Linus Media Group as a Business (or a Charity?)

[Andrewx33]

Gone are the days where LinusTechTips only had sidebar ads. With the LMG expansion comes:

 

*YouTube adrolls

*In-video ad integration

*Amazon Bookmakrs

*Sponsorship (events)

*In-stream sponsors

*Merchandise

*Garage Sales

*Donations

*Free products for review (that they keep and resell or use),

*Product placement sponsorship for build projects (whole room water cooling etc)

*Vessel Subscriptions

*and more.

 

Linus has recently said that the YouTube monetization for LTT only covers the salary of ONE employee (they're at 9+), and that ChannelSuperFun isn't even profitable (losing money on each video).

 

So, is Linus Media group really a business, or a charity? Am I complaining about the huge number of ways they produce an income? No. I'm not sure it's directly resulted in an improvement in the quality of content (especially since the move, but that may just be teething), nor the amount of content (it's seemingly been decreasing**).

 

So why bring this up? Well I think it's safe to say that LMG's recent growth hasn't been related to an increase in views, but due to this rapid expansion in methods of making money. I know all of this money has gone to pay for new employees, but I don't want Linus to be over ambitious about this growth and continue to hire. They're running out of ways to make additional money, and I'd hate for you to have to start scaling back. 

 

Don't take this post as negative, I just don't want people to assume that because this is an internet company it's resistant to the common practice of business collapse. 

 

Side note: Maybe with all of these extra employees you should consider being an actual 'media company' and start creating ads for company's on a contracting basis (I think this has been previously attempted). I think your quality standards (NOT capability, but standards) need to improve to compete with the professional advertising consultants. 

[Venomz1337]

You've got to be remember that they just spent a lot of money on the move. Whether or not they have spare money isn't any of our business. If it wasn't working they wouldn't be hiring more people and moving to a better location. They're obviously doing something right.

[pjm0925]

What an odd question to ask.

[manikyath]

"all of these extra employees" are already in use to keep the workflow manageable.

 

they have a VERY ambitious goal of more than a video per day. (the main channel has one per day, channel superfun and techquickie on top of that)

 

i'm pretty sure you can ask logan how much work one video is.

[FakezZ]

Seriously, I don't think anyone can talk about the current state of LMG in terms of money management. Linus has found the ways he can make money and at the end of the day, I still enjoy their content and the forum. Ofc he had to find new ways to generate income in order to grow from a guy and a cameraman to an actual company. And you think Linus should stop hiring? Why is that? Do you know their revenue? If they can afford it, then I don't see why not. 

[Andrewx33]

You've got to be remember that they just spent a lot of money on the move. Whether or not they have spare money isn't any of our business. If it wasn't working they wouldn't be hiring more people and moving to a better location. They're obviously doing something right.

You missed my point completely. I'm saying that it's not like they've kept a similar model and let it grow, then decide to move. They've stuck with their original model and added a bunch of new ways to make money on top. Doing this is fine, because they can obviously afford where they are right now, but I don't want them to assume that this 'growth' will keep coming and just hire employees and expect growth. 

 

Imagine it like a curve on a graph. The curve went REALLY steep, but that's because of all of this new stuff, not because a surge in viewers. Therefore, unless they add more ways to make money, the curve will dissipate to a more steady level. (Still growth, but slower). 

[Andrewx33]

None of you are understanding what I said. Look at it from an ECONOMIC perspective (IE growth). 

 

I'm NOT saying they don't need what the have now, and I'm NOT saying they can't afford it now.

I'm saying don't over estimate their financial growth as some constant ever increasing factor. 

[comicsansms]

None of you are understanding what I said. Look at it from an ECONOMIC perspective (IE growth). 

 

I'm NOT saying they don't need what the have now, and I'm NOT saying they can't afford it now.

I'm saying don't over estimate their financial growth as some constant ever increasing factor. 

WHAT?!?!?!?

 

Linus has recently said that the YouTube monetization for LTT only covers the salary of ONE employee (they're at 9+), and that ChannelSuperFun isn't even profitable (losing money on each video).

[Dobbsjr]

None of you are understanding what I said. Look at it from an ECONOMIC perspective (IE growth). 

 

I'm NOT saying they don't need what the have now, and I'm NOT saying they can't afford it now.

I'm saying don't over estimate their financial growth as some constant ever increasing factor.

I get your point, but the beginning of your post sounds a bit sarcastic. It sounds like you're complaining about how they make money after LMG as opposed to before LMG and people are likely to misunderstand what you're trying to say.

[abdul94]

He wont tell us how much he makes, so you dont need to worry about his downscaling. He built that company from scratch so im sure he knows what he is doing and unless a major change occurs you dont need to worry about him downscaling or lacking quality in his videos. 

[vXhanz]

What's with the interest in how much Linus makes, produces, or concerns about quality? It's not OUR company, it's his and his alone to do what he wants with it. 

[Andrewx33]

Jesus Christ, I never realized how salty the LTT forums were. 

 

I expected a little more depth and reasoning from those who're into technology.

 

All you've done is read my post as negative and then disregarded it's content and complained.

 

All I said were facts, and that I believe these facts might be being read incorrectly by LMG. This isn't a complaint about how they monetize, it's about the sustainability of the company's growth.

[pjm0925]

I expected a little more depth and reasoning from those who're into technology.

 

You're not talking about technology, you're talking about business.  We have none of the actual financial info on LMG so anything said here is pure speculation, so what's the point?  

 

It isn't our company, it isn't our business.

[PlayStation 2]

I'm not here to defend Linus Media Group but they are a company, after all. They gotta make dough to support their ten employees, and on top of that pay everything on the building. So of course they gotta shove some adspace in there.

[Andrewx33]

I'm not here to defend Linus Media Group but they are a company, after all. They gotta make dough to support their ten employees, and on top of that pay everything on the building. So of course they gotta shove some adspace in there.

But that's not what my post is complaining about! I'm fine with it!*

 

I'm saying that all of these new money makers arn't because of a growth in viewers, which is fine. My point is that the growth from last year to now was huge (because of the introduction of this stuff), but from now to next year won't be as big.THEREFORE I'm concerned IF  they continue to hire more/expand more FROM now.

 

And your point about supporting 10 people is my point! They have to PAY these 10 people EVERY day, which they CAN right now. BUT if they hire more tomorrow, with the expectation of having growth the back it, they MAY not be able to pay for it.

[PlayStation 2]

But that's not what my post is complaining about! I'm fine with it!*

 

I'm saying that all of these new money makers arn't because of a growth in viewers, which is fine. My point is that the growth from last year to now was huge (because of the introduction of this stuff), but from now to next year won't be as big.THEREFORE I'm concerned IF  they continue to hire more/expand more FROM now.

They probably won't be hiring much more staff at this point.

[Quincy15]

They are not a charity because a charity is usually in the business of providing a public good.

 

They are more like a church where the dedicated happily pay their tithe and worship the one true god Linus who turns scrap into PC's

[spyder]

Well judging by their current business model, they seem to be doing fine, if what they have in place is keeping the company alive, then so be it, good on Linus and the crew.

[KemoKa]

Look, if they were losing out on this operation, they would have died out by now, but they actually managed to get enough money to warrant a move to a new office. That's got to count for something, I mean, to think that Linus' business could support a single family of four, let alone nine other people...

Linus has to have been doing something right, otherwise he would never have become the largest tech reviewer on youtube. He's already dwarfed his parent company in channel size, along with everybody else who does tech reviews.

[KemoKa]

Here, I made a chart.

I think based on this, LTT has... um... graduated from being a charitable institution for poor editors.

 

(all figures based on subscriber base info taken at 10:10AM, 9/17/2015 Mountain Time)

[LinusTech]

Jesus Christ, I never realized how salty the LTT forums were. 

 

I expected a little more depth and reasoning from those who're into technology.

 

All you've done is read my post as negative and then disregarded it's content and complained.

 

All I said were facts, and that I believe these facts might be being read incorrectly by LMG. This isn't a complaint about how they monetize, it's about the sustainability of the company's growth.

 

Actually a lot of what you said seems to be reliant on a "fact" that just isn't a fact at all.. so I can understand why people are a little confused and it might come across "salty"

 

Gone are the days where LinusTechTips only had sidebar ads. With the LMG expansion comes:

 

*YouTube adrolls

*In-video ad integration

*Amazon Bookmakrs

*Sponsorship (events)

*In-stream sponsors

*Merchandise

*Garage Sales

*Donations

*Free products for review (that they keep and resell or use),

*Product placement sponsorship for build projects (whole room water cooling etc)

*Vessel Subscriptions

*and more.

 

Linus has recently said that the YouTube monetization for LTT only covers the salary of ONE employee (they're at 9+), and that ChannelSuperFun isn't even profitable (losing money on each video).

 

So, is Linus Media group really a business, or a charity? Am I complaining about the huge number of ways they produce an income? No. I'm not sure it's directly resulted in an improvement in the quality of content (especially since the move, but that may just be teething), nor the amount of content (it's seemingly been decreasing**).

 

So why bring this up? Well I think it's safe to say that LMG's recent growth hasn't been related to an increase in views, but due to this rapid expansion in methods of making money. I know all of this money has gone to pay for new employees, but I don't want Linus to be over ambitious about this growth and continue to hire. They're running out of ways to make additional money, and I'd hate for you to have to start scaling back. 

 

Don't take this post as negative, I just don't want people to assume that because this is an internet company it's resistant to the common practice of business collapse. 

 

Side note: Maybe with all of these extra employees you should consider being an actual 'media company' and start creating ads for company's on a contracting basis (I think this has been previously attempted). I think your quality standards (NOT capability, but standards) need to improve to compete with the professional advertising consultants. 

 

 

Not sure where I said that the YT monetization covers the salary of one employee. That hasn't been the case for a very long time. Channel Super Fun IS still a money losing proposition.

 

We are a business, not a charity.

 

This is where you missed the boat I think.. Our recent growth is ABSOLUTELY related to views. It's not difficult to track how a YT channel is performing: http://socialblade.com/youtube/user/linustechtips

 

The business is not collapsing, and we've moved away from producing advertisements for other companies because we experience more growth by focusing on building our own audience.

 

I hope this helps.

[Yoinkerman]

Unless they repeatedly do drives from viewers ala kickstarter or other incentives (i.e. the new office drive not being a one time thing) then I don't have any issue with how they earn the monies.

Its easy to spot "businesses" that are completely reliant on "donations" aka free money from viewers. You see it a lot with web comics and twitch people and different YouTube people. I don't see the same things with LMG. (Yes they do have a free money option, however they are very upfront about it, and don't have "drives")

[Recon97]

None of you are understanding what I said. Look at it from an ECONOMIC perspective (IE growth). 

 

I'm NOT saying they don't need what the have now, and I'm NOT saying they can't afford it now.

I'm saying don't over estimate their financial growth as some constant ever increasing factor.

dude most people won't understand it. So better not waste time replying to their comments.

[Kevguy]

Gone are the days where LinusTechTips only had sidebar ads. With the LMG expansion comes:

 

*YouTube adrolls

*In-video ad integration

*Amazon Bookmakrs

*Sponsorship (events)

*In-stream sponsors

*Merchandise

*Garage Sales

*Donations

*Free products for review (that they keep and resell or use),

*Product placement sponsorship for build projects (whole room water cooling etc)

*Vessel Subscriptions

*and more.

 

Linus has recently said that the YouTube monetization for LTT only covers the salary of ONE employee (they're at 9+), and that ChannelSuperFun isn't even profitable (losing money on each video).

 

So, is Linus Media group really a business, or a charity? Am I complaining about the huge number of ways they produce an income? No. I'm not sure it's directly resulted in an improvement in the quality of content (especially since the move, but that may just be teething), nor the amount of content (it's seemingly been decreasing**).

 

So why bring this up? Well I think it's safe to say that LMG's recent growth hasn't been related to an increase in views, but due to this rapid expansion in methods of making money. I know all of this money has gone to pay for new employees, but I don't want Linus to be over ambitious about this growth and continue to hire. They're running out of ways to make additional money, and I'd hate for you to have to start scaling back. 

 

Don't take this post as negative, I just don't want people to assume that because this is an internet company it's resistant to the common practice of business collapse. 

 

Side note: Maybe with all of these extra employees you should consider being an actual 'media company' and start creating ads for company's on a contracting basis (I think this has been previously attempted). I think your quality standards (NOT capability, but standards) need to improve to compete with the professional advertising consultants. 

 

Why don't you ask LMG for a copy of their most recent Balance Sheet?  That will answer your question.

[manikyath]

Here, I made a chart.

i'm actually curious where carey holzman would be on that chart

 

seems to be missing awesomesauce network as well.