea like how do you come up with this idea? It's just

like I don't know. It's just cool. Like

sending 800,000 people to a Google doc, what's going to happen? It's like that's just it. It's just interesting to me. So

just it. It's just interesting to me. So

then I get video ideas based off of it.

But again, it's like I didn't really sit down and plan out that idea. It's just

kind of something that developed over time. Yeah. And I I executed it and it

time. Yeah. And I I executed it and it worked and now I get to explore more. So

yeah, it's like you were clearly exploring with like a bunch of formats like like Yeah, those who know. Um you

have some VR chat videos that didn't really um go through so well like choose wisely. Yeah, I feel like this this one

wisely. Yeah, I feel like this this one like why didn't it go so well? Let's

see. Um this is like a kind of a popular meme, but you sort of like rule out half the demographic cuz of like a guy pick.

Well, it's just very it's very different than like anything else I've ever made.

So yeah. Yeah. But the fact that you're willing to continue to experiment with new formats and new ideas, like it didn't discourage you. You kept going even though these underperformed your

other videos significantly. Yeah. Um

until you found an idea by adhering to, you know, an upload schedule that worked. And when the this it looks like

worked. And when the this it looks like the second that format worked, you did have other ideas around that, right?

Like I think the first one was what?

Wishing 800,000 people good night. Yeah,

that one has 2.4 million views. Like,

oh, you're probably like, "Oh my god."

Okay, this is Yep. This is this this is a new format. Yeah. And you immediately capitalize on it by leveraging this Discord server that actually other people can't really copy it because they don't really have that big of an

audience. Yeah. You're thinking of all

audience. Yeah. You're thinking of all these original new videos. Yeah. When

you when you think about the idea, it's actually like a really good one and it's like only few people can actually execute it. Yeah. Which makes it even

execute it. Yeah. Which makes it even better cuz then I won't have people copying right away. What? It'll probably

it'll probably happen. Yeah. With like

But the only people who could but they're only big YouTubers because they're like really creative people. So

if they copy me, they're going to copy me. Well, and I'm going to learn from

me. Well, and I'm going to learn from that. I'll laugh. You're going to see

that. I'll laugh. You're going to see like why. Yeah. Because when Beluga blew

like why. Yeah. Because when Beluga blew up, you had so many people copying that format. You pioneered your format. It's

format. You pioneered your format. It's

working. What do you do? You found the you found the gold. What do you do?

Yeah. How do you feel about it when it when it blew up? Yeah. Yeah. I mean, it was great when it blew up, but it was easy for people to uh make spin-off videos cuz like it was the idea mattered

a lot. The story mattered a lot. Um, but

a lot. The story mattered a lot. Um, but

people could look at it as just the idea as like a Discord video and then execute it with like a really bad story. Yeah.

Or bad characters. Yeah. Uh, so there's more to it. You had to storytell it well. Yeah. Um, and well, I guess you

well. Yeah. Um, and well, I guess you probably made the best display videos.

Yeah. Yeah. My videos are best. Yeah.

Did in that format. Yeah. I think. But

did you did you learn from anyone copying your thing? Like what did you learn from them? Um I don't know. I

didn't really use the clone channel as inspiration. Yeah, because a lot of the

inspiration. Yeah, because a lot of the ideas they're just risking you. They're

literally displaying you. Yeah, they're

just not really great. I mean, I would sometimes go to those channels and sort my popular to see like what their biggest videos were cuz maybe they they locked out and got a really good idea.

Um but a lot of them are videos that I've already made or ideas that I would have made anyways. So I didn't buy too much Yeah. Yeah. You were already

much Yeah. Yeah. You were already by then the best and you were upload cadence was just pro. Yeah. You were,

you know, even though you were what, 19 at the time, you were adhering to that every other day video. Yeah. And that

level of execution, that little, oh, I have these ideas and I'm just going to like make them. It it led you to being one of the fastest growing creators in history. You grew what, 4 million

history. You grew what, 4 million subscribers in 3 months. Yeah. Yeah.

Yeah. And again, like it's weird because that wasn't my goal that summer. My goal

was just to differentiate from Explore Lucid Dreaming. Yeah. And achieved like

Lucid Dreaming. Yeah. And achieved like 10% of the views. And it just so happened that it it created one of the fastest growing channels, which like it

it shows you can't really plan that kind of thing out. Like you just have to try to differentiate, take some risks, allow yourself some freedom. Yeah. And this is

this is one of the outcomes. Yeah. And

like this could happen. This could

happen. could happen if you just are making Minecraft videos, recording them on your iPod, and you're just uploading them for fun. Y this is one of the outcomes. Yeah. It just requires you to

outcomes. Yeah. It just requires you to what? You just have to be consistent,

what? You just have to be consistent, like stick to a schedule, be able to experiment and be able to get it right sometimes and get it wrong. And I think

that's like like anytime you experiment with videos or try a new format, there's the chance that the video flops or

chance that it blows up. Uh but the good thing about being human and having a mind is that you can just choose the ideas that work well and then kind of pivot from there. You know, it's not

like a community random thing. Yeah.

You're trying out a bunch of different things. um looking at what does well,

things. um looking at what does well, looking at what does poorly that you've invested a lot of your time in, but nonetheless you continue to make videos.

Yeah. And I think it's just like you have to be willing to reinvent yourself even if you have previous success in life. Um like you shouldn't stick to the

life. Um like you shouldn't stick to the same thing forever just because it's it's successful. Yeah. Because people

it's successful. Yeah. Because people

change and your interests are going to change. Yeah. And like I could have

change. Yeah. And like I could have again became the lucid dreaming guy and prop like I would have made a living and I would have just kind of made videos

but it wouldn't been the greatest thing.

Um but I but I I made a new channel and I reinvented myself and part of that was I had to have no audience. I would get like 1% of views that I would normally

get. So I had to adjust my expectations

get. So I had to adjust my expectations for a while. Um you have to be willing to do that. Yeah. And you can do that then there's nothing off the table for

you. You can be the greatest trader in

you. You can be the greatest trader in history. Yeah. Yeah. I mean despite

history. Yeah. Yeah. I mean despite having a that and play button here. Um

you know you keep making videos like where do you want to take it? Where

where do you want to go? Yeah. I guess I just want to see like like how I don't know like if I if I were to rebet myself, what would that look like?

and you know what what's the next thing?

I mean I've got a really good format right now with Beluga. Yeah, I'm going to explore. Um so that's where my focus

to explore. Um so that's where my focus is. But I think like you know can I grow

is. But I think like you know can I grow a channel and grow as a person at the same time and like I guess I don't know just just take it a step further. Yeah.

Uh I think you have incredible talents daily and you've been able to um very well evolve yourself from like educating

people about lucid dreaming to then I mean I remember watching your videos when I was in high school maybe you're younger than you. Um and yeah I mean co sucked but you brought joy to I don't

know like hundreds of millions of people over billions of views and um that's wonderful. I think with your abilities

wonderful. I think with your abilities you can um you know you you can make the world different. Um the world can be

world different. Um the world can be better because you were in the world is here. Belugo is here or whichever next

here. Belugo is here or whichever next channel you know you you go on and I I feel like that's um you're only 22 and you've reached where most creators have

and like what's next I think like you have like insane potential. Yeah. We'll

see. Yeah. We shall see. We shall see.