Hacker News Reader

Comment by ryanjmo | Hacker News Reader

So, we work with these guys and I can tell you that right now this is definitely low in terms of an estimate of the money they are making.

In addition to what they make from ads, a lot of YouTubers will get paid to make videos that involve a product, etc. For some (most?) that is actually a larger source of income than the AdSense.

Also there are many many more than 10 YouTubers who are doing very well from their channel.

View on HN

I agree from what I have heard from people working with similar YT stars. What is surprising is the incredible amount of cross promotion done between seemingly unaffiliated stars in an effort to gain subscribers/viewers. From the rough description I heard about, it seemed somewhat scammy/gross to me but I don't know enough to make a definitive judgment. Do you have any thoughts or information about that?

YouTubers definitely cross promote each other, but it's not nearly as disgusting as you would think. In many ways, growing a new YouTube channel is very similar to growing a startup (these people are essentially startups themselves). At this point in the game, it's almost necessary to know someone more popular than you in order for your channel to get noticed.

I've worked with many YouTubers (I'm Ryan's co-founder), and can honestly say that they are nice people who appreciate each other's talents and want to help others like them succeed. They have a very strong sense of community, and they all know (or at least know OF) each other. Of course there are a few who do nasty things to try to get ahead, but those are by far the minority, and generally don't do well in the long run.

Reply on news.ycombinator.com