A year after its launch, Dynamo’s Nich Carlson joined me to discuss what he’s learned in starting a YouTube-first video programmer. Dynamo is home to “Business Explains the World,” a documentary-style show on interesting business and economics topics. We’d spoken soon after Dynamo’s launch, so I had Nich back to reflect on Year 1.

Nich was candid about the difficulties inherent to running a fledgling business. The thread I see in the new crop of media startups like Dynamo is, even if they raise small amounts like Dynamo, they focus primarily on getting content-market fit. There's leverage in having makers, not monetizers or strategists, running the business.

Instagram is critical. When Dynamo launched, Nich thought LinkedIn would be a natural complement to YouTube. Only he’s not found that. Instead, Instagram is a critical channel, particularly in reaching a female-skewed audience. Plus: Instagram’s ad ecosystem is strong.
Getting your hands dirty. Nich ran a large newsroom at Business Insider. That’s a lot of management and meetings. With Dynamo, Nich’s original conception of being more of an executive producer guiding the process became being very involved in making the product.
Creators are the comp. Dynamo is looking to build a media company that’s creator-native. He looks at what YouTubers like Jonny Harris and Cleo Abram are doing rather than established media companies.
Accept uncertainty. Running a company is a nonstop stream of decisions, small and big. On the small, Nich focuses on speed over certainty, and even on large decisions, he’s accepted he’ll rarely be more than 60% sure. Waiting for certainty usually means waiting forever.
Lean by default. Rather than 700 people like BI at its peak, Dynamo is 1/100th the size. That means everyone needs to be a doer and the focus is on improving the work rather than coordination.

Chapters:

00:00 Beehiiv Spotlight
01:29 Welcome
02:08 Lessons From the Scale Era
08:02 Where Media Energy Is Now
09:34 Are Journalistic Creators Legit
13:17 Platform Bets
14:48 Why Instagram Is Winning
17:21 Monetization and Outsourced Sales
20:50 What Works on YouTube
23:11 Short Form and Clipping Strategy
25:54 Well-made Objects
28:10 Unit Economics and Profitability Goals
33:07 Doubling Down on Series
34:15 Selling Host Read Ads
37:04 Creative Edge in Ads
38:14 Founder Lessons and Decisions
41:16 Year Two Big Bets
45:06 Back in the Kitchen
48:23 Scaling Beyond the Founder
52:29 Cinematic Universe Strategy
55:18 Staying Lean as You Grow
59:13 Creators With Momentum