Linus Tech Tips

Linus Sebastian is a Vancouver, Canada-based video creator, best known for hosting LinusTechTips, a channel offering PC hardware unboxing videos, technology tips and reviews. Over the course of eight years, Linus has built a video business around Linus Tech Tips and two other channels,TechQuickie and Channel Super Fun, amassing a total of more than two million subscribers and over 350 million video views.

Linus, who signed on as a creator in March, is the type of ambitious and entrepreneurial creator we thought would do well with Vessel. His videos now debut first on Vessel and are available exclusively for seven days before they’re posted elsewhere on the web. In the short time he has been on the platform, Vessel has already become an important part of Linus’ overall business.

Linus’ journey

Linus never planned to make videos for a living. In the summer of 2007, he was working for the Canadian computer retailer NCIX. As a side-project, NCIX asked him to create short videos to help customers learn more about its products. Linus was a somewhat unlikely choice; he had never filmed or edited a video before, and had no experience in front of the camera — but he did have passion, and a knack for explaining technology.

For the next five years, Linus created videos on behalf of NCIX — as many as 45 videos a month. He honed his on-camera and editing skills, and his videos found an audience, with Linus Tech Tips growing to be one of the most popular technology channels online.

In early 2013, seeing an opportunity to create a company focused entirely on creating technology-related videos, Linus stepped out on his own and formed Linus Media Group.

Things were lean at the outset; with just three employees, Linus and his team worked and filmed from the garage of Linus’ house. They had big dreams: expanding the business, hiring more employees, creating content with ever-higher production values, and experimenting with new shows and channels.

Within 18 months, the size of the team had doubled — and their audience, numbering approximately 350,000 at the company’s outset, had grown to more than 1 million subscribers. By the fall of 2014, Linus’ team had outgrown their offices, which now occupied an entire house, and began thinking about how to grow the business and make more of their dreams a reality. To help fund their search for a larger space, the team launched a crowdfunding campaign; Linus’ community of fans rallied, with hundreds of fans contributing tens of thousands of dollars in just four weeks.

Meaningful impact

In March, Linus announced that he was joining Vessel, through a video message to fans and a post on LinusTechTips.com. Although he has been working with us for just over two months, Vessel has already had a substantial impact on the trajectory of Linus’ business.

The additional revenue Linus has earned from Vessel has enabled his team to rapidly accelerate their plan to build out an office and studio space in a brand new warehouse that will give them more than triple the space of their current headquarters — and provided the resources to hire several additional employees.

The larger team and new space will enable Linus Media Group to continue to improve their existing channels and shows, but perhaps more importantly it gives them the resources they need to pursue their interest in developing new channels and shows that extend their reach beyond technology.

Vessel’s revenue has been purely additive to Linus’ existing business, which is continuing to thrive. He is seeing sustained growth in views and subscribers on other video platforms, and the other ways he makes money, from community contributions and Amazon affiliate fees to Google AdSense revenue.

What drives Linus’ success?

Linus and his team have taken several steps that, together, have fueled his success on Vessel:

• Programming: Linus maintains a consistent publishing schedule, creating an ongoing stream of daily, weekly and monthly programming across multiple channels and shows. Fans know when to expect new videos.
• Direct relationships with fans: Linus has spent years building direct relationships with fans through a vibrant community at LinusTechTips.com, an email mailing list, and frequent interactions by Linus *and* his staff on Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. As a result, he has an extremely passionate fan base.
• Seven-day window: Linus’ videos are available exclusively on Vessel for seven days, which gives fans access to his newest videos a full week early.
• Clear and consistent communication: From the first day his videos launched on Vessel, Linus and his team have consistently made Vessel a part of their ongoing conversations with fans, whether they’re speakingwith fans on Twitter, on LinusTechTips.com, or even on YouTube. The response from his community has been supportive.

It’s still early days for Vessel; we know that we have much more work ahead in our effort to build a business that empowers video creators. Still, we are encouraged by the impact we’ve had on Linus’ business and excited by the potential to help an even wider set of creators accomplish more.