Yes Theory and the Art of Making People Care

**Colin** (0:00)
A lot of what drives the most viewership on the internet today is provocative or sensational content that typically leans towards negativity, fear, and anger. But our guest today has been reaching millions of people over the past 11 years by doing the opposite, telling positive stories about people.

**Samir** (0:18)
Thomas Brag is the co-founder of Yes Theory, as well as one of the best storytellers on YouTube. Their channel is basically Anthony Bourdain. What are the parts unknown for a new generation?

**Colin** (0:29)
I think whenever we're asked, like, who makes the best YouTube videos, our answer is typically Yes Theory. And every week, I feel like you and I come in when they put out a new video, and we're like, how are they still doing this? And what I mean by still doing this is improving week after week on long-form documentaries about insane travels with beautiful interactions with strangers.
It has been an 11-year journey that has been reinvention, this exploration of what storytelling looks like on the internet, and true filmmaking on YouTube.

**Samir** (1:06)
And Thomas and Amar and Staffan and everyone at Yes Theory has a deep understanding, as you'll hear in this episode, of what actually not just grabs people's attention, but makes them a part of your community, makes them remember what you made and the stories that you're telling.

**Colin** (1:27)
And if you look at who has the deepest communities on the platform, Yes Theory is one of them, bound by this concept of seeking discomfort, meaning that the best things in life are on the other side of your comfort zone. And that mantra has really created this global community. Even when I was traveling in India, I just reached out to the Yes Fam India group, and they hosted meetups with hundreds of people in different cities that I was in to hang out. Like, because I reached out, and that was crazy.
It's a really, really impressive movement. Thomas is one of the most impressive storytellers on the internet. And I think in a moment where, as we've mentioned, this is the abundance era, and there's an abundance of negative content. These guys are making an incredible show that's reaching millions of people.

**Samir** (2:19)
Looking back on this recording, I thought about something that you said often, which is that on the internet, people glance, they don't read.
And if you are a creator, a storyteller, a brand builder, I think the value of this episode is learning how to get people to read on the internet with what you put out. I feel like every time I watch a Yes Theory video, I've read a book. I have not read a book, but I feel like I have done something positive for myself. And I think a lot of people are in that same position where you have something positive, you have value to give, but you feel like the internet does not want to receive what you have to say. And Thomas and everyone at Yes Theory, they figured that out.

**Colin** (3:04)
Okay, we've talked enough about them. We can do a whole episode just talking about how much we love Yes Theory, but let's bring in Thomas. This is our episode with Thomas Brag, co-founder and host of Yes Theory. All right, Thomas Brag, welcome to the show.

**Thomas Brag** (3:22)
Thank you for having me.

**Samir** (3:23)
Third time on the show?

**Thomas Brag** (3:24)
Third time on the show, yeah.

**Colin** (3:25)
Yeah.

**Thomas Brag** (3:26)
Wow.

**Colin** (3:27)
I'm looking at the Yes Theory channel, and I'm noticing two things right now.

**Thomas Brag** (3:30)
Okay.

**Colin** (3:31)
One, you're at a frustrating 9.93 million subscribers.

**Thomas Brag** (3:36)
So close. So close.

**Colin** (3:39)
So close, 10 million subscribers, that's crazy.

**Thomas Brag** (3:44)
It doesn't make sense in my brain when I... I can't think about it, because it's just too much.

**Samir** (3:49)
That is so unbelievable, truly. 10 million people.

**Thomas Brag** (3:53)
Yeah. I still feel like I have 10,000 subscribers. In my head, I'm still just starting, is how it feels. But I think maybe one will hit. It'll actually process in my mind. But ultimately, I'm just grateful to still be doing this. It's 11 years in.
I don't know how many channels have been doing it for 11 years. There's a few like Philip DeFranco, people like that, that have just still doing it. But otherwise, I feel like there's fewer and fewer.

**Colin** (4:22)
That was the second thing I was going to bring up, is that I'm looking at the channel I sorted by oldest, and Dancing with Strangers in the Street was uploaded 11 years ago.