YouTube is hard af.

There hasn't been a masterclass for this, yet, but I'm going to will one into existence.

It will be free and open.

Like How to egghead, one of my favorite artifacts we've made so far. It's had an outsized impact, and this project can go even further.

The room I'm in

Since June I've been embedded in 10xn and Theo's production team Discords as an advisor and observer.

10xn is a boutique talent agency for developer creators: builders, senior engineers, startup founders and technical educators. It connects brands with the technical decision-makers who trust those creators, mostly through YouTube. It's not a talent incubator.

My career is incubation: creators before they're established. The overlap is the YouTube craft in between, and that's where I explore and share what I learn.

I'm steeped in Theo's operation. I chat with Theo (@theo, YouTube) and work with Will Sorrels and Mundays to support creators. Established creators don't need much hand-holding. What they get is Will, Mundays and Theo: extremely talented operators with deep expertise in YouTube packaging, engagement, retention and growth.

The level of sheer alpha is fucking insane.

Theo is extremely generous, always willing to share and lift people up, and absolutely obsessed with his work. He's locked in across several companies AND working on his own channel.

The man is busy 😂

The team of amazing humans he's assembled reflects his ethos, deep ethics and commitment to craft.

He doesn't share this kind of "be a creator" material and isn't trying to promote himself in that direction. He's all for me sharing it, though, and shaping it into durable, evergreen resources for the technical creator community at large.

Why YouTube

In 2026 and 2027, YouTube is where to build the muscles.

The muscle I'm building is consistency, quality and the growth I want. That growth absolutely varies per person.

X, Shorts, streaming and the rest all have their place, but YouTube is the top of the pole: the reigning king of audience capture for developers.

That's my gut, and Theo agrees. I can't measure it, and I won't claim bullshit.

Where do we start

I want to plant the seed for dev creators: help them build an audience, enjoy autonomy, get paid, and teach everything they know at scale.

There are SO MANY folks I've worked with in the past who are already DOING THE THING consistently. They need some tweaks and a clear shape so they can execute and grow their audience.

Here's what I've put together so far:

howtoyoutube.dev: how a developer YouTube video gets made, from the title to the final cut, with a per-video checklist.

Theo gave me a YouTube packaging masterclass: the packaging session behind the playbook's titles and thumbnails section.

Stack the bricks

I've dedicated my life and career to helping creators make life-changing money teaching what they know.

About $55.6M gross across every product, from Stripe, October 2026.

badass.dev has a bunch of case studies. My partnerships with Kent (@kentcdodds, YouTube) on Epic React and Testing JavaScript, and with Matt (@mattpocockuk, YouTube) on Total TypeScript and AI Hero, have been insanely successful and mutually rewarding. How to egghead covers the earlier ones.

Top of funnel and distribution (audience, authority, à la Nathan Barry, @nathanbarry) has to be STACKED. That's 30x500 and Stacking the Bricks, from Amy Hoy (@amy.stackingthebricks.com) and Alex Hillman (@alexhillman), who have been patient friends, mentors and collaborators since the beginning.

We did exactly this with Matt. Matt is a fuckin maestro. A wizard. A fucking beacon. His free YouTube tutorials grew the email list, and the list drove the launch: the Total TypeScript pre-release in December 2022 did $415,000 with 1,200 seats.

I want us, you and me, to work together and turn that growth into revenue: courses, ad sales and other sustainable businesses.

What's next

Here are the essential, life-changing questions I want to answer:

• Where's the line where YouTube views turn into a comfortable living?
• How does that relate to your email list size?
• What's the balance between ads, sponsors and product (info, SaaS, ???)?
• Or is it about being antifragile in your career and opportunities?

I don't have the answers yet. Here's how I'm going to find them.

What I'm doing personally

I'm committing to a year of YouTube consistency on my channel. I'll log it, get streaks going, post on X, and hold myself accountable.

I've done this before. When I was getting jacked at 50, the question that changed everything was "What would happen if I did this for a year?" It removes the pressure of immediate results. I'd rather not start than start and quit, because quitting is a habit too.

What JFDI really means, by Alex Hillman.

Your year

Read the guide. Set a personal goal. Commit to a year of consistent effort, on a cadence.

What would happen if you did this for a year?