What am I?

I recently stumbled upon this video by creator Roberto Nickson.

Other than the fact that the video is just amazing, it got me thinking about what I'm doing right now.

It's been 2 months since I left my fulltime job in tech.

And since my YouTube channel is my main "thing" right now, there was only one thing that made sense, doing what everybody does

• 👥 Build a team
• 📆 Create a content calendar and schedule, with deadlines and release dates
• 🧹 Outsource, outsource, outsource

and to finance all this, of course,

• 💰 Monetize, monetize, monetize

And doing the last months in a way, I did some version of this. I turned from a creator, an artist in a way, making only because I wanted to make to an entrepreneur.

This is what people do, what everyone does. It's the only way to turn this into a proper business. So..

Am I an artist or an entrepreneur?

I pushed the accelerator on making this YouTube channel the foundation for a business, but I got something wrong.

I thought I could mass manufacture creativity.

And I was wrong.

By trying to outsource editing, thumbnail design and other parts of making a video I was doing what everyone told me I should do, but I realized 2 things:

1. I didn't like my work anymore

I spent my day reviewing drafts, interviewing fro hiring, creating processes and guides for people to try to do what I was doing myself. And I didn't like what I was doing, I was essentially a middle manager.

Uh, that got chills down my spine

2. The output isn't as good

The pressure to release more, to meet deadlines, made the content less good. I realized some videos were not at the level I would like them to be. I was investing more in people, more money, fancier thumbnails. But the output just wasn't as good

But what if these 2 things, being an artist and being an entrepreneur are not mutually exclusive?

I came to realize that the truth is in the middle.

There is value to structuring yourself, treating things seriously, not relying on a "burst of inspiration", especially if you want it to be what puts food on your plate.

But you also cannot treat it as a Ford Model T factory. I want to do what I love most, be creative, lead other people in being creative, hiring those who are better than me to make the thing, the output, the best it can possibly be.

And everything else, including financial success, will come as a result.

So, what am I?

I don't know, but it's probably in that middle. (and if you have a name for it, please let me know)

Learn How I Made My 1M views Video

My video The Lies That Make Your Tech Actually Work has picked up again recently, and closing in on 1 million views.

And if you want to learn exactly how I made it, you're in luck 🍀. It's one of the videos that I fully break down inside Storybehind, where I show you everything:

• Exactly how I wrote it
• The packaging decisions that made it a success (including the thumbnails and titles I didn't use)
• Exactly how I edited the video

You can check out Storybehind here.

For you subscribers of the Email Club, you can use the code EMAILCLUB to get 20% off Storybeind

🔗 Links

• YouTube Channel
• Learn how I make my videos
• Follow me on Instagram
• Send me an email
• Connect on LinkedIn

See you in the next one!

- Enrico