James Pumphrey and Jesse Wood helped build Donut Media into one of the most influential YouTube brands of the last decade. Then they walked away and started over.

In this episode, they join us to break down what they learned building inside a YouTube incubator, what changes when a channel becomes a company, and what they’re applying now as the co-founders of Speeed.

We dive into the structure of great YouTube channels, the importance of writing and formats, why entertainment has to come before everything else, and the nine principles they use to evaluate whether a YouTube media business actually works.

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We recorded this episode from Big Sky, Montana at the annual Spotter Creator Summit - four days with some of the top creators in the world talking about where this industry is actually headed.

And one idea kept coming up over and over again:
We’ve officially entered the era of abundance.

There is more good content, more creators, and more competition for attention than ever before. Streamers are courting creators. AI is accelerating production. And brands have more options than they know what to do with.

So the real question going into 2026 isn’t “How do I grow?”
It’s: How do I become memorable?

In this episode, we break down what we’re hearing directly from creators, platforms, and brands—including insights from Issa Rae, conversations happening inside the summit, and Adam Mosseri’s New Year’s post about authenticity and AI.

We talk about:

• Why “just making good videos” isn’t enough anymore

• How creators need to start telling the story of the story

• What’s changing in brand deals (and why short-form and long-form are diverging)

• Why streamers are suddenly paying closer attention to creators

• How AI changes the meaning of authenticity

• And what it takes to make something that can’t be summarized

This episode is about the next phase of the creator economy—and the shift from chasing views to building something people actually remember.

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In this episode, we break down our 2026 creator economy predictions and debate what we’re in and out on. From video podcasts and AI-generated content to creators working with streamers, the rise of IRL events, and how attention is changing online.

We talk about why loyalty to creators is breaking, why summarization and AI tools are reshaping how people consume content, and why entertainment and perspective now matter more than information alone. Plus, our biggest predictions for how platforms like YouTube and Netflix will evolve in the next year and what it all means for creators building long-term careers.

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Instagram is coming to your TV. YouTube creators are showing up on Netflix and Hulu. And Disney just invested $1 billion into OpenAI.

In this episode, we break down three headlines that point to the same shift: the living room is becoming the most important screen in the creator economy.

We unpack what Instagram’s new TV app actually signals, why creator content is increasingly being syndicated to streaming platforms like Netflix, Hulu, and Tubi, and how Disney licensing its characters to AI models could change the future of IP, entertainment, and creators themselves.

The big takeaway? Platforms are changing—but the creators who win are the ones building shows, not just content.

To close, we run through a rapid-fire “ins and outs” of creator economy trends heading into 2026—and ask you what trends you’d buy or sell next.

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Something strange is happening in media: you can now bet on everything.
News events. Celebrity relationships. Short-form views. Even what MrBeast might say in his next video.

In this episode, we unpack the rise of prediction markets like Kalshi and why they’re suddenly being plugged into major media companies, and into creator culture.
We explore how this shift changes incentives, rewrites the rules of attention, and pushes creators into a new era where content isn’t just content… it’s a financial asset.

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Something big is happening in the creator world: creators are turning their online audiences into real-world destinations. From tours to immersive pop-ups, we’re entering the Experience Economy — a shift that resembles the early days of Disney. In this episode, we talk about why creators are moving offline, what it says about the volatility of digital media, and where the creator business model is heading next.

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Netflix just made its biggest move yet against YouTube, and it is happening in podcasts. In this episode, we break down Netflix’s new partnership with Spotify, why they are licensing more than a dozen video podcasts from The Ringer, and what it means that these shows cannot appear in full on YouTube.

We explain the real strategy behind the shift. Netflix wants to win back daily watch time, compete with YouTube’s 12.8% share of TV viewing, and build a pipeline of cheaper, more culturally relevant programming.

But does any of this actually work? And why would a top creator take their show off YouTube in exchange for a one year Netflix deal under ten million dollars?

We dig into the incentives for creators, why long form podcasts may already be past their cultural peak, how volatility on YouTube is shaping creator decisions, and what Netflix needs to do if it wants to become a real home for talk content.

We also look at the TikTok and iHeart podcast network, whether exclusives still matter, and what this all signals about the next era of podcasting.

If Netflix wants to earn back our time, this is their first move. But is it the right one?

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Today on The Colin and Samir Show we break down how Instagram became the center of the creator universe in 2025.

We explain why Instagram is now the first app people open, how it “owns the phone screen,” and why the DM has become the most powerful way to share and grow. We also talk through revenue on Instagram and what we're seeing on the platform.

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Today on The Colin and Samir Show we speak with filmmaker Owen Reiser. When he realized his work in nature documentaries was drying up, he decided to make his own. The result was Listers , a two-hour birdwatching documentary he made with his brother. It cost him $16,000 and he uploaded straight to YouTube with the ads turned off. It reached millions of people, built a community around his work, and created an interesting revenue model for films on YouTube.

We talk with Owen about how he pulled it off, how much he made, why he turned down Hollywood offers, and what Listers says about the future of filmmaking on YouTube.

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You probably don’t think of your inbox as part of the creator economy, but email is a big business, and Substack is leading the charge.

In this episode, Colin and Samir sit down with Rachel Karten, writer of the Substack newsletter Link in Bio, which covers the world of social media and has grown to more than 105,000 subscribers. Rachel left her role at Bon Appétit to build her own business as an independent creator, and today she earns income through paid subscriptions and brand partnerships on Substack.

Colin, Samir and Rachel break down how email newsletters became one of the most powerful tools in the creator economy and why Substack’s model of direct audience ownership is changing how writers, journalists, and creators make a living.

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Adam Faze is building what might be the first true TV studio for TikTok. His company, Gymnasium, develops short-form shows that reach millions of viewers — sometimes for less than the cost of a dinner out. In this episode, we talk about how he’s rethinking the studio model for the vertical video era, what it takes to turn a 90-second TikTok into an ongoing series, and why he believes TikTok is replacing the traditional TV pilot.

We also get into how these shows make money, what Hollywood can learn from short-form creators, and how the next generation of entertainment will be developed on our phones.

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