The speaker, Philip, the founder of Kotzgesant, a popular science YouTube channel, shares the history and mission of the channel. He recounts how the channel started as a passion project in 2012, before YouTube became more commercialized. Initially, the channel was funded by intrinsic motivation and a few friends, with Philip working for clients during the day and on the channel at night.
In 2015, the channel began to break even and eventually started earning a profit. However, the team was burned out, so they decided to bring in more friends and hire the first team members. This led to the creation of a legal entity, and the channel grew significantly.
In 2023, Kotzgesant is an animation studio with offices in Munich and Berlin, employing over 60 people and a lot of freelancers worldwide. The channel's work costs millions of dollars per year to produce, which creates a challenge for the team. To finance their work, they have multiple sources of income, including ad revenue from YouTube, Patreon, and their shop.
The shop is the single biggest source of income, accounting for forty percent of their revenue over the last eight years. The channel also receives funding from commercial sponsors, German public broadcasting, institutional sponsors, and other organizations like the Red Cross or the UN.
Their core mission is to spark curiosity and make science and humanism accessible for as many people as possible. They aim to inspire long-term thinking and a positive constructive outlook on the future of humanity. They also plan to expand their influence across more media, including apps and VR games.
The speaker thanks the audience for their support and encourages them to watch, share, and support the channel.
1. Kotzgesant has existed for 10 years in 2023.
2. It is one of the largest scientific channels on YouTube.
3. The founder of Kotzgesant, Philip, dropped out of high school as a teenager.
4. Philip was not interested in learning until a special teacher at a school for dropouts inspired him.
5. Philip studied history and design and eventually started Kotzgesant as a passion project.
6. In 2012, YouTube was less commercial and more idealistic, allowing for creative freedom.
7. For the first few years, making Kotzgesant cost money due to lack of outside funding.
8. In 2015, the channel began to break even and then to earn a profit.
9. In 2023, Kotzgesant is an animation studio with offices in Munich and Berlin.
10. The team consists of over 60 employees and many freelancers around the world.
11. The shop alone accounted for forty percent of revenue over the last eight years.
12. YouTube ads accounted for 13 percent and Patreon accounted for 9 percent of revenue.
13. Commercial sponsors accounted for 12 percent of revenue.
14. German public broadcasting contributed about 7 percent of revenue.
15. Institutional sponsors represented about 10 percent of revenue.
16. The final two percent of revenue came from other organizations like the Red Cross or the UN.
17. The core mission of Kotzgesant is to spark curiosity and make science and humanism accessible for as many people as possible.
18. The effort put into creating videos is a way of achieving this mission.
19. The research is as intensive as it is so the videos are a good simplification of very complicated topics.
20. Kotzgesant aims to make people excited about science so they rediscover subjects they hated in school and see how amazing they are.
21. Kotzgesant wants to inspire long-term thinking and a positive constructive outlook.
22. Kotzgesant wants to inspire you to dream a little about the glorious future that we could actually build.
23. Kotzgesant aims to be a positive influence across more media on their Tick Tock channel in long form content, apps, and VR games.
24. Kotzgesant's shop is a central part of this vision.
25. Kotzgesant's videos start with a video and end with a poster.
26. Kotzgesant aims to make science and learning more fun for as many people as possible.
27. Kotzgesant appreciates the support of its viewers and encourages them to watch and share their videos, check out their shop, become a Patreon, or give them an ad blocker exception.