Behind the Influence

Ian Hecox - On Founding Smosh, Staying Power on Youtube, and Advice for Creators

As one of the very first official YouTube partners, the word pioneer is an understatement when describing the impact that Ian Hecox of Smosh has had on creators everywhere. With almost 25M subscribers to date, Smosh has consistently been one of the top performing channels on YouTube since it launched over 15 years ago. For obvious reasons, I was very much looking forward to interviewing Ian: he’s a part of YouTube history. But also, because so many of my friends have worked with him over the years and had nothing but stellar things to say about him as a creator and a person. What you’ll get from this interview: the backstory of Smosh and how it became the #1 most subscribed to channel on Youtube (with stories of hurdles along the way), Ian’s take on why Smosh has had staying power on YouTube, why he chose to continue on with the channel after his partner Anthony decided to depart, where the behemoth of a brand stands today, and of course, some advice for all you creators out there. Learn more about your ad-choices at <a href="https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com">https://www.iheartpodcastnetwork.com</a>See <a href="https://omnystudio.com/listener">omnystudio.com/listener</a> for privacy information.

Behind the Influence is the next iteration of Tatiana Carrier’s intimate interview series with pioneers of today’s entertainment world. Focusing on both the people on the platforms and the people behind them, Behind the Influence provides listeners candor, laughter, seriousness and access like no other podcast show can get. Filled with personal stories, advice, revealing anecdotes, retellings of epic successes and even worse failures, there’s plenty of insights, but also a fair amount of absolute nonsense. Are you even reading this? Just listen for @!#?'s sake.