We Just Turned Down Millions of Dollars. Here Is Why.

What this episode is about

The content discusses the troubling trend of popular YouTube channels prioritizing profitability over quality by partnering with private equity firms and questionable sponsors, leading to a decline in meaningful content. The speaker announces their decision to reject lucrative offers in order to maintain creative control and continue producing high-quality educational material focused on lesser-known research.

Key takeaways

• In a world of viral clickbait, true academic depth becomes the endangered species of content.
• Private equity firms buying YouTube channels might explain that sudden dip in quality—welcome to the content wild west!
• Higher view counts can often come at the cost of intellectual integrity; choose quality over quantity.
• For every sponsor ‘just looking to help,’ there’s a hidden agenda. Authenticity is the rarest currency online.
• Who needs an editor when you have passion? One couple, one thousand episodes—talk about DIY dedication!

Who speaks in this episode?

• Károly Zsolnai-Fehér (Host) · 10 min speaking
• John Jumper (Guest) · 1 min speaking

What is discussed, and when

1. 0:00 – 3:00: Papers
2. 3:00 – 6:00: Lambda, Weights & Biases
3. 6:00 – 9:00: Papers, John Jumper, Technical University of Vienna
4. 9:00 – 10:33: Papers

Notable quotes from "We Just Turned Down Millions of Dollars. Here Is Why."

• But there is a problem. It doesn’t make crazy money. So, I do the Papers thing, because no one else is going to do it. Just think about it: from a business point of view…

  about Papers · at 2:27

• And despite many sponsorship offers, I don’t sell you junk. Never have. I only sell you things that I use on a regular basis and things I love. Currently that’s mainly Lambda…

  about Lambda · at 3:41

• And since we have also published our 1,000th paper video, as a gift to you for being with us for so long, more than 10 years now, I also made an interview with Nobel Prize…

  about John Jumper · at 6:56

• Well, I have a Master-level course too on writing light simulation programs that I taught at the Technical University of Vienna, in Austria. I gave it away to all of you for…

  about Technical University of Vienna · at 7:52

Who and what is mentioned in this episode?

People

• John Jumper — Person · Referenced expert (interview subject) · 1 mention · first at 7:08
  Mentioned as the Nobel Prize–winning chemist the host interviewed as a special milestone episode tied to the channel’s 1,000th paper video.

Companies & orgs

• Technical University of Vienna — Company · Affiliation · 1 mention · first at 7:52
  Mentioned as the institution where the host taught a Master-level course on writing light simulation programs.

Concepts & topics

• Papers — Concept · Core topic · 7 mentions · first at 1:03
  Central theme of the episode, discussing the importance of research papers and the channel's dedication to them.

Sponsors

• Lambda — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 3:47
  One of the products the host uses and loves, mentioned as a current sponsor of the channel.
• Weights & Biases — Product · Sponsor · 1 mention · first at 3:55
  One of the products the host uses and loves, mentioned as a current sponsor of the channel.
  And despite many sponsorship offers, I don’t sell you junk. Never have. I only sell you things that I use on a regular basis and things I love. Currently that’s mainly Lambda…

Full transcript with timestamps

0:01 I got to speak out about something. I have to, because many people have no idea what is going on. In fact, I don’t even know what the video part of the content of this one will be, perhaps some highlights from previous episodes, my apologies for that. I am not a talking head person and I have never done this kind of video. But I need to talk to you about something today. One, many people say are surprised. They are surprised because they suddenly see their favorite channels dipping more into lower quality, higher click volume content. Virality over depth. Then, sell them to the highest bidder sponsors, and trust me, that’s not going to be the best product for you, the viewers. Thus, they started working with very questionable sponsors, and this is happening on a mass scale, on many channels.

0:52 Okay, so why is that? Well, because many of your favorite youtube channels have been sold to private equity companies. That's right. Some of them tell you about it, some of them won’t say a word. I’ll tell you whether Two Minute Papers has been sold or not in a moment. Yup, many channels are being sold and are now being run by private equity firms. They approached us too and let’s be honest, many of these deals come with millions and millions of dollars. So, what did I do? Well, hold on to your papers Fellow Scholars, because I have a big announcement to make today. And the big announcement is that from now on, the content here on this channel is going to be elevated because… because we don’t take any money from these people.

1:41 Never! I declined every offer. I kept the ownership of the channel so I can keep talking about brilliant research works, ones that often nobody else is talking about. Like the one you see here. Very few people know about these works. It’s a bit like saving endangered species. Like Indiana Jones, for research papers! And this is why. This is why no one is talking about amazing works like this. Who’s going to stand up for that broke PhD student who invented something amazing? Who is going to stand up for works that no one else is talking about? This is what is valuable in the world. This is what pushes humanity forward. This is what makes the world better for us.

2:27 But there is a problem. It doesn’t make crazy money. So, I do the Papers thing, because no one else is going to do it. Just think about it: from a business point of view, taking a bit longer to give you a better, more detailed video about a paper is not a virtue. It is an operational defect that needs to be solved immediately. But not around here it isn’t. We are lucky to get early access to research papers on a regular basis, and we often make a decision to publish the video later. Take some time to learn more about the paper. Make it better. Get food poisoning in Italy and take a week longer. Oh wait, that’s a different story.

3:09 Others, not so much. Many other channels are in a race to put out a video on the new ChatGPT, the hot new thing, any video whatsoever, doesn’t matter, just be first and get the views. These days, I am often last. Because this is what it takes to get you quality content. Imagine being one of the first in the world to hear about a new Nobel-prize winning research, and ending up last to report on it. Fewer views, harder to make a living. But that’s what I do here. And despite many sponsorship offers, I don’t sell you junk. Never have. I only sell you things that I use on a regular basis and things I love. Currently that’s mainly Lambda and a bit of Weights & Biases, but I note that this video has no sponsorship spot or links. Also, whenever a sponsor reaches out to us, the first thing they ask for is a dedicated video. Everyone wants a dedicated video. What is that? A dedicated video means a full video about

4:13 a product. Not a paper video. A product video. That’s not what we do here. Never never never. Also, other channels, you often see sponsorship spots at the middle of the video, or even at the start. Even more so today. But, not here. We have it at the end, so if you do not wish to watch it, you don’t have to. Many also want review rights. See and approve everything in advance. A look into our episodes and even veto rights over it. Elsewhere? Perhaps. Here? Not happening. Also, most sponsors tell the channels the exact words what they have to say. We don’t do that here. I choose what I am going to say about the product. You see channels 10 or 50 times bigger than us that do these reads. Just listen to them, their sponsorship spots sound like a student reading their homework. Not here. We don’t allow anyone to specify what I say here. Never.

5:12 Now something I’ve never talked about before. We had a big tech company as a sponsor, and they wanted to ask for things that we don’t allow. They said they want it anyway, and I fired them immediately on the spot. Who fires a big tech company as a sponsor? Nobody. I just did that and if that is what it takes to give you high quality research paper content, then I’ll do it 10 more times. Because I do not work for them. I work for you. And if you see a sponsorship on this channel, you can be sure that it’s good. I can make mistakes, but I am trying my best here.

5:49 And I’m not going to peace out for a few dollars. I am going to die with a paper in my hands, probably while talking about it. Now, I had a friend of mine telling me that I should tell our editor to do this and that because an episode was not that good. I would be happy to do that, but I can’t, because we don’t have an editor. We never had an editor. We don't have a team of writers. We don’t have anyone. Not a single employee, it is just me and my wife, from episode one to episode 1,000. Writing, recording, sound engineering, mixing, cutting, video editing, talking to sponsors. I make every video alone by hand, start to finish, and my wife is running this business and she is beyond amazing. She works so hard I look like a lazy dog next to her. So I am really happy when you are enjoying the videos, and if an episode sucks, I am sorry, it’s all on me. 100% on me. And I am trying my best to learn and improve the show.

6:56 And since we have also published our 1,000th paper video, as a gift to you for being with us for so long, more than 10 years now, I also made an interview with Nobel Prize winning Chemist John Jumper. I would like to send a big thank you for all of you who watched it and sent encouraging words, because I am almost never on camera. I just snuck out of the lab for this one. Perhaps some more in the future, we will see. I will also note that this is my own voice. No AI voiceovers. Not here. Every single episode of the 1,000 and the ones going forward are myself behind the microphone, reading the papers, and flipping out. No AI voices.

7:40 Alternatively, instead of running sponsorships, some people sell their own products. You know how that goes. Often an overpriced course on something, that’s frankly not great quality. Well, I have a Master-level course too on writing light simulation programs that I taught at the Technical University of Vienna, in Austria. I gave it away to all of you for free, forever. You can’t even pay for it, even if you wanted. Another silly decision, who does that? But this is a decision that feels right to me. Knowledge, for free, for everyone! That is The Way Of The Papers.

8:19 So this is not the kind of video that you ever see on this channel, but I think this needed to be said. And there is a bit more here. Once again, thank you so much for being with us for so long, I love my job here, and I run up the stairs every day to show you a newer paper and learn with you Fellow Scholars. Really, really grateful for your support. This is only possible because of you Fellow Scholars. Thank you so much! If you wish to support a truly independent content creator, find someone who is really independent.

8:56 Please watch their videos, subscribe to them, and leave them a really kind comment. It will make their day. In a world of soulless content farms, true independent content creators are a dying breed, and they all need your support. They really need it. And with all that said, I completely understand that people want to make money. It is next to impossible to earn anything on Youtube, I mean, look at how much AdSense pays for this otherwise successful video. That is not a typo. Disclaimer, I am sure it increased a bit in the following days, but I’ll be honest, I won’t even check, after costs and taxes, this is basically zero. All that for a huge stadium of people watching your video. So it’s tough out there. Really tough. Now I’ll note that we have the amazing partners I mentioned, and we are completely fine. Don’t worry about us. We saved and invested every single penny possible.

9:54 And I mean it when I say I truly wish every creator nothing but the best. I know some of the channel owners personally and I respect them a great deal, I really hope it will work out well for them. Sending respect and love to everyone. But I work for you Fellow Scholars, and you got to know what is going on. And you know that I never make videos like this. I think you can scroll back 1,000 videos on this channel. It’s all research papers and one interview. So now, onwards to thousands of more amazing papers. What a time to be alive!

Questions about this episode

Who speaks in "We Just Turned Down Millions of Dollars. Here Is Why."?

Károly Zsolnai-Fehér (Host), John Jumper (Guest).

What is "We Just Turned Down Millions of Dollars. Here Is Why." about?

The content discusses the troubling trend of popular YouTube channels prioritizing profitability over quality by partnering with private equity firms and questionable sponsors, leading to a decline in meaningful content. The speaker announces their decision to reject lucrative offers in order to maintain creative control and continue producing high-quality educational material focused on…

What is mentioned in this Two Minute Papers episode?

5 people, works and ideas are mentioned, including Papers, John Jumper, Technical University of Vienna. Each one on this page links to its own page with every episode that mentions it.

How long is "We Just Turned Down Millions of Dollars. Here Is Why."?

The episode runs 11 min; the transcript is about 1,760 words in 13 timestamped sections.

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