$1,000,000/Year Making Cartoons On YouTube | Oliver Gilpin
Jan 23, 2024
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Oliver Gilpin, a British entrepreneur and founder of Telos Media, shares insights from scaling successful YouTube animation channels. He reveals how he manages dozens of channels independently while employing a talented team of over 80. Oliver discusses his unique hiring practices, emphasizing the importance of passionate talent and strategic hiring through academic connections. He also provides an exclusive look at the financials behind his faceless animation projects, showcasing revenue strategies and his innovative compensation methods that drive team motivation.
Oliver Gilpin emphasizes the critical role of a dedicated team in managing multiple YouTube channels efficiently without his direct involvement.
His past experiences, particularly a significant financial loss, underscored the importance of researching successful content formats before launching new projects.
Oliver's innovative revenue strategies, including ads, sponsorships, and merchandise, aim to create predictable income while enhancing audience engagement through educational content.
Deep dives
Oliver Gilpin's Journey in Animation
At just 23 years old, Oliver Gilpin has achieved exceptional success with his educational animation channels, amassing over a billion views and generating over $100,000 a month. His journey began with Minecraft videos, transitioning from a struggling creator to running a comprehensive animation business. After experimenting with various online ventures, including dropshipping and an editing agency, he discovered a passion for creating educational content that entertains. This understanding of blending education with captivating narratives led him to focus on developing cartoons covering diverse topics such as geopolitics, psychology, and space.
The Importance of Team Building
Oliver emphasizes the significance of building a competent team to efficiently manage his numerous channels while maintaining quality content production. By employing around 80 employees, he has created a structured team system that allows him to step back from daily operations, trusting channel managers to oversee and optimize performance. His hiring philosophy is centered around finding passionate individuals who are invested in their work and can contribute creatively to the channels. Utilizing tools like Social Blade and niche-focused strategies, he identifies potential candidates in developing countries, offering them opportunities while keeping his operational costs manageable.
Learning from Failures and Successes
Oliver's initial foray into animation was marked by significant financial losses, with his first channel, focused on aliens and history, costing him nearly $30,000 without yielding substantial return. This experience taught him the value of researching successful formats before venturing into new content. By analyzing existing trends and merging proven concepts, he successfully launched his second channel, which reached a million subscribers within a year. His approach underscores the importance of understanding market demand and product viability, allowing him to create content that resonates with audiences.
Revenue Streams and Financial Strategies
Oliver's animation channels primarily generate revenue through ads, sponsorships, and merch sales, with significant disparities in profitability among channels. For instance, channels like Mr. Spherical achieve substantial profitability when supported by sponsorships, while others may struggle without them. He stresses the need for strong ad revenue to cover operational costs, ensuring that sponsorship income contributes to overall profitability. Additionally, he has begun exploring merchandise and membership perks to create more predictable revenue streams while cultivating an engaged community.
A Holistic Vision for Education and Entertainment
Oliver's ultimate goal is to create educational content that enriches viewers while ensuring the success of his business. He seeks to make complex subjects accessible and entertaining, promoting a wiser worldview through engaging narratives. This hybrid model of 'chocolate-covered broccoli' aims to attract audiences and keep them coming back for more. With aspirations to further expand his channel offerings and establish a legacy through impactful content, Oliver illustrates the potential for creativity and education to coexist profitably in the digital space.
📺 Watch the episode on YouTube if you want to see all the screen recordings: https://youtu.be/SRQtZeP_bj0
Oliver Gilpin is a British entrepreneur, building Telos Media. A holding company scaling a new YouTube channel every month. With the creative vision of his business partner Alvaro Calmet - they've gone from 0 to 10M subs in 2.5 years, earning $1m per year, with 90 team members.
In this episode, I talk to him about:
1. How he runs so many channels without being involved with any of them…
2. Oliver’s hiring secrets to find operators who will run his YouTube channels for him
3. The exact company structure behind all of his channels (with over 80 employees)
4. And for the first time ever, Oliver opens up his books and shares all of the financials behind running a faceless animation channel
RESSOURCES mentioned in the episode:
https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1SaeCWdnXe4dzwvcT7DwieyknbHsrLZ20?usp=sharing
https://nowcreatives.notion.site/YouTube-Team-Compensation-Methods-Tips-and-Principles-a7534f08a68649458c2d9527c6e9d8b4
🖥️ Follow Oliver and his work online:
https://twitter.com/oligilpin
https://www.linkedin.com/in/oliver-gilpin/
Telos.so
📲 Follow @backstagecareers on Instagram to get clips & highlights from the latest episodes: / backstagecareers
TIMESTAMPS:
00:00:00 - Intro
00:02:16 - Dropping out of high school to start an agency
00:04:06 - Why start an animation channel?
00:05:42 - Oliver’s first faceless channel - $30,000 Mistake
00:07:15 - Oliver's 2nd Channel (and most successful)
00:09:44 - The 5 animation channels Oliver is running
00:12:29 - How to build a faceless animation team
00:14:03 - What to look for when hiring an operator
00:15:44 - Hiring tactics to find A+ talent oversees
00:24:58 - First key hires for YouTube Automation
00:26:06 - Org chart for Oliver's 30 YouTube channels
00:28:28 - How Oliver thinks about profit share and incentives for his employees
00:31:59 - Hiring Strategy #2
00:34:04 - Oliver's systems to manage a team of 80 employees
00:35:30 - What does Oliver do all day?
00:39:09 - How much money Oliver makes
00:40:51 - Starting 1 channel every month in 2024
00:45:01 - Breaking down the economics of his youtube channels
00:48:37 - Revenue from Merch
00:50:41 - Managing 25 Foreign Language Channels
00:53:32 - How to start a faceless animation channel 101
00:56:28 - Oliver's Mission - What drives him
ABOUT THE PODCAST:
Backstage Career is a podcast where I interview the linchpins who are working behind the scenes with some of the biggest creators and entrepreneurs out there!
My goal with these interviews is to give you an idea of what it’s like to work with these influential people, and to help you land a job working with someone you look up to and want to apprentice under.
🎯 Upcoming Interviews Target List:
👉 Tim Ferriss' research assistant
👉 GaryVee's DRock
👉 Patrick Bet David's Content Strategist
👉 Jaime the producer of the Joe Rogan Experience
👉 The Content Strategist for MrBeast
👉 Alex Banayan Author of "The Third Door"
👉 Ryan Holiday who apprenticed under Robert Greene
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