The First YouTuber to Build a Billion Dollar Business

A billion dollar company.

123 years ago, it took 100s of employees, a merger and being the largest largest steel producer in the US to become the first billion dollar company.

Today it takes a YouTube channel and an idea supported by a great audience.

It can be 5 guys trying to survive in an abandoned city for 7 days.

Or enemies coming together to launch their an own energy drink competing with Red Bull, Monster and Gatorade.

Let's go back 9 years in history when the first billion dollar company was built by a YouTuber.

Disclaimer: I want it to make it clear that this article is not about economics but about creators.

One might argue that the creator or the business they built is not worth $1B, depending on how they look at it.

There are many ways you can calculate net worth or market capitalisation - could be based on how much money you have in the bank, assets you own, equity in a business, business valuation, etc.

This story is about a creator who built a company that was valued at $800m in 2015.

In 2005, at the age of 18 Michelle Phan started posting makeup tutorials on her blog on Xanga.

It became very popular over the next two years and fans start requesting her to make video tutorials.

So, on 21st May 2007 she posted her first YouTube video tutorial. (17 years, two days ago)

This marked the beginning of her journey as a YouTuber.

Over the next couple of years her popularity grew on YouTube and her videos were being featured on MTV and BuzzFeed which led to her videos going VIRAL.

With her growing stardom, in February of 2010 Lancôme a french perfume and cosmetics brand signed her to be their official video makeup artist - it's the first time for a YouTuber.

A year later, she raised $3.8m to start her business - Ipsy, a $10/mo beauty product subscription service.

Over the next two years Ipsy acquired over 100,000 customers → If we do the math, the business was generating $1,000,000/mo 🚀.

In August 2013, she launched her own makeup line EM Cosmetics by Michelle Phan with L'Oreal which was later acquired by her in April 2015.

Around this same time Ipsy raised $100M from venture capital at a valuation of $800M.

Within just 5 years, her company went from $0 to $800M 🚀.

But all this success came with a price for Michelle to pay.

She resigned from Ipsy and decided to disappear off the internet on a hiatus for 2 years.

When she came back - she made a YouTube video on “Why She Left” and re-launched "EM Cosmetics".

Today both of her businesses are thriving.

Ipsy is servicing to millions of customers every month with their creative influencer marketing strategy (story for another day).

Em Cosmetics is run by Michelle herself.

Since her success there have been thousands of businesses launched by YouTubers that have gone to becoming a great success.

feastables by Mr. Beast.

PRIME by Logan Paul and KSI.

Huda Beauty by Huda Kattan.

Chamberlain Coffee by Emma Chamberlain.

These are just businesses we're talking.

There are countless creators who have been able to build their careers and achieve their lifetime dreams because of YouTube like:

• Yes Theory producing their own film "Project Iceman" after rejecting $1.25M movie deal.

• Coby from Dude Perfect going to space.

• Liza Koshy starring on movies like "Work It" aside Sabrina Carpenter & Jordan Fisher.

• Lilly Singh hosting her own TV show "A Little Late with Lilly Singh".

This is just the tip of the iceberg.

There are millions of creators who have built their careers and livelihood through content creation and it's only going to keep growing over the coming years.

The lesson I want you to take from me sharing this story is the possibilities you can create for yourself as a content creator.

Creating content and putting yourself on the internet is the easiest and fastest ways to get recognised and find lifetime opportunities in 2024.

It can open many doors for you in life.

It did for me.

I got my first job because I was documenting my journey on Instagram.

If this article has done enough convincing for you to start making content, go check out my article → "5 Tips You Need to Know To Succeed as a Content Creator in 2024"

See you next week! ✌️

-Amaanath