How To Make It On YouTube In 2023 - Colin And Samir

They describe themselves less as “experts” and more as people who spent 12 years in the space, failed a lot, worked behind the scenes, and used interviews to learn directly from creators who had already figured parts of it out.

Colin frames the appeal as money and “confidence in identity,” while Samir argues many people who succeed can’t help but keep creating even when it’s irrational and unrewarded; the day-to-day work stays largely the same even after success.

Samir explains their early years made essentially no money, sustained by savings and contract work for his dad’s clothing company, plus random side gigs; later they were acqui-hired, learned the creator business in a “MBA-like” environment, then left to start again with little plan.

Samir defines “content market fit” as the overlap of what you want to make, what the audience wants, and what the platform wants; he contrasts being an “artist” (less audience empathy) with being a “creator” (audience-collaborative).

Both say the most reliable commonality among creators who “make it” is focus and discipline: keep making the best next video instead of ejecting into too many side projects too early.