How to Sell Your YouTube Channel w/ Tyler Chou | Ep 443

**Tyler Chou** (0:00)
Most YouTubers think their YouTube channel is their business. It's not. It is the marketing arm of your business. But the problem is most creators don't have a business. They don't have an email list, they don't have a community, they don't have a product. So if your channel were to go down tomorrow, is that the end of your business?

**Chris Do** (0:21)
My guest today is Tyler Chou. She's the creator's attorney. She's a former Disney, Buzzfeed, and Skydance lawyer who's helped a lot of creators help to build a real sellable media company. We're going to talk about how you can have that $100 million exit. Tyler, welcome to the show.

**Tyler Chou** (0:39)
Thank you so much for having me, Chris.

**Chris Do** (0:42)
So you're a classical, like you're a real attorney, not just one that plays one on TV.

**Tyler Chou** (0:46)
That's right. You're a real attorney in Hollywood. Yes.

**Chris Do** (0:49)
Yes. And then something kind of bits you and you're like, hey, maybe I want to do this other thing. Instead of playing an old media, I want to do a new media.
What brought you there?

**Tyler Chou** (0:58)
Three years ago, I had a midlife crisis. And I asked myself, I said, you have been an attorney in Hollywood for almost 20 years. You have been the lead attorney on over 22 feature films. What is your creative legacy?
What I realized is I was very unhappy. I mean, I had the prestige of being a Hollywood attorney, but I was miserable. What people don't realize is being a studio attorney, you're this tiny cog in a huge machine. You are told to do things exactly. I mean, Disney is this prime example of, do things precisely, exactly as we say, don't be heard, just be perfect. And it was pretty soul-crushing, I'd have to say, my 20 years in Hollywood. But I stayed a long time because I couldn't let go of the prestige of being a Hollywood attorney.
So then I think after 20 years of being as one of a few female executives of color, I was abused in the corporate setting. And so at some point I said, what's next? There has to be more to this. But I didn't quit my job. I just thought I'd start a YouTube channel on the side while still working full-time and find some fun in doing something creative. It blew up by accident almost. And I got to 10,000 subscribers pretty quickly in the first few months. And then I got laid off. That was a big turning point.

**Chris Do** (2:27)
This is awesome. As they say, as one door closes, another one opens. And this is a classic one where like, wait a minute, I'm supposed to have a job. And then this other thing is like something's starting to blow up. This is really good. The title of the episode is called How to Have a $100 Million YouTube Exit, which is super exciting. First of all, $100 million exit period is super exciting. And that you can do this by doing YouTube is even crazier.
So what are the kind of things that you like to talk about in terms of, how do I prepare as either a new creator or current creator? How do I build my company, my business such that it could be that valuable one day?

**Tyler Chou** (3:02)
So I love that we started with my origin story of how I started my YouTube channel, because here's the fantastic thing about being a creator and being a YouTuber. You all start from zero. You all have to upload that first video. And then you go viral, then you have to keep going. You make 50 more, 100 more, 1,000 more.
For every YouTuber who's starting right now, I want to invite you to think about your content from day one, as if you were going to exit five or 10 years from now. What you need to have is clean IP, clean chain of title.
What B-rolls are you putting into your videos? What music are you putting into your videos? When you have a guest on your podcast, do they sign a guest release? Those are the kind of questions that investors will ask for when they do their due diligence. Do you have access to the assets that are in your videos? That's very important. If you have a reaction channel, that is worthless to investors. Do not have a reaction channel.

**Chris Do** (4:05)
Everybody and I know is using some illegal clip from a movie, probably some bootleg music, a little meme cut, reaction thing. You're speaking very much like my attorneys, like Chris, everything's got to be by the book.