What does YouTube developer OG think about the rise of TikTok? –

Marquez Brownle firmly belongs to the “OG” YouTuber category. A tech reviewer, also known as MKBHD, started posting tech videos to YouTube in 2009 as a teenager, sharing software tutorials and webcam photo reviews, like the remote that came with his HP laptop.

Thirteen years later, Brownlee has one of the most popular tech channels on YouTube, with 15.8 million subscribers, and is a respected voice in the industry. In addition to reviewing the latest technology releases, Brownlee has invited top execs such as Sundar Pichai, Mark Zuckerberg, Bill Gates and Elon Musk for interviews on his channel and podcast.

As the creator industry has expanded into new media and seen an influx of business from influential brands, Brownley said the majority of his revenue still comes from YouTube ads, allowing him to be more selective in brand offerings with the which you agree. But he’s also spent time growing his audience on platforms like Discord, where he and his team host a server, and recently launched a premium paid tier of $2.99 ​​a month for superfans.

sat with the Hollywood Reporter, Brownlee reflects on the rise of TikTok, why the lifecycle of a digital creator is similar to that of a professional athlete, and why he remains confident in YouTube as a video platform. (This interview has been edited for length and clarity.)

How has the creator industry changed since you started?

I feel like there are different ways to prototype the creator arc. Many of them start with selections, maybe something viral and do their best to keep it going. A lot of people start by making a few items, then they connect something and then it looks like a shelf. It was like a steady ramp, nothing crazy. At first nothing really exploded or anything. But the pandemic was interesting because we had this wave where everyone was worried about more people in the house looking at the content, so it was fascinating to see how everyone was seeing post-pandemic activity.

I hear from many creators who say, “Diversify your presence. you need to be more [platforms] of one. How did you come up with that, considering you got your start on YouTube and it’s probably still your bread and butter?

Okay, definitely at least bread and butter. But I think evergreen diversification is good advice for pretty much any startup that is going to change. [this into] Your job. But that’s not just diversification, it’s the end of it. You want to find the best ways to diversify. So some startups teach a lot, so many of them will take their own course or do something along those lines. I just did one with David Blaine, who now looks like an online developer, which is great.

Discord is another community where we have this community that is super, super excited about technology and wants to talk about it constantly, so we have these Discord channels and this premium section of our community.

It’s important for developers to find their niche and figure out what they’re good at, but there’s also the point that it’s not sustainable to stick to one thing and do it over and over again. You’re in an interesting place because you’re usually a technical reviewer, and you’re probably doing the same thing. How did you feel about scaling and attracting new audiences as you built your business?

It’s ridiculous to say it’s technical, which is good because I want it that way. But it started out as something even narrower. I just took software classes for, say, 300 videos and then it was like, well, the enthusiasts liked the hardware. And then smartphones had this big boom, and it got a little bit wider, and we went on. Now with the power button everything is a game, because technology is now everywhere: electric cars are technology, televisions, headphones, travel, smartphones still remain. I wonder a lot why technology is everywhere.

However, this is not necessarily a scale. We are forming a team. We want to do more, better things.

How do you see yourself?

I described him as an octopus. As a creator, your job is to do several different things at once. You’re the cameraman, you’re the editor, you’re the writer, you handle the inbox, you handle the finances. Your eight hands, all doing different things. Creating a team was like cutting off one of those arms and passing it on to someone who can do it better than I can.

Another silly analogy is the three hearts of an octopus. A fun fact. So you have to find out what the heart is, because that’s something you can’t cut off and pass on to others. I know I’m a content content strategist, I’m a technical technical reviewer. This is what I’m going to do.

Go back to YouTube as your bread and butter when you saw TikTok take off and YouTube has Shorts, did you feel pressured to translate some of your content into short form to meet this demand or these platforms? Entrepreneur?

No, but that’s just because I’m very confident in YouTube’s status as a video platform. When will I look for a new iPhone [and] I have to watch a video about it, what can I do? I go to youtube.com and look for the article. If it ever changes, if I say: “I want to see how the new phone is seen” and I go to TikTok: a small number of people does it, but I believe that in reality it creates a new audience, instead of people being alienated from YouTube. . It’s not a feeling of pressure like I’ve just put my foot in a new pool.

We found little success and some fun things to try in the short form world. But bread and butter are still very technical videos that help people form longer products, and that’s what we’re still focusing on.

Do you think short form is out of fashion and people will go back to long form?

No, I think it’s new and I intend to stay here. I think they can exist side by side. There will always be a session, a 10-minute video, especially when you are making a purchase decision. Okay, I have $400 to spend on headphones, I really want to make the right choice here. But when it comes to entertainment, the short form has really found its footing and I think it’s going to stay here.

As for other formats that people are trying out, I’ve seen a lot of live shopping. You seem to fit in naturally. Is that what you want to focus on?

It’s something of a different skill, a living thing.

You don’t want to be a QVC, but…

This is a real balancing act. No, I’m willing to try things out because, like I said, I feel like I’m speaking best to people who are going to buy, and it’s a unique thing for a developer to have a specific audience that we’re talking to Egre. I’m interested in live shopping. I don’t know if this is something I’m going to fully dive into, but it’s always worth a try.

Do you feel a shift in the fact that brands are moving closer to partnering with content creators?

I’ve actually seen a lot of them pay more attention to how they do it. East [perspective] It comes from years ago, the earlier days, especially since I’m immersed in technology, how tech creators were treated compared to traditional tech media.

This means that they spend more or less, or decide to invest more in that audience, if not, everything varies, but even so, they pay more attention.

Does that translate to more offers?

In general, yes. To be honest, it wasn’t my big focus. [It’s a] super lucky position [because] I started so long ago that it was a well-oiled car and we really choose what kind of deal we are going to do because they are the most logical.

When it comes to being a digital beginner and achieving success, how do you fight a career that feels fleeting or short-lived?

I liken it to sportsmanship. Many want to be professional athletes. But when you look at it, the life cycle of a professional athlete is short and short in most sports. You will have, for example, five years of your debut. If you’re lucky, you play at eight, nine, 10 [years]. If you’re literally LeBron James, you’ve been playing for 20 years. This is a short run on most courses.

Even if we think that the creator lifecycle is relatively short, I think there’s a lot of potential to do and do really cool stuff. And sometimes there’s a career spanning 20 or 30 years and that’s not necessarily a bad thing.