From pro gamer to creator brands with 15M+ subscribers
I started by turning my own streams into YouTube videos. Years of testing later, I had a formula that grew my channels by 600,000 subscribers in a year, and I used it to help other creators grow theirs.
- 15M+
- Subscribers across creators I managed
- 1.3M
- Subscribers on my own channels
- 600K+
- Subscribers gained in one year
Context
I started as a professional gamer and moved into streaming. I realized I could edit my streams into YouTube videos, and those videos started getting traction. From there I built community channels that also grew quickly.
Over time I broke out of being a purely digital brand: speaking at events, running my own merchandise line and showing up at conventions. I ran all of this under my own business, and began helping other gaming and music creators do the same, tailoring their media strategy to maximize views and new subscribers.
The thesisAn audience on one platform is rented. A brand that people follow onto the convention floor and into the merch store is owned.
How it grew
- 01Pro gamer to streamerCompeting, then streaming to a live audience.
- 02Streams into videosEditing streams into YouTube videos that found traction.
- 03Community channelsNew channels built around the community, which grew quickly too.
- 04Beyond digitalSpeaking at events, a merch line and convention appearances.
- 05Managing creatorsHelping other creators grow with the same playbook.
Each step built on the one before. Streaming gave me content, YouTube gave that content a lasting audience, community channels widened the reach, and events and merch turned an online following into a brand. Managing other creators came last, once the formula had been proven on my own channels.
Test, then roll out
There was no single trick. Growth came from a disciplined loop: form a hypothesis about what would earn more views and subscribers, test it on my own channels, measure, refine, and only then bring it to the creators I managed.
The hard part was that the algorithm kept changing. A formula that worked one quarter could stop working the next, so the loop never stopped running.
The levers we tested
- CollaborationsPutting creators in front of each other’s audiences.
- FormatsFinding the video styles and lengths each audience responded to.
- Upload cadencePublishing on a rhythm the audience and the algorithm both rewarded.
- Thumbnails and titlesConstant testing of the first thing a viewer sees.
- Cross-promotionMoving viewers between channels across the network.
Every one of these levers was tested repeatedly. What mattered was not using them all, but learning which combination worked for a given creator and audience at a given moment.
Beyond the platform
| Channel | What it did |
|---|---|
| Conventions, led by PAX | Met audiences in person and built loyalty that carried back online |
| Speaking engagements | Built credibility beyond the channel |
| Merchandise | Turned fans into customers, and customers into walking advertising |
| Paid ads | Accelerated reach behind content that was already working |
The offline work is what turned channels into brands. PAX was the biggest stage: meeting viewers in person built a loyalty that no video could, and it carried straight back into subscribers and merch.
Results
My own channels took years of slow growth before the formula clicked. Once it did, they gained more than 600,000 subscribers in a single year, reaching 1.3 million combined.
Across the gaming and music creators I managed, the total passed 15 million subscribers.
The slow years were not wasted. They were the testing that produced the formula, and the formula is what made it possible to help other creators grow faster than I had.
Algorithms change, audiences do not. Test relentlessly to keep up with the platform, but build a brand people would follow off it.