It has come full circle Sam is doing a video essay on himself This is peak wendover

The Insane Logistics of a Creator-Run Platform

Out of all the things Nebula has brought to me, my favorite is getting to see Ben and Adam running wild and free out in the world.

I know this is a story that will probably never be told, but I’m super fascinated by why CGP Grey and Kurzgesagt dropped out after having been the key movers behind Nebula and Standard in the early days!

A trip down memory lane 🥲

I originally also thought this would be another streaming flop but here we are years later and I’m glad to see the growth Nebula has shown

I've worked at Nebula almost 4 years now, great to be a part of such a positive success story. Awesome to see it summarised so well, thanks Sam!

Knowing that Sam owns a $150 Million company makes it much easier to root against him in Jet Lag now. I really saw him as an underdog 😭

I think Nebula is proof of how much people hate ads and just want to support creators directly instead. I get spared my time and sanity, and the creator gets way more than they ever would from me watching advertisements. Win-win.

So you guys know, Sam did this when he was about 20 years old. Huge props for that

Another important factor is the level of loyalty Nebula customers have to the creator. Unlike companies like Netflix, there is a high degree of trust that whether a piece of content aligns with a subscriber’s interests or not it WILL be high quality. If this isn’t the ultimate demo of why just making a good product is the most important part of business I don’t know what is.

Wow. I am surprised-not-surprised at how many of these creaters I recognize on sight. Just everyone who makes informational videos who have good ethos and content. I am downright *PROUD* to be supporting Nebula (and curiosity stream!)

Wow. Transparency… what a breath of fresh air. With sooooo much obvious B.S. out there and people dancing around stuff, it’s so nice to just hear genuine honesty and on a very intriguing subject that no one ever discusses.

Had no idea Nebula was so big! I always thought it weird when creators said "my streaming service Nebula". Good job to you and everyone involved!

When creators would say "OUR new streaming service", I rolled my eyes at the wording. Lo and behold, now I see it actually WAS created by creators and that's seriously awesome! I'm happy you've shared this origin story, it makes the service a lot more human and approchable. Here's to more of its success! 🎉

I had been seriously considering subscribing to Nebula for a while and this video pushed me over the edge. It was fascinating to understand how it came to be and how it supports creators in ways that UKposts and other streaming platforms don't. I'm really happy to be able to support so many of my favorite creators with my subscription. Well done Sam and team!

I’ve been a nebula subscriber for a year now and I’ve never been happier with a subscription service! The one time there was an error I emailed the team they fixed it immediately and were incredibly friendly. (Just please add comments!!)

The actual reason Nebula works is the price, that and an appreciation for the creators who gave us such great content for free for so long, (Mustard, Real engineering, RLL and even you Sam) we are happy to support you.

Supporting Nebula is like supporting your local food co-op. I love that you all have found a way to keep this creator-owned. And thanks for sharing the story. I felt some loyalty already, but this cemented it even more so.

I'm an OG Nebula subscriber. I absolutely love what you guys made. I remember hearing about it in the very early days, and opt-into a yearly subscription when Adam did their first bundle push. I didn't subscribed because of Curiosity Stream, but because that's he's the first that really managed to explain the idea. There are two aspects of the platform that I think would need to be improved for it to be a full UKposts replacement for me: The first one goes without saying. Lately, I've been catching myself watching Nebula creators on UKposts more and more, simply because I happened to get their video recommended to me while I was watching other people's videos. I follow so many creators that it can get hard to remember on which platform I want to watch their content, and the relentless UKposts algorithm really doesn't help with that. This is happening mostly because I am watching more and more small creators will video of less than 50k views on average; and these people aren't on Nebula. I have to watch them on UKposts, and UKposts _knows_ me. Even if I unsubscribed from Adam Neely years ago in favor of their Nebula content, it still promotes their video to me because it knows I will end up watching them. The second one is, from my understanding, somewhat of a controversy. Nebula, as a streaming platform, is a lot closer to Netflix than to UKposts. It's about getting videos from creators to viewers. There isn't any social network presence over there. This means that, ironically, I have to write this comment for a video I watched on Nebula on UKposts, of all places! This means Nebula is an awful place for tons of creators who relies on audience interactions to build up their videos. I'm thinking about gaming audiences like those from the Hermitcraft community, review and news channels like Gamers Nexus, or other smaller creators that are still trying to understand what their viewers like about them. I am aware of the difficulties that comes with running a social network, specially when it comes to dealing with the various app stores insane requirements. I wouldn't wish you the Floatplane treatment for anything in the world. That stuff is hyper customer hostile. However, I feel like it might be time to take the plunge. It's just sad that Nebula isn't the place for everyone that UKposts is, because it means that I still need to use UKposts, and pay for UKposts Red to make it palatable, which I hate doing more and more, and it all spirals into me using Nebula less than I want to. I cannot believe I am the only one in such a situation, and I really hope that you'll find a solution to this problem.

Well done. Makes us full time electronics UKpostsrs look like a bunch of amateur hacks. Guilty as charged, of course.

Love this. You all have built something incredible. Well done.

What a face reveal (at least to me), and such an amazing story! I pretty much grew up on the educational side of UKposts, and have been hearing about Nebula for the last 4 years. This video might actually convince me to subscribe and see what you and all the other creators I follow have to offer there firsthand. Thank you for your efforts.

This is an awesome setup you've all made! It's clear you're super passionate about making it work and providing content that is worth the sign up price. I've been influenced i'm gonna check it out

Mad respect for being able to pull this whole business off.

Wow it's amazing to hear the whole story told like this. I've heard bits and pieces of it, but it was great to see it all spelled our so clearly. Joining Nebula was by far the best thing I did for my channel. It's all been great, but the best part is the fantastic Nebula creators I've been able to meet; it's a great group of people. Here's to an even more successful 2023 and beyond! 🥂

I love seeing this as the inheritors of vlogbrothers. Hank and Jon built the path through the wilds of early internet video, and this is the next step. Building a viable business, but with a community and creator centred ethos.

This may be the most iconic Wendover Productions essay yet, and self-referential to boot! When you, yourself are the subject, or at least the "modus vivendi", what then must the scriptwriting do? The passion here is incredible, as is the measured risk-taking winding up at "what's to lose?". This level of essay is seldom done in the first or second person, but usually in the third or "2.5th" person, Nerdwriter style. Fantastically well done, in every aspect. I am simultaneously inspired and thankful.

Well that was extremely informative and super heartwarming to see how this developed, and how all of you guys managed to make Nebula happen and thrive. Like you said, it's not about taking viewers' money. It's about having a platform where original content is created and watched, WITHOUT those stupid ads, ALL THE WHILE being able to perform financially so everyone can get paid for the hard work you put in, from the famous creators to all the staff !

Next up: the insane logistics of an insane logistics Wendover video! No but for real, this was another great watch, and I do appreciate what Nebula is as a platform and a vision. So thank you Sam, and all other creators involved!

Honestly the biggest draw for me has to do with knowing that the money does go directly to creators. I can't throw $5 in the patron of every single person but I can throw money at Nebula and know they're getting some of it. 90% of my youtube subs are on Nebula anyway at this point, it just makes sense.

I would love to be involved with Nebula.

This feels like the only ad I want to watch that’s 28 minutes long. Fucking love that platform, I watch Mustard and Real Engineering there too!

Congrats to Isaac for being the pioneer! He’s why I’m a Nebula subscriber.

something about companies being clear and open just instantly makes me want to support them! i have subbed a few times on and off, mainly to watch specific videos, but this video has convinced me to sub for the year! thanks for the great videos

You really did it Sam... congrats to an amazing path, an amazing story, and I hope you find tons of success on the platform going forward

I'll tell you what sold me on Nebula: it was realizing that most of the creators I watch made content there. There is value in having multiple creators from a particular interest niche on the platform. I will also mention that the low review score for your Android app scared me away for a long time, too. I know you have no control over what reviewers say, but it's worth knowing that they had a pretty big effect on my decision making process. I'm glad I finally got over it and downloaded the app though, because I personally have no real complaints about it.

I've been a subscriber for several years and it is so great to see how well Nebula is doing. I'm a software developer and would love to work on something like this. An industry where and a company where when the company does well, everyone does. Congrats!

Great video - makes me want to work there! Not only is the content interesting and thought provoking, but the genuine support and recognition of all staff is moving. Keep up the great work - I just signed up for the bundle.

Glad you did this. I’m not in your field, but watch all your vids… I would imagine this is a bold and courageous effort. Good on you!

I'd be really curious for CGPGrey and Kurzgezagt's 2 cents on this business model. Clearly they're doing quite well and are fully successful with their current system, but I wonder how they feel about Nebula these days, and what their big concerns were back when they sold in 2020.

It’s crazy everything sam has accomplished and he’s only in his mid 20s. I’ve been watching many of the nebula creators on UKposts and on nebula for years and I happily pay for the subscription

I've been watching your channel since 2019, along with TLDR and others. I found impressive what you guys accomplished and absolutely genius how Nebula works from a Business Perspective. Hope that the platform keeps growing (I'm not currently subscribed but definitely will) congrats for your success hope you keep up your amazing content. 👏

I’ve been using Nebula for a couple of years now and it’s the place I go for content I know is always gonna be good. The awesome creators behind it having a platform to break UKposts’s monopoly is darn awesome. Cool video Sam!

I am not a subscriber, but I am honestly quite happy to see that it seems to work out for the creators. Maybe you guys can lead the change in content creation we so desperately need, not only on YT.

I don't even watch on nebula. I just see it as a way to fund all the creators I love in one easy place. Been subscribed for years and happy with it.

Like all your videos, this was an awesome peek behind the curtain. Just signed up for Nebula a few weeks ago, and I've been enjoying it. Keep up the good work!

Great video, Sam - good to see you. Also well executed on Nebula. I'm a CS-bundle customer since the early days and I'm very happy to support the effort. Good job!

I’m an annual subscriber, and I find that the limiting factor for going to nebula is the lack of a comment section on each video. Every time I watch on your site, I find myself saying “wow, that was an interesting video! I wonder what people are talking about?”. Then I come to UKposts to read the comments. But then… why didn’t I just watch the video on UKposts?

y’all and crash course have such interesting and ethical business strategies! the thing that got me to sign up was, yes, the originals, but also the fact that creators can make what they want and get paid for it. worth the cost to see my favorite artists full potential. and then on the other side of the coin (hehe), crash course figured out a way to make basic knowledge free! i don’t know the exact details but i know a solid amount is made through donations from patreon to the crash course coin. either way, glad to see the people i want to get paid paid and the knowledge i want free is free :)

This might be the most intresting video to date. Thank you for sharing the background of the work you and your creators put in

As someone who's been around since the early days of Wendover it truly is heartwarming to see all of the success that you and your fellow creators have had. Thank you for making such great content!

I think the biggest reason behind 27:17 I think is because literally everyone is just so tired of big no-faced companies selling stuff. When presented with an opportunity to support someone who you've been watching for months or even years, and by KNOWING that the money is going to THEM, you're much more willing to actually hand over the cash. Even if the service might have a couple bumps in the road. As a happy customer, I wish much success to Nebula and hope you don't eventually go down the path that so many other companies do where you put profit over the content and more importantly over the person WHO'S GIVING YOU THE MONEY!

This is the best sales pitch I've heard as a casual customer by far. In many years of hearing about these services now. I'm in.

Sam, you got me to subscribe to Nebula on your first video that included the curiosity stream package, as you mentioned in this story, I think that was an extremely smart play all around as the two platforms really do complement themselves. I’m still a Nebula subscriber today through that same bundle, and couldn’t be happier. Many thanks to you, your team, and the rest of the people who brought us Nebula!

Thank you for sharing this. It means a lot to know behind the scenes as knowing who you really are and what are your goals. This makes me confident that paying nebula+curiosity bundle is awesome deal and I hope you will continue with what you do in this transparent way. Keep it up! :) (also good to know that it is profitable and all of you are happy with that!)

I don't think all others have failed. Linus Tech Tips has Floatplane, which is their own version of Vessel, and it is apparently a financial success. The big differences from Nebula is that creators (except LMG) don't own the platform, and each creator requires their own subscription. Floatplane does not see Nebula as a competitor, mostly due to the different business models, and Patreon is their real competition. Floatplane used the same "start small" mentality, but to them going under was not an option as they would never invest more than what LTT and eventually their own revenue was able to foot. Floatplane doesn't have outside investors, so I'd argue their model is was risky, but Nebula obviously made it too.

Wtf after all these years of watching I've never seen your face until now, I never in a million years pictured you blonde blue eyes long hair! I don't know what I pictured but damn this is kinda a crazy experience for me right now 😂 On a serious note, congrats. You and nebula guys completely deserve what you've achieved. I've watched all you guys for years and watched it all unfold in real time and I always loved that you guys came together and not in a fake way, you guys genuinely supported each other and clearly all shared the same vision. Team work makes the dream work! Love it. You, Real Engineering and RLL are my favs.

Really happy you guys made it, we need more of these bottom-up initiatives! Took the Curiosity str. + Nebula combo a few years ago. CS didn't stick, but Nebula has everything I like in one place. Big shout-out to all the 'Logistics' vids and Mustard's top notch visualisations !

If only you guys do regional pricing. Because right now, the 5 dollars Nebula membership is equal to 130 turkish liras while Amazon Prime is just 40 turkish liras and Spotify is just 30 liras. I don't know the logistics behind it but I think regional pricing can increase the platform's revenue.

Idk why this made me cry. Maybe it’s because you’ve all taught me so much and kept me so entertained and I’m so happy to see you all have the success you deserve.

Isaac was the first creator to bring Nebula to my attention and it's actually his voice in my head that I hear doing the promotion. From there an easy 80% of my you tube content is on Nebula and even though I haven't joined for the obvious "why pay for it when..." this video has convinced me Nebula is something worth supporting and your discount is the catalyst so I've just signed up for a year. It looks like reams of content and I'm here for it, ctrl d, let's go.

I'm a subscriber to Nebula & CS for over a year. Happy with it. Well done peeps!

I'm very happy for your success! I haven't been a Nebula sub before but I'm considering it now because it's so full of great content and people. Props for not going for the quick cash. You have a winning idea and people are supporting it. You might not be able to buy a yacht, 10 supercars and a multi-million dollar mansion the very next day (like people that just sell off a business instead of standing by it) but in time it's definitely a possibility.

I think that I first joined Nebula after Real Engineering showed the first episode of the Logistics of D-Day on youtube, and that was the push to sign-up for the Curiosity Nebula bundle. I'm genuinely thrilled to have been using Nebula for years, because I really appreciate the high-quality educational content everybody on there puts out, and this seemed like a small way I could give thanks to all of you. Thank you so very much to everyone involved for making this awesome product happen, and also to Wendover specifically for this really nice behind the scenes backstory. P.S. I love that Nebula does not have a lot of features such as likes and dislikes and whatnot, my personal sole exception being that I miss having a queue function, mostly for playing videos to fall asleep too. Thanks again for believing in Nebula far enough for it to get the growth well deserved!

I have Nebula, but I rarely use it. I almost always watch videos via UKposts. On reason is community features. Nebula has no comments, no good discovery or recommendations. e.g. Other users who watched this also watch that by this other creator. There’s no rating system (hate that yt now hides thumb down). For a long time Nebula lacked speed control, adding that at least let me consider watching exclusives, I’ve gotten too use to 2x. I’m glad to hear that the venture is going so well.

>pays for Nebula to not get ads >gets a 28 minute 33 second ad for Nebula .... >Watches the entire thing

You are the main reason why I love nebula so much. I was thinking of canceling my subscription last year, but then I saw your amazing documentary on the Colorado problem. It was so well done and informative that I decided to keep supporting Nebula.

It's amazing seeing those younger pictures of Sam and just how far everything has come since then. He's only in his mid 20's and killing it. Congrats!

As an OG Nebula subscriber, love this! Thank you to everyone involved in the Nebula effort to get content creators out from under the thumb of corps profiting off their work!

Absolutely beautiful to see the success you guys are having and thank you for making this video to help explain the story. Loved it!

I had been on the fence about signing up since I was already paying for UKposts. But since the UKposts price increase, and you explaining everything in this video, you have a new Curiosity/Nebula subscriber! I have been watching CGP Grey, Legal Eagle, and Wendover for a long time now. I'm glad that you guys are sharing your success with all the other creators that share your passion for learning. Congrats on your success! And your hard work is definitely seen in the production quality.

Really inspiring story! Just be aware that the service could be very slow in implementing much needed and easily created solutions like their subtitles' size which is enormous and takes too much of the screen. We have been asking Nebula to change the size of the subtitles for 3 years at this point and they done nothing about it.

I'm not yet a Nebula subscriber but I feel every video I watch makes it harder to stay away. I love Jetlag and your logistics videos are some of my favorite so that new series is seriously tempting me. I'm sure I'll be a subscriber before the end of the year at this rate.

Thanks for this video. I’ve been on the fence with Nebula for a long time but I’m on my way to get a yearly sub right now. Thanks for your hard work and dedication

Super interesting story! Thanks for sharing it. I've been subscribed for about 18 months now and love it!

I thank you for this video as it explains most of my problems I've had with the Nebula player. I also sad to learn that Grey left right before the boom, but glad that the additional creators were brought on.

Signing up for nebula has been one of the best things I've ever done. Any time I'm bored or looking for something to watch, I know Nebula will have something. Its honestly incredible!

I looove JET LAG so much and this look behind the curtain of how Nebula and Jet Lag started is amazing....

I like that Nebula succeeded Its content is very interesting, and I love that creators were seen as partners, rather than a product

Thank you so much for sharing all of this information, Sam! I've been a Nebula subscriber since fairly early and have been very curious about literally everything you covered in this video. Congrats on the success so far!

Sam, Good for you & your whole team. It makes me so excited to see YOU small creators be successful and create legitimate businesses. I've never met you, but I'm still proud and a little jealous of your success! Wishing you even greater success in the future! As a fellow Coloradan who is in/around DIA all the time, It would be a pleasure to run into you someday!

Dave is the genius here for making a company for smart content creators with those smart content creators

this is an excellent video, i enjoyed seeing how it came to be, well done to each and everyone involved with growing Nebula to its current state, game changing 😊

Congrats, man! It's amazing seeing the success of great content creators!

I appreciate the transparency you gave to all the viewers and subscribers. Not only was it informative, but showed the true passion of all the creators involved.

ok, you got me. i love the upfront and sincere sales pitch. you guys clearly have the passion and ethics for this.

Glad to see more creator run platforms and really like that creators have shares in the company, it gives me more hope in it's longevity! Also please bring the option to set subscriptions/Library as the landing page plus include a podcast page in library as well, having to hunt through everything for podcast updates is painful so I only do it now and then when I binge listen. Annoyingly I haven't managed to make Nebula my daily driver as my favourite channels like Fully Charged, Transport Evolved and other electric vehicle and energy transition shows and podcasts aren't on there, for all that I was thrilled where I first heard Not Just Bikes's first Nebula add video on UKposts and I try to make a point of watching stuff I know is Nebula content on there, for all that I can't comment there hence this comment on UKposts. XD So really hope Nebula keeps growing and expanding into new topics and inviting more and more creators over to their platform and give people more options aside to big tech trying to squeeze the life out of everything. Also Facebook shutting down country's news channels because government wants them to pay them... getting my country's local news channels on Nebula might be a stretch right now but it's comforting to know there are options like Nebula and some others pushing back against the tide and that people are supporting you and wanting this change giving creators more options and fallbacks if they are able or willing to take it.

Hey Same! Been a Nebula sub for around half an year now and I have to say I have to say even though my Jetlag Wednesdays are pretty exciting, I have one important feedback for how it could be better. The exploration part of the platform is just non-existent. I literally never watch something on Nebula unless its a specific creator I know is up there and and mostly if I know their upload schedule (like Jetlag wednesdays!) since its all just chronological on the home screen. If there could be some way I get recommended good videos from creators I don't even watch right now, I know I'd just use it so much more. Thanks for this video was curious about this - a happy sub!

Most meta video on Nebula at the moment

I was once subscribed to Nebula, but the inability to create playlists (even temporary ones) was the one drawback I couldn't get over. I dislike searching for content and like to have stuff running in the background, so normally I would have liked to add five to ten videos to a playlist and then not have to bother searching for content after. Does anyone know whether or not something like this exist now?

So happy to be a part of the team!

This is one of the best business case studies I’ve ever seen. And I went through a lot of them getting an MBA. Congratulations and thank you!

Congrats, Sam. It's been a pleasure to watch you grow over the years - you deserve it!

Wow, what an incredible video! the tranparency was insane, which is really appreciated! I think i speak for everyone when i say what the team at Nebula are doing is literally unrivaled, its in a league of its own, keep at it :)

This is actually the sales pitch I needed from Nebula.

At first I was sceptical of how interesting this video would be, but I quickly got really into it! It's very nice to hear a story like this, of passionate people working to make a platform that can support both themselves and other creators, and be a great experience for subscribers!

From the first day I ever saw a Wendover video I knew this guy is gonna be heard of. Congratulations on the success! You deserve it so much!

Congratulations Sam! What an achievement for you and these other amazing creators!

I've always been a bit suspicious about the marketing since Nebula is advertised like a coop when it isn't one, so this video helped clear that up and made me consider subscribing. That, and the awesome privacy policy.