The future of LMG...

[clustr1]

While watching the video “Linus & Steve Talk about Stepping Back:  Future of LTT & LTX” (posted to the Gamers Nexus channel) I could not help but think, why doesn’t Linus “buy” Gamers Nexus? 

 

They were discussing the ability Linus has to step back from his videos and the value that brings to the company.  Value such as allowing Linus to spend time on maintaining expertise on technology (as well as learning new things), enabling the company to become immune to a single point of failure (e.g. something happening to Linus), or growing the diversity of content through exposing different voices.  Steve clearly empathized with these points and you could tell he wished he had this ability, especially given that he thrives on being very knowledgeable on a subject and making daily videos is in direct conflict with this capability.

 

In addition, Linus continues to make the point that LMG is becoming more and more about MG (media group) and less about Linus.  Well, what better way to emulate a true “media group” than to acquire additional media content?  The idea of Gamers Nexus joining “Linus Media Group” and thus having access to what LMG can offer while maintaining creative and stylistic separation is very intriguing to me.  This is not dissimilar to today’s media landscape (such as Disney owning ESPN, NBC owning SYFY and the Weather channel or Time Warner owning HBO and the Cartoon Network… this list goes on and on).  It does not mean that Gamers Nexus needs to look and feel like LTT.  Rather, it would allow Gamers Nexus access to LMG resources which could fuel its growth (as its own entity) within the LMG portfolio. 

 

Just a thought, one that I'd have to imagine has crossed Linus’ mind.  What do you all think?  Have there ever been instances of creators joining forces in such a way?

[spartaman64]

i mean even if he wants to he cant if gamers nexus doesnt want to join them

[Dedayog]

I can't see Steve being okay with being acquired by LMG, which is what it would be.  It's not who he is.

 

Also, if Linus doesn't have a succession plan in place, he's an idiot.  He's not an idiot, so he assuredly does.

 

Linus would do well spending more time with family, for example.  As a father, that's my one big regret.  Not spending more time with my son.  As a matter of fact, no matter how much time you spend, there is always a desire to have spent more. 

 

LMG may not quite be at the level for Linus to do that yet, as many people watch the content FOR HIM.  I wouldn't be surprised if the channel lost assloads of subs if Linus didn't do videos anymore.

[clustr1]

2 minutes ago, spartaman64 said:

i mean even if he wants to he cant if gamers nexus doesnt want to join them

Of course, part of the point I was making is that it would be mutually beneficial.  And really I was just using Gamers Nexus as an example, I wonder if there could be a future where LMG grows to be an outlet for more creators, such as LTX is becoming.  

[clustr1]

8 minutes ago, jstudrawa said:

I can't see Steve being okay with being acquired by LMG, which is what it would be.  It's not who he is.

 

Also, if Linus doesn't have a succession plan in place, he's an idiot.  He's not an idiot, so he assuredly does.

 

Linus would do well spending more time with family, for example.  As a father, that's my one big regret.  Not spending more time with my son.  As a matter of fact, no matter how much time you spend, there is always a desire to have spent more. 

 

LMG may not quite be at the level for Linus to do that yet, as many people watch the content FOR HIM.  I wouldn't be surprised if the channel lost assloads of subs if Linus didn't do videos anymore.

Yeah, fair point about Steve, he does seem to thrive on independence.  I am really questioning if LMG will ever grow to the point where it includes other creators / channels, not dissimilar to Tech Linked and Tech Quickie that are currently part of the LMG family but with content not generated directly out of the LMG offices.  

[Guest]

The thing about independent Youtubers is they built up the channel from nothing. Handing the reigns and the soul of the channel over to someone else would be a gut punch to just about any creator. That's outside of all the other issues (like acquiring a channel in another country) that would just make it hell for LMG. They're better at growing channels organically. Those are just some cherry picked points not meant to be an all inclusive answer.

[clustr1]

14 minutes ago, Den-Fi said:

The thing about independent Youtubers is they built up the channel from nothing. Handing the reigns and the soul of the channel over to someone else would be a gut punch to just about any creator. That's outside of all the other issues (like acquiring a channel in another country) that would just make it hell for LMG. They're better at growing channels organically. Those are just some cherry picked points not meant to be an all inclusive answer.

Yeah, good points.  Certainly the inherent nature of a YouTuber who built something from nothing would be difficult to overcome.  

[LinusTech]

Acquiring youtube channels is complicated for a number of logistical and legal reasons. 

 

Its not unthinkable for us to do something like that at some point, but if that channel ended up being Gamers Nexus I'd eat a mod mat. 

 

Steve's running a successful business over there and would have no desire to sell, and for my part there would be very little value in acquiring a business with most of the value tied up in one individual. That's a lot of legal headache when I could more easily just hire that person (which, to be clear isn't happening). 

[Sauron]

1 minute ago, LinusTech said:

Its not unthinkable for us to do something like that at some point, but if that channel ended up being Gamers Nexus I'd eat a mod mat.

Steve might let you do that just to see you eat a mod mat

[greenhorn]

3 minutes ago, Sauron said:

Steve might let you do that just to see you eat a mod mat

..which would be quite an extreme way of rebooting Channel Super Fun (for example)

Jokes aside, I think there are many talented people among LMG's staff, so acquiring other youtube channels will not be necessary.

[clustr1]

36 minutes ago, LinusTech said:

Acquiring youtube channels is complicated for a number of logistical and legal reasons. 

 

Its not unthinkable for us to do something like that at some point, but if that channel ended up being Gamers Nexus I'd eat a mod mat. 

 

Steve's running a successful business over there and would have no desire to sell, and for my part there would be very little value in acquiring a business with most of the value tied up in one individual. That's a lot of legal headache when I could more easily just hire that person (which, to be clear isn't happening). 

Makes sense.  I think part of me sees how hard Steve is working and wants to get him some help!

 

Fundamentally it feels like there is a future where LMG (as "real company" - not to say that it isn't already) can leverage its resources to enable other media entities (creators or otherwise) to grow and obtain a level of quality and scale that they might not be able to otherwise.  All the while benefiting LMG through diversification and general brand growth.  But I suppose growing talent (and brands) internally and expanding from within is easier, or if not easier at least cheaper and less risky.

[DaiGurenMK42]

5 hours ago, clustr1 said:

Makes sense.  I think part of me sees how hard Steve is working and wants to get him some help!

 

Fundamentally it feels like there is a future where LMG (as "real company" - not to say that it isn't already) can leverage its resources to enable other media entities (creators or otherwise) to grow and obtain a level of quality and scale that they might not be able to otherwise.  All the while benefiting LMG through diversification and general brand growth.  But I suppose growing talent (and brands) internally and expanding from within is easier, or if not easier at least cheaper and less risky.

I see them being able to provide services instead of acquiring channels. The videos where Linus builds people servers is an example. Providing tutorials/solutions on data security, improving workflow and overall being more of a managerial beast for smaller channels. This could happen in the far future, but currently they are really busy with videos everyday and plenty of ideas for cool videos that involve specific talents of their staff that they would not be able to be without for extended periods to provide the services.

 

The talent LMG has is insane and their skills have grown significantly since they started. If they ever needed to branch out into other content or Linus gets bored again then its highly possible to go this route. But doubtful anytime soon.

[KhandakeF]

3 hours ago, DaiGurenMK42 said:

Linus gets bored again

I believe Linus talked about this in one of his FP livestreams before his vacation

 

He mentioned always having something for his hosts to do in order for their talent to not die out and be wasted or for them to feel bored, always grinding their thinking gears

 

I think this is what happened with Nicky V(Berkel), Berkel's main thing was CSF because he is that kind of outgoing, outdoors person and a place like LMG doesn't really support that kind of lifestyle

(I may be pulling things straight out of my pants, idk, its just what I think)

[wasab]

The future of.... Light machine gun right? 

 

Well, as far as military technology goes, we may phaser light machine gun in the future. 

[minibois]

5 hours ago, KhandakeF said:

I believe Linus talked about this in one of his FP livestreams before his vacation

 

He mentioned always having something for his hosts to do in order for their talent to not die out and be wasted or for them to feel bored, always grinding their thinking gears

 

I think this is what happened with Nicky V(Berkel), Berkel's main thing was CSF because he is that kind of outgoing, outdoors person and a place like LMG doesn't really support that kind of lifestyle

(I may be pulling things straight out of my pants, idk, its just what I think)

Berkel seems like an incredibly skilled video editor, capable of 'telling a story' in his CSF videos, but with the limited budget in that channel it seems like he couldn't fully work out what he wanted.

 

This I think is the best example of people getting bored at LMG and to me perfectly shows the development and purchases of the company.

E.g. Techlinked in general with Riley, James being more and more in front of the camera, Anthony doing all the incredibly detailed and excellent videos.

 

The best example I can think of though is Alex, receiving all those expensive items. It's in the best interest of LMG to have Alex always able to come up with more ideas and never be like 'yea, I don't have any ideas ... I'm just not gonna do any work today'.

[Video Beagle]

On 8/3/2019 at 1:26 AM, Minibois said:

E.g. Techlinked in general with Riley, James being more and more in front of the camera, Anthony doing all the incredibly detailed and excellent videos.

The video OP mentioned, Linus talks about his method/theory of developing people into onscreen roles.  It's very interesting (if that part of the buisness interests you, and it does me )

[JohnMc45]

On 8/2/2019 at 6:12 PM, DaiGurenMK42 said:

I see them being able to provide services instead of acquiring channels. The videos where Linus builds people servers is an example. Providing tutorials/solutions on data security, improving workflow and overall being more of a managerial beast for smaller channels. This could happen in the far future, but currently they are really busy with videos everyday and plenty of ideas for cool videos that involve specific talents of their staff that they would not be able to be without for extended periods to provide the services.

 

The talent LMG has is insane and their skills have grown significantly since they started. If they ever needed to branch out into other content or Linus gets bored again then its highly possible to go this route. But doubtful anytime soon.

I see services for Youtubers/Floatplane peeps. Having problems shooting good video. LMG will FedEx you  overnight one Brandon Lee, some camera gear, a case of Madrinas LTT cold brew and a case of Savage jerky.  Need help editing? Book skype classes with Taran. Need help marketing yourself? The LMG marketing team will help you sell yourself and get those sweet sweet sponsorship dollars. Need merch. The LMG merch team of designers, sourcing specialists and fulfillment centers will help you get all those cases of T-shirts the hell out of your garage.     

[DaiGurenMK42]

3 hours ago, JohnMc45 said:

I see services for Youtubers/Floatplane peeps. Having problems shooting good video. LMG will FedEx you  overnight one Brandon Lee, some camera gear, a case of Madrinas LTT cold brew and a case of Savage jerky.  Need help editing? Book skype classes with Taran. Need help marketing yourself? The LMG marketing team will help you sell yourself and get those sweet sweet sponsorship dollars. Need merch. The LMG merch team of designers, sourcing specialists and fulfillment centers will help you get all those cases of T-shirts the hell out of your garage.     

According to the latest WAN show. LMGs merch store is a separate company and they plan to do just that with their lessons learned. I am excited for the plan to support Floatplane merch officially. Would be pretty awesome if all the channels on FP were supported through a single merch company. Shipping would drastically improve by then. After all these years, all the staff has become so skilled. It's very exciting how many areas they can branch off into now that they have the talent, time and income for.

[DaiGurenMK42]

5 hours ago, Video Beagle said:

The video OP mentioned, Linus talks about his method/theory of developing people into onscreen roles.  It's very interesting (if that part of the buisness interests you, and it does me )

Lets not discount Alex/Jake for technical content. Anthony has projects that mainly revolve around software/PC while Alex/Jake are mainly the hardware oriented crew. Everyone does awesome projects.

@jakkuh_t waiting on AR/VR Racing Mario Kart style for LTX 2020. Let's get that AR racing concept going.

[Tieox]

I really hope @LinusTech continues on with this server vlogs I seriously enjoy those, and the occasional rant video because Linus rants are beyond hilarious.  

[JohnMc45]

3 hours ago, DaiGurenMK42 said:

According to the latest WAN show. LMGs merch store is a separate company and they plan to do just that with their lessons learned. I am excited for the plan to support Floatplane merch officially. Would be pretty awesome if all the channels on FP were supported through a single merch company. Shipping would drastically improve by then. After all these years, all the staff has become so skilled. It's very exciting how many areas they can branch off into now that they have the talent, time and income for.

Caught that to.  Shipping could be the big thing.  Doesn't make sense for LTT to have a merch warehouse in say Europe. But if it is not just LTT merch but if its LTT/Floatplane and a bunch of YouTube/ Floatplane friends. That may work.