Untertitel (443)
0:01(cardboard crunching)
0:05That is the question I will
answer in this video,
0:07and you can skip ahead to
the answer if you like,
0:10but I think it'll make
more sense if I explain.
0:13You know, I started this
YouTube channel in 2011
0:16after quitting my full-time job.
0:17And welcome to Veritasium.
0:19In units of kilogram.
0:20I was teaching around 15
hours a week to pay the bills.
0:24But the other 40 to 50 hours per week,
0:27I spent making videos on this channel,
0:29and I didn't do it for the money.
0:31Gives mass to the other subatomic part-
0:33I don't think anyone who
started at that time did,
0:36because there was basically
no money to be made.
0:39In my first year working
full time, I made $840.
0:44In my second year, I earned $12,000.
0:48The real reason I made Veritasium
0:49is because it allowed me to combine
0:51the three things that I
always loved doing the most,
0:54learning about science, teaching,
0:59and creating, like
performing and making videos.
1:03I did not get into this
to start a business.
1:06I personally think I'd be
terrible at selling things.
1:08I'm not one of those people who can say,
1:10"You've gotta try this.
1:11It'll change your life."
1:13You know, back in 2015,
1:14I kickstarted a magnetic
molecular modeling kit
1:17called Snatoms, and I
still sell it on Amazon,
1:20but I hardly ever mention it
1:22because I don't wanna bother you.
1:24And I figure if you're looking
for something like that,
1:26well maybe, you'll find it.
1:31- [Passerby] Very nice.
1:32I almost never ask you to
like, comment, or subscribe.
1:35I wanna thank you for watching.
1:36Because I figure you
know what you wanna do.
1:39And I'm not a growth hacker.
1:41We don't sell cheap merch,
no t-shirts or hoodies.
1:45I want you to get more value
outta me than I get out of you.
1:49You know, the only thing
1:50that I am really passionate
about is the truth,
1:54and the best way to get to
the truth is through science.
1:57Our universe is an extraordinary place,
2:00and I think most people go through life
2:01oblivious to how it actually works.
2:04How does the boat go forwards?
2:06Well again, well, I know, I know it does
2:10but again, I don't have all the answers.
2:13- I think that's not just unfortunate.
2:15It has real negative consequences.
2:17To give an example, in 1958,
2:19Dr. Benjamin Spock published
2:21in his book, "Baby and Child Care,"
2:23that babies should be put
down to sleep on their fronts
2:26rather than their backs
2:27to prevent them from
choking on their own vomit.
2:29And this book outsold every other book,
2:31except the Bible, for
its 52 year print run.
2:34So, it was pretty influential.
2:36But when empirical studies
2:37showed that babies
sleeping on their fronts
2:38were actually more likely to die
2:40from sudden infant death syndrome,
2:42well, the book was not promptly updated.
2:45It was printed with the
same bad advice for decades,
2:48leading to an estimated
50,000 unnecessary deaths.
2:51The point is we lead
better and happier lives
2:54when they're in accordance
with how the world actually is,
2:57rather than just how it appears to be
2:59or how we'd like it to be.
3:01That is why an undercurrent of every video
3:04is how do we know what's true,
3:07how would we know if we were wrong,
3:09because I want to increase the level
3:11of critical thinking in the world.
3:14That is the fundamental
mission of Veritasium.
3:17Now so far, this is basically just like-
3:19By 2013, I was fortunate enough
3:21that this dream job YouTube channel
3:23started to produce enough
income to live off.
3:26So I quit all other work,
3:27and this has been my main gig ever since.
3:33I can't believe all the
things I've gotten to do,
3:36and I want to thank you,
3:37someone who's watched at
least one of these videos,
3:39for making it possible.
3:42But I have to acknowledge my biggest fear
3:44and what I think is the biggest challenge
3:46facing any creator,
which is precariousness.
3:50This is a job that comes
with a lot of uncertainty.
3:53I mean, how much you
make in any given month
3:54depends on how many views your
channel got in that month.
3:57And then, there's the comment section
3:59and the fact that your sense of self worth
4:01is basically tied to how well
your videos are received.
4:05But by far, the biggest
source of uncertainty
4:07is just not knowing when
this is all going to end,
4:10like when are you going to upload
4:12your last successful video,
4:14when are you no longer going
to be able to make a living
4:17doing what you have been doing.
4:20In 2018, I had a call
with my contact at YouTube
4:23who told me I needed to
quote, "Stay relevant."
4:26Yeah, that stung a bit.
4:28Now, I'm not gonna name
names, but I have seen
4:31friends and other creators
who have stopped making stuff
4:35for a whole bunch of reasons,
4:37like maybe they've gotten
injured or gotten really sick.
4:40I know of other YouTubers
4:41who've been canceled or demonetized.
4:43I mean, there's just a million
ways for things to go wrong
4:46and only really one way for
them to continue to go right.
4:50I think by far the scariest proposition
4:53is that the YouTube algorithm
4:54just stops showing your videos to people.
4:57I think that's the scariest,
because it is so common
4:59and it's completely out of your control.
5:02A violinist placed in one of these rooms
5:04was apparently banging on.
5:05The way I dealt with this precariousness
5:07was by limiting my expenses.
5:09I didn't buy any more equipment
than was strictly necessary.
5:12I didn't book travel to filming locations.
5:15But if someone else was flying me out,
5:16I might try to tag on a shoot.
5:18That is Chernobyl
Nuclear reactor number 4.
5:21I did all the research, writing, filming,
5:25Even the crappy animations,
yes, all of that was me.
5:29As long as it was just my
time going into this channel
5:31and me depending on it
for survival, I was okay.
5:34Hello, and thank you for supporting.
5:36When I had my first kid in
2016, I launched a Patreon
5:39to try to ensure that I could
always take care of my family,
5:43but the channel continued to grow.
5:45It grew to a size where it was ridiculous
5:48that I was still doing everything myself.
5:49I was working all the time.
5:51I am perhaps the slowest
editor you will ever meet,
5:54so I should have hired an editor,
5:56but hiring takes time.
5:58And on how many days was hiring someone
6:01at the top of my priority list?
6:03Well, zero, because I was always focused
6:06on making that next video.
6:08There's been a number of missions like-
6:08Now, I did eventually start hiring people,
6:11but not because I was looking for them,
6:13just because they found me.
6:15I mean, the first person
I worked with consistently
6:18And I only found him because
he recognized me in a Chipotle.
6:23He is ridiculously talented.
6:25He's researched and
written for this channel,
6:27plus he's edited, done
VFX, made simulations.
6:31He's even written and produced music,
6:33original music for videos,
6:35and you're listening to
some of it right now.
6:39because he did a PhD with
my old PhD supervisor.
6:42I hired Emily Zang 20
minutes into a Zoom call
6:45and told her to move across the country.
6:47I found out about you through
a friend, Xyla Foxlin.
6:49- I remember I just got a
text from you and I was like,
6:52"Oh my god, Derek Muller was texting me."
6:54I be like, "Oh my God, Veritasium,
6:56Mr. Veritasium was texting me,"
6:57and you were just like,
6:58"Can you hop on a FaceTime later today?"
7:00"Well, this is a different
interview process."
7:03- We talked for half an hour.
7:05- And then I said, "Do
you wanna work with me?
7:07Do you wanna fly to LA
and like work together?"
7:10- And I was like, "I guess. In how soon?"
7:13And you were like, "As soon
as you physically can."
7:15(Derek and Emily laughing)
7:18- The only person I actively
sought out on a job board
7:21was my editor, Trenton.
7:22My two main animators, Ivy and Fabio,
7:25I got through cold emails.
7:27- I said, "Are you looking for someone
7:29to have good animations?"
7:31And you said yes, you were.
7:33- Ivy sent me an email saying,
7:34"I've seen your animations
and I think I can do better."
7:36"Your animations-"
- I wasn't
7:37so straightforward.
- "Aren't the best."
7:38I was like slightly
offended reading the email,
7:41"Well, if you think you can
do better, let's see it."
7:44We also got our first intern,
Casper, through a cold email.
7:51- You were like, "We
can't do that right now,
7:53but would you like to research, write,
7:56and produce a video as a freelancer?"
8:00- And I was like, "That's crazy."
8:03- In short, I wasn't very
good at finding people.
8:05But if they found me and seemed decent,
8:08then I was happy to give them a shot.
8:10By 2021, I had this talented little team
8:13of writer, producers,
animators, and an editor.
8:16So you might think that I
could delegate tasks to them
8:19and work fewer hours,
8:20but what actually
happened was the opposite.
8:23I was working more than than ever before
8:25because I had to prepare
things for them to do
8:28and I had to train them up.
8:30You know, I was still editing
about half of the videos,
8:32and for the other half,
8:34I would often drive across Los Angeles
8:36in the middle of the night
8:36to pick up a hard drive from my editor,
8:38because this is the fastest
method of data transfer
8:42And then I would drive
back home, upload the file,
8:44and launch the video by 6:00 AM.
8:47I pulled more all-nighters that year
8:49than any other year of my life,
8:51including university.
8:53There were many nights
8:54where instead of tucking my kids into bed,
8:57I was downstairs in the office
8:59making videos for this channel.
9:01So, that is when my
fiance told me something
9:04which was that this was not sustainable.
9:07And yes, she was still my fiance
9:09because even though we got
engaged seven years previous
9:12and had three kids together,
9:13we hadn't found the
time to have a wedding.
9:17So the timing was kind of perfect
9:20when in 2022, these
two guys, Owen and Ian,
9:23approached me about
investing in Veritasium.
9:26They had started a
company called Electrify,
9:28with the stated aim of
helping educational creators
9:31build better businesses and
achieve work-life balance.
9:34- We loved Veritasium for
what it had been doing
9:36for I guess 13 years at that point.
9:38And we just wanna keep
that going and do more
9:41and even more of that great stuff.
9:43- So the deal they offered me was this.
9:45They would buy some of the business,
9:47but I would remain an owner.
9:49They would take care of things
like hiring, production,
9:52logistics, you know, corporate compliance,
9:55taxes, all that sort of stuff.
9:57And they would reduce my working hours.
9:59So, it was kind of the perfect
offer at the perfect time.
10:03I never wanted to deal
with hiring, and taxes,
10:07I just wanted to make videos, you know?
10:09Like that's always what it's been about.
10:11Learn about science, make a great video.
10:13Plus with the cash they would
pay up front for equity,
10:16well, that would reduce the precariousness
10:17of being a creator, especially at a time
10:20when AI was coming on the scenes
10:22and shorts were just starting.
10:24There was a lot more
uncertainty than usual.
10:26And this would allow me to
always be able to provide
10:28for my family, which most importantly,
10:31with fewer working hours,
10:32I would have a lot more time to spend.
10:35So, it was kind of a no brainer.
10:36I signed the deal in April, 2023,
10:38and since then, Veritasium
has been owned and run
10:41by me and Electrify.
10:44Now, I've seen some comments concerned
10:46with how the investment
will affect the channel,
10:48which I totally get.
10:50I mean, would they cut costs,
reduce the video quality,
10:52and just pump out way more videos
10:54to boost short-term profits?
10:57But fortunately, you don't have to wonder
10:59what Electrify will do,
11:00because we've already
been working together
11:02for nearly three years.
11:04So, I can show you what we have done.
11:07We have produced some of
the most successful videos
11:10in the channel's history.
11:12In fact, the three videos
11:13you collectively have spent
the most time watching
11:16were all produced in this period.
11:17The videos on forever
chemicals, blue LEDs,
11:22and black holes, white
holes, and wormholes.
11:24Videos like these have steadily increased
11:27the amount of time that people
11:28are spending watching Veritasium.
11:30In fact, the last four months
11:32have seen a record amount of time
11:34that people are spending
watching the channel.
11:36Since the deal, the number
of subscribers on the channel
11:39has increased by 50%.
11:41These results have not been achieved
11:43by simply pumping out more videos.
11:45In fact, the number of main channel videos
11:47has remained basically constant.
11:50We've also not tried
to make shorter videos.
11:52We've continued to do deep dives
11:55into complex scientific topics.
11:57And because of that, the length of videos
11:59has continued to increase.
12:00But that's a trend that
began before Electrify.
12:03The real way we've been able to grow
12:05is by adding more people.
12:07There are now over 30 people
working on Veritasium,
12:11writer, directors,
researchers, illustrators,
12:14animators, editors, and production staff.
12:18These are the people responsible
12:19for some of your favorite videos.
12:22I worked with Gregor to make the exposes
12:24on Teflon, and PFAS, and Monsanto,
12:27with Casper to make entropy,
12:29the principle of lease action series,
12:31and black holes, white
holes, and wormhole.
12:33With Emily, we made blue LEDs
12:35and the micromouse competition video.
12:37Henry was responsible
12:39for the videos on Alfred
Nobel and phone hacking.
12:42Sulli explored the construction
12:43of the Citycorp Tower, super glue,
12:45and what happened to Amelia Earhart.
12:47Petr wrote and directed the videos
12:49on Oppenheimer and Japanese swords.
12:51Emilia did the same for jet engines
12:54and lithium ion batteries.
12:55James made the videos on power laws
12:57and six degrees of separation.
12:59I could go on, but the point
is far from cutting costs,
13:03under Electrify, expenses have quadrupled.
13:06Most of that goes to the team.
13:08We are all spread around the world,
13:10but we come together a few times a year
13:12to connect and figure out how to improve.
13:15When you see a beautifully
animated scene, it's not AI.
13:19That was drawn by hand by a person
13:22and animated by a person too.
13:24The way our videos are storyboarded now,
13:26it's so professional.
13:27It's like a movie studio.
13:29And we have people supporting
us in other ways too.
13:32Videos like PFAS or Monsanto
13:34might make big companies mad at us.
13:36So we've only been able
to make those videos now,
13:38because we have access to a legal team
13:41who can properly advise us.
13:42You can run things past the legal team,
13:44but just see like, are
we allowed to say this?
13:45So I mean, it just, it's
expanded our capability.
13:48You know, the goal of improving
13:50the level of critical thinking
in the world is a big one,
13:53but on my own, I tackled
it almost exclusively
13:55by making YouTube videos.
13:57I didn't have the time or
bandwidth for anything else.
14:01But with more people and resources,
14:03we have expanded our approach.
14:05We're now launching videos regularly
14:07on TikTok and Instagram,
14:08and we're making original
Shorts for YouTube.
14:11We have dubbed our most successful videos
14:13into languages like
Indonesian, Thai, Vietnamese,
14:16Arabic, and Turkish,
14:17in addition to maintaining
dedicated channels
14:21Every week we are publishing
14:23a free science newsletter.
14:24And we just kickstarted a
science trivia board game
14:27with over 11,000 backers.
14:29Other projects like podcasts
14:31and additional channels are in the works.
14:34Now, some of these things
may not appeal to you,
14:36and that's fine, but I
hope you agree with me
14:39that the world is better off
14:41with more rigorously
produced science content.
14:44You know, all our facts
are checked internally,
14:47and we also use multiple
experts with every video.
14:50We run it past them to make
sure we get everything right.
14:53We also post early versions
to our Patreon supporters
14:55who graciously help us catch mistakes.
14:58If we ever mess up, and I know it happens,
15:01well please let us know.
15:02I welcome your constructive criticism.
15:05I want you to help us improve.
15:09As for me, I have been
able to reduce my workload
15:12and spend more time with my now four kids.
15:16This summer, we traveled
around the Azores, Iceland,
15:21biked around Amsterdam,
15:23and visited my family in Vancouver.
15:26And just last month, I finally got married
15:30to my brilliant, beautiful
wife here in Portugal.
15:45I could not have picked a
better or more patient partner
15:49with whom to spend the rest of my life.
15:56Well, at some point I will,
15:58but it's not exactly
clear when that will be.
16:01What I can tell you is that
I won't be around as much,
16:04which you've probably already gathered
16:06over the last year or two.
16:07You know, in some upcoming
videos, I will not appear at all,
16:10even if I'm guiding
things in the background.
16:13And this is to give me more
time to spend with my family
16:16and to read books, and exercise,
16:19and contemplate other projects.
16:21You know, I am proud
16:23that what started as my passion project,
16:26now employs dozens of people.
16:29I am inspired by each
and every one of them,
16:31and I have the utmost
confidence in their abilities.
16:34You know, they're paid well and
they produce excellent work.
16:38At one of our meetings,
I walked into this room
16:40to see all these super intelligent people
16:43who have taken up the mission
16:45of increasing the level of
critical thinking in the world.
16:48And that's when it hit me
16:50that I am no longer doing this alone.
16:53It's no longer just one guy
pushing a boulder uphill.
16:56Now, the team is like a juggernaut.
16:58They're like this train
barreling down the tracks
17:01with their own momentum.
17:02So, I genuinely can't wait to see
17:05what we're able to accomplish together.
17:08I hope you'll join us.
17:10And if you have any questions
or ideas for the channel,
17:12please put them down in the comments.
17:15And as always, thanks for watching.
