Star Chef Confession: How I Got 'Trapped' Losing Money on YouTube
Carla Lalli Music tells me about tough choices as production quality increases on the platform — and taking a break from her 230,000+ subscribers
I write about creators, digital platforms and the $250B global industry they power — including what Dude Perfect is doing with its $100 million in PE money and the creator business VC rush. Email me tips, story ideas and memes at natalie@theankler.com
Happy Wednesday from Los Angeles, where I’ve spent the better part of the last two days watching a livestream of the hatching of two bald eaglets in Big Bear, thanks to the Friends of Big Bear Valley’s YouTube channel. Of all the livestreams that have riveted our attention lately, this one is definitely best for the soul.
Last week, just as I was hitting publish on my newsletter about how Dude Perfect is using a $100 million-plus investment to supersize its YouTube business, Bloomberg scooped that Jimmy Donaldson, aka MrBeast, is seeking a “couple hundred million dollars” of investment at a $5 billion valuation for his sprawling media and merch empire. It’s another signal (following my report about the Slow Creator fund) that 2025 is shaping up to be a hot year for creator-first businesses.
Stories like this are typically designed to drum up interest (and FOMO), and there’s no guarantee that Donaldson will get what he’s after. Still, I was intrigued, so I called up some people I trust in the investment community for their thoughts.
One investor was skeptical. Yes, MrBeast is the most followed person on YouTube, with a global army of 369 million and estimated annual earnings of $85 million, per Forbes. But it’s tricky to bet on a single personality because, as my source notes, “what can be worth $5 billion today can also be worth $5 tomorrow.” He needs to show that he has the right team behind him and that he’s willing to focus on building a sustainable business that doesn’t just rely on his name and likeness. Something he hasn’t really done to date — did you see those headlines about how much money he lost from his Amazon show?
Anyway, good luck to MrBeast! I look forward to tracking this deal and others like it as more money flows into the creator economy.
A clear YouTube success story, MrBeast has built a business so profitable that he can afford to give away hundreds of thousands of dollars in the over-the-top competitions he hosts. Such success is pretty easy to spot on the platform thanks to view counters that tick up and up, not to mention those trophies the Google-owned streamer hands out when you reach certain milestones (a silver YouTube play button for 100,000 subscribers, a diamond-encrusted one for 10 million). But today’s story is about the also-rans, which are much less visible. You know, the channels that disappear without fanfare, the video series that fizzle after just a few episodes.
When something doesn’t work, it’s no wonder a creator would rather sweep it under the rug. That’s why I took note when food creator, cookbook author and one of my favorite Bon Appétit Test Kitchen alums Carla Lalli Music announced recently that she was leaving YouTube.
Music appeared to have it made as a YouTuber. She began uploading videos to the platform regularly in 2021 and has since racked up more than 230,000 subscribers and nearly 18 million total views. But it turns out, Music was actually losing about $10,000 a month on the platform. “I was thinking about shutting down the channel for close to a year,” she tells me. Instead she kept chasing views, kept searching for sponsorships that could help her cover the losses. “It was just this loop that I felt very trapped in,” she says.
Finally, not long after she signed a deal for her third cookbook, Music decided to call it quits. In a detailed post on her Substack, she outlines her decision, and — with a candor that’s rare even in the ostensibly unguarded creator community — she shares more of her thinking with me below.
“We need this kind of transparency,” she says. “I exposed a lot of myself, but it’s been just awesome, and I would love for people to continue talking about money.”
Money is something I’d like to write a lot more about here (check out my Ankler Media colleague Elaine Low’s revealing Salary Confessions from people who work in TV). So if you’re a creator who is comfortable breaking down what you spend to produce your videos and how much you make on your content, please reach out to me at natalie@theankler.com.
Now onto my conversation with Music. Read on to learn:
Exactly what Music spent to make each YouTube video she posted, and the detailed breakdown of those costs
The complex bind for creators caught in a cycle of losing money to service their audiences
Why cutting costs for video creators isn’t as simple as it sounds
The pressure for creators to operate as one-person production studios
Why Music is focusing on platforms like Substack and how much she’s making there
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