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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?

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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.

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