This is the problem creators don’t talk about ❌

It’s loneliness.

Something I faced (and still face) as a creator was not having an intimate group of creator friends to confide in.

The life of a creator is hard, especially when…

• You’re not getting the views (or money) you believe you deserve.
• You’ve tried every strategy your YouTube guru / strategist suggested, but aren’t seeing results.
• You’re resenting (and even hating) the content that you’re creating.

While it’s heartwarming that people around you “believe in your success”, you need more than just cheerleaders in your corner.

No offense to your mom, girlfriend, or best friend, who sold his 1st edition, holo Charizard in elementary school so you guys could buy and enjoy pizza 🍕

You need friends who understand and are also invested in the long-term game of building a personal brand on YouTube.

If this sounds all too familiar, it’s because I’ve often felt (and still feel) this way.

But let’s be real about making friends.

Finding long-term creator friends is hard.

Don’t get me wrong.

Yes, I’ve met numerous creator friends over the years through mutual friends, random DM’s, and programs I’ve attended.

However, some have come and gone and quit the content game. Or those that are still in the game, we don’t connect as often as I’d like.

Naval Ravikant once said…

“Play long-term games with long-term people.”

That advice resonated with me, and it prompted me to join my first mastermind.

What exactly is a mastermind? 🧠

This year, I had the opportunity to witness the behind-the-scenes of my friends’ masterminds.

Kudos to Vanessa Lau and Mike Kim.

Imagine a peer advisory group of close friends serving as your council or board of directors.

A special “club” where you meet regularly to exchange cool ideas, untangle complex problems, and level up each other’s game.

Here were my favorite perks from the experience:

• Collective Brainpower: Imagine not having to rely solely on your own intelligence but leveraging the wisdom, knowledge, and experience of all the members in your mastermind group. The new ideas, insights, and perspectives could unlock new opportunities.
• Partnerships & Opportunities: Imagine the partnership and working opportunities that can come out of such a group. Most people think – “oh, it’s another way to get clients.” But it’s about more opening doors for each other, including speaking, podcasts, and virtual summits. This is how I landed my first virtual summit.
• Lasting Friendships: You’re not only interacting with friends, but other creators who share similar goals, values, and experiences. And this bond goes beyond the group’s formal meetups.
• Accelerated Personal Growth: The biggest thing is I noticed myself wanting to level up my skills and game. It was due to these groups that I started asking myself, “Am I wasting my 10x skills on 2x opportunities?”. I started realizing… I’m starting to self-actualize my potential.

As much as I enjoyed the energy, collaborations, and partnerships of like-minded people in one room. Most importantly, there was a problem.

There are few to no masterminds for YouTube creators.

After chatting with many of my creator friends and peer-supporting numerous students in Ali Abdaal’s Part Time YouTuber Academy, I realized that I wasn’t the only one feeling lonely and isolated as a creator.

So, I sat down to outline my mission and vision, not just for my business, but for my life.

And I wrote down this…

“Every creator needs real friends that nurture their creativity to bring out their best work.”

Rather than waiting for a YouTube creator community, I decided to launch my own creator mastermind.

This isn’t your typical mastermind ❌

“Mastermind” is the new business buzzword.

It sounds “cool” to promote sales, but when you actually go into these groups, they often turn out to be glorified Q&A or group coaching sessions with no element of community or peer-advisory (and I hate that).

Also I didn’t want to be like every other mastermind.

This mastermind isn’t solely about sales or YouTube or business growth (which no one is complaining about growth).

More importantly – it’s about building relationships, connections, and creating opportunities for others.

Here’s how it works:

• The first group will meet every two weeks for three months, starting in August (we’ll finalize – but tentative times are Tuesday / Wednesday at 5 or 6 PM PST)
• Calls are 80 minutes long
• The group is initially limited to 4 people (with 12 max in one group)
• No live meetups or virtual summits yet, but I plan to organize these in the future.

Bonuses for this initial group:

• This initial group is a proof of concept, meaning I won’t be charging yet.
• The future investment is aimed at $6,000 / year or $600 / month (still finalizing)
• You’ll get a 1-on-1 session with me to go over your offers or opportunities (especially for high ticket offers)
• You’ll have the opportunity to partner with me to launch a mastermind in your community, meaning more friends and Monthly Recurring Revenue (MRR) for you 🙂

Who I’m looking for:

• You’re a subject matter expert in an area outside of YouTube
• You’ve created (and plan to create) content consistently on YouTube or another platform
• You’re playing the long-term game of YouTube for the next 3-5 years
• You have a go-giving mentality and want to meet other friends with similar values
• You plan on participating at least 80% of the time

This is for you if you want to:

• Nerd out on content ideas, titles, and thumbnail strategies while aligning to your personal brand / vibe
• Build monetization strategies that are fun, profitable, and aligned with your values
• Hire and build processes to manage the day-to-day of running an online creator business
• Connect and build real relationships with your audience (not just subscribers) that could lead into clients, partnerships, or larger monetization strategies
• Form lifelong friendships with creators who will grow with you and share opportunities with you
• Potential clients – Although direct pitching is not allowed in mine, it’s a great place for referrals. If people directly ask you about your services, that’s fine – but I want to keep it wholesome.

Be part of something bigger 🌎

This is not another YouTube course or your typical mastermind.

I’m crafting a close-knit community designed to help us grow on the internet together.

Think about the benefits of a YouTube house – without the petty arguments about who should do the dishes!

Future plans include 🔮

• Live closed-door meetups with mastermind students, twice a year
• Switching up groups every six months at a time (so it’ll never get boring)
• A virtual summit (in the future) for us to speak on and monetize from sponsors (more on this later)
• Pre-sell tickets so we can speak and host our own IRL event
• Bring in bigger sponsorship deals and exclusive group deals for us.

But it starts with the first group.

If you’re nodding your head in agreement, click here to apply – even if you don’t check all the boxes. Just be honest with your answers.

The next steps:

1. Fill out this application here.
2. If things look promising, I’ll book a 1:1 call so I can answer your questions and understand what you’re hoping to gain from the mastermind
3. If things look positive, you’re in.

We’ll speak soon,

Kevin 🔥

My Favorite Things 💯

This month I focused on building my Second Brain (AKA my own personal library on Notion of insights for future content creation 🧠). If you’re a Second Brain Nerd like me, then you’ll appreciate these tools.

📲 Shortform Book Summary App – This app is my go-to for skimming book concepts. Right now I’m busy AF taking Dan Koe’s course, but sometimes I need a quick refresher of an idea or new ideas. This app allows me to highlight key points which then sync to Readwise and Notion. They also have a new summary app, which I’m reviewing too. Here’s my full article here and review on YouTube.

📲 Readwise Reader – Readwise Reader is a game changer and completely changed my opinion about Readwise. Reader syncs all my highlights to Notion and even saves Tweets and does YouTube transcriptions (so I can take notes on my favorite YouTube videos). What sets them apart from Instapaper and Pocket is their AI-powered summarization tool. I’m currently editing a full review of the new reader, but in the meantime, here’s a look at my thoughts on the Readwise. Here’s my full article here and review on YouTube.

📄 The Four Hour Workday by Dan Koe (Blog) – For the last month, Dan Koe’s work has changed my life. I’m transitioning from the grueling 10-12 hours to 4 hour work days. Dan’s work has helped me rethink my work strategy and played in my decision to step away from agency work to focus on monetizing as a full time creator.

Quote of the Week 💭

Am I wasting my 10x skills on 2x opportunities?

Resurfaced from Readwise 📚