Ali Abdaal

[aitchH]

But the context above is us working in teams in the REAL world where we don't get to choose everyone we work with or under. Not as a solitary online content creator who's hit bigtime and is assimilating a bunch of yes-men, yes-women, bookwriting and life coaches to big-up more clones of him online and dream up with another niche buzzword-riddled self-help book for privileged university students and early 20 year olds to commit to their assignments- I have a sneaky suspicion Jade's beaten him to it and he's now forced to move into the adult realm scrambling for ideas (and monetising on the way) with his pseudo-deep dives so he can filch, rebrand and sell.

As Sheen rightly said, he needs a break (like the rest of us) for perspective and life experience. A full calendar at his age with his emotional intelligence and self awareness (spot the sarcasm) is a recipe for a mid-life crisis or a mental illness. It will also take way his compulsion to pitch his privilege, his eccentricities and his niche position as something for other people to emulate: because it is so misguided, one-note and immature, it is tiresome.

Interesting post. I agree that his age and experience is really relevant. In early 20s, people are usually very driven and motivated, and as a student or single person living in a flat, you can compartmentalise your diary with all of these "hacks". Life and priorities change a lot once you have a family, kids etc. Once you've achieved a certain amount in your life, it is about enjoying it, not squeezing the last bit of productivity of every second. Productivity and mindfulness are like opposites. With mindfulness, you can just look at the clouds and enjoy the present moment without having a goal, just being happy to exist and not worrying about past/future. This can be beneficial for sleep, relaxation and avoiding mental breakdowns. Productivity, the obsession with achieving, isn't good for mental health. Again, I can understand young people driving hard for success (getting into Uni, graduating, finishing house doctor jobs etc). Usually getting towards 30, people are learning to wind down and enjoy a nicer pace of life. I don't think he really knows who his audience is. His age puts him at that transition stage of young adult towards stable adult life. Having too much confidence can be a downside as you won't question yourself and self-reflect as much. It's better to take things slow, observe a lot, and then act. I don't want to see him have a breakdown. I feel vicarious trauma seeing him set himself so high up. I too hope he has a break, enjoys his time and re-evaluates.

Ali wishes to teach everyone about how to be more productive, but what are the values underpinning this?

Mark Manson covers this point really nicely:
"This bugs me a little bit because I think satirizing Hitler’s incredible productivity and influence perfectly embodies a point I’ve long made about the self-help world: achieving success in life is not nearly as important as our definition of success. If our definition of success is horrific—like, say, world domination and slaughtering millions—then working harder, setting and achieving goals, and disciplining our minds all become a bad thing.
Therefore, you cannot talk about self-improvement without also talking about values. It’s not enough to simply “grow” and become a “better person.” You must define what a better person is. You must decide in which direction you wish to grow. Because if you don’t, well, we might all be screwed." https://markmanson.net/personal-values

Who on Earth is paying for this crap!
1500 for 24 hours hours worth of video that's $60 an hour! I guess some people have more money than sense.

He did say that if after following his tips and acting on them for 2 years, you can get a full refund if your life hasn't changed. I don't quite understand that refund policy!! Life changes for everyone in 2 years anyway

 

[hollowcrown]

Interesting post. I agree that his age and experience is really relevant. In early 20s, people are usually very driven and motivated, and as a student or single person living in a flat, you can compartmentalise your diary with all of these "hacks". Life and priorities change a lot once you have a family, kids etc. Once you've achieved a certain amount in your life, it is about enjoying it, not squeezing the last bit of productivity of every second. Productivity and mindfulness are like opposites. With mindfulness, you can just look at the clouds and enjoy the present moment without having a goal, just being happy to exist and not worrying about past/future. This can be beneficial for sleep, relaxation and avoiding mental breakdowns. Productivity, the obsession with achieving, isn't good for mental health. Again, I can understand young people driving hard for success (getting into Uni, graduating, finishing house doctor jobs etc). Usually getting towards 30, people are learning to wind down and enjoy a nicer pace of life. I don't think he really knows who his audience is. His age puts him at that transition stage of young adult towards stable adult life. Having too much confidence can be a downside as you won't question yourself and self-reflect as much. It's better to take things slow, observe a lot, and then act. I don't want to see him have a breakdown. I feel vicarious trauma seeing him set himself so high up. I too hope he has a break, enjoys his time and re-evaluates.

Ali wishes to teach everyone about how to be more productive, but what are the values underpinning this?

I think the YouTube productivity sector sky rocketed in popularity due to the pandemic. Stuck at home all day people wanted to feel like they were doing something useful with their life so really started taking notice of these productivity videos so they could eke out some kind of benefit to the lockdowns we went through. I am guilty of this. Being stuck at my desk all day working I would look up lots of desk setup and productivity videos to try and squeeze out every last efficiency I could, being without a social life or things to do.

Obviously now that has changed and in general I'm watching far less YouTube but also don't really care about how productive I'm being because I don't have a void in my life to fill - I'm back to having a social life basically.

Ali has got to be very careful into where he is going because he could ruin his finances if he takes his channel the wrong way. As a Med-tuber he was naturally funnelling people looking up his videos into his other business - the courses to help you pass UKCAT and stuff like that which was honestly a pretty great business model. The productivity angle naturally tied into this too and he had a pretty strong brand.

Now he is trying to be some kind of all around lifestyle guru and social media influencer but his content is frankly far too boring and he has little life experience. Only so many people will spend money on his PTYA and that will dry up eventually. He's not doing fun crossover content with other YouTubers, it's all boring 3 hour long podcasts or book reviews. His social media is not interesting, there is no personal touch to his Instagram or Twitter and all of his videos are exactly the same. He's actively distanced himself from medicine in order to become some kind of cool start up entrepeneur but given that he prides himself on only working 4 hours a day even that is not generating a lot of content because it's not even clear what he does. He's trying to sell this "Infinite Content Generator" to people but it is absolutely clear it's just a way of repackaging a single video idea in multiple different ways which is obvious if you look down his channel for a bit.

In a couple of years we will see some video of him wistfully and upbeat explaining how he tanked his business and lost $10m or something by hiring too many people for his "start up".

 

[Hasanah123]

So he is working on a chapter of his book but wants you to send him the info/research? LOOOL okay Ali

 

[TheTatler]

remember when ali said that he doesn't care for vanity metrics?

 

[costaeva]

So he is working on a chapter of his book but wants you to send him the info/research? LOOOL okay Ali

I don't get this kind of engagement with fans!

Recruiting them and then essentially monetising their and our attention once the work is done.

Do your own research muppet, come to your own conclusions FFS, write your own friggin sentences! Your brand was built on these little things we liked in you as it showed you earnestly applied yourself and was helping others do the same little things that can give them an edge. Now the capitalist b*stard that you have turned into, no I won't research for you so you can have a four-hour week, order takeaway, slump and waste your night away in the latest video-game.

It also betrays a lack of confidence to experiment or envision forward because you are so focussed on metrics and for the content you "create" that you want to pilot every bit of it through any covert, casual way possible lest it fails- and if it does, atleast you can sleep easy as you created the content "optimised" to our needs.

Having said all the above, I bet there are genuinely financially-desperate people in eastern countries out on the internet who are probably doing this for him to get brownie points on their "CV" to floor him in their interviews every time he has a recruitment callout. Maybe these are bones flung in their direction

remember when ali said that he doesn't care for vanity metrics?

Ali has a PHD in talking the talk. As I said before, it allows him space, credibility and time in a room filled with more rounded people who actually are trying to create or wonder actively about their authenticity as creators.

 

[Machtc99]

I stopped watching at 23:06 and will not watch it again,

This is just creepy.


He employs 20 people, but starts to think like he is a manager/director of operations in a multinational corporation. These kind of things like "how to measure performance" "what are the responsibilities in the role and development opportunities" are vital part of any corporations.

So, he employs 20 people, but behaves like he would be in an organization with 60 000, 80 000 or + 100 000 people around the World.

He his quoting Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon (OMG what a /great/ role model...), so he must think he will achieve the same level of success.



I will repeat myself: University of Cambridge should be ashamed because their admission process clearly does not work. Period. There was probably a person with lower test scores but with more emotional intelligence and passion towards medicine and he has taken that person's place whereas he should study economics, finance, business or computer science.


Ali, what you achieved in life is not success - because great marks on tests and exams aren't everything. Even tough you spend 1 mln GBP yearly on people's salaries you are still "figuring out" where to go with your life. And as mentioned earlier you may be "sexy" for certain demographics, however for the majority of us you are not "sexy". I come from aspiring country, remember how to be poor, had to work during studies just to pay the bills, in winter had to turn off the central heating because I could not afford the bills and I had to choose if I have warm flat or have something to eat. To me you are not a success story of anything. Money can't buy talent, and studying is not a talent itself if you can't utilized skills acquired.

 

[JohnMasters]

So, he employs 20 people, but behaves like he would be in an organization with 60 000, 80 000 or + 100 000 people around the World.

Imagine spending so much time thinking about "corporate" organizational design when you hired just a handful of people and have no idea what to even do with them. Why the hell did you hire them? Clearly there wasn't a need for it, he just wanted to have hired "friends" to sit around his office table so he could feel fulfilled as a young CEO. Ali is reaching new heights of ridiculousness by the day, this guy's unbelievable.

Unironically throwing around terms like "middle management" for a YT channel and course selling gig like he's dealing with supply chains and thousands of employees. HAHA oh my god I can't.

Would be a much better use of his time to sit and think about how to make his videos less crap. When you reach a point where you have to delete videos at 2 million subs because they're so bad, clearly there's a bigger problem than your "corporate" structure. Make less crap videos you clown and stop roleplaying a corporate CEO.

 

[Machtc99]

Which video he deleted? I must have missed something.

 

[hollowcrown]

bleeping hell he's read a load of books on how to become a good boss hahahaha he is beyond parody.

The inside of his brain/ego must be a very interesting place. He reads all of these books and decides that that's the person he wants to be and regurgitates a load of crap from them - but then his ego takes over as he actually cares a load about all of the social media validation, the money he is making and the numbers he does.

 

[aidil]

I’m just so confused by this whole set up and how it’s making money.

When I think of Ali I think of nothingness. Empty words. Nothing of value. Yet he talks about this “business” as though it’s something super special.

Am I missing something?! How does a charisma-free bore who regurgitates corporate buzzwords require a team of 20 and a £150k a year studio? Where is the money coming from?!

 

[hollowcrown]

He produces about $1m in revenue for each PTYA "cohort" he does. Probably makes a few more hundred thousand from his YouTube channels as sponsorships.

He spends $1m a year running his business including salaries. This is before he recent "expansion" and moving to London in the new "studio".

So he is probably making profit but the more he expands without making vastly higher revenue streams the more his profit will shrink. Moving to London was probably a big dent in his revenue stream with the higher rent and salaries so he has got to hope it pays itself off.

 

[Machtc99]

Few weeks ago I wrote that he would be a perfect match for Big4 companies and I stand by this statement.
He is more child of corporations that I am xD and I have spend last 8 years in multinational big companies in accounting and controlling departments xD

When I watched that recent long video I got the vibes like I'm on the yearly assessment of my work in front of my line manager xD this is bizarre. He reads books about being a boss and creates for himself the bubble in which he is a boss xD, oh sorry THE BOSS - couldn't stress that enough! xDDD

I am sorry, but this really can apply only to certain demographics

 

[hollowcrown]

Totally get what you mean. He is extremely corporate and can 100 percent see him being a fluffy manager of people who has "big ideas" and acts like he is a loving and caring boss but actually all of his employees secretly hate him and wonder what he is actually getting paid for all day long.

Thank god he is not continuing with medicine with that mind set to be honest. Could you imagine him as a doctor? He's borderline sociopathic and has no empathy.

 

[Hasanah123]

I stopped watching at 23:06 and will not watch it again,

This is just creepy.


He employs 20 people, but starts to think like he is a manager/director of operations in a multinational corporation. These kind of things like "how to measure performance" "what are the responsibilities in the role and development opportunities" are vital part of any corporations.

So, he employs 20 people, but behaves like he would be in an organization with 60 000, 80 000 or + 100 000 people around the World.

He his quoting Jeff Bezos CEO of Amazon (OMG what a /great/ role model...), so he must think he will achieve the same level of success.



I will repeat myself: University of Cambridge should be ashamed because their admission process clearly does not work. Period. There was probably a person with lower test scores but with more emotional intelligence and passion towards medicine and he has taken that person's place whereas he should study economics, finance, business or computer science.


Ali, what you achieved in life is not success - because great marks on tests and exams aren't everything. Even tough you spend 1 mln GBP yearly on people's salaries you are still "figuring out" where to go with your life. And as mentioned earlier you may be "sexy" for certain demographics, however for the majority of us you are not "sexy". I come from aspiring country, remember how to be poor, had to work during studies just to pay the bills, in winter had to turn off the central heating because I could not afford the bills and I had to choose if I have warm flat or have something to eat. To me you are not a success story of anything. Money can't buy talent, and studying is not a talent itself if you can't utilized skills acquired.

With everything he says, he still hasnt understood that success isnt money. Even Steven Bartlett couldnt drill that into him.

He probably thought that Monaco vlog would get views as itll show him being a CEO and life behind YT kind of like a day in the life of a start up CEO as ppl.love those kinds of vids on Tik Tok

 

[Hasanah123]

So he said about 300 ppl have signed up to his part time YT academy and it sells for what 2k each? So thats already 600K!

 

[Dareios IV]

What can he do with hired employees in a studio in London he couldn't do before?
There are already 100000 podcasts with "xperts". wtf.

 

[aitchH]

The office space he has hired is massive! If you watch the video, he walks around it and there's a big casual sitting area, kitchen area, his own office area. He is spending £13k a month on this. It reminds me of a college common room, expecting to serve about 200 students, where probably only 10-20% would use the desk space.

 

[JohnMasters]

What can he do with hired employees in a studio in London he couldn't do before?
There are already 100000 podcasts with "xperts". wtf.

Be the trendsetter he always wanted to be... Only without actually setting any trends. His interviews are boring and the guests repeat the same stories they've repeated on their own shows or other people's shows. Who in their right mind would watch Ali Abdaal saying "wow okay" when they could watch Impact Theory or Joe Rogan and actually have the benefit of an interesting guest and an interesting interviewer at the same time.

Edit: Evidently a few thousand people would watch a crappy podcast with terrible audio and claim it was amazing. Then again, it's no surprise that stupid fans exist as we've seen so far.

 

[costaeva]

As someone pointed above, we have moved into the realm beyond parody

Props for the reveal-all in that marathon video (the videographer probably took breaks to go yawn into his armpit), but pray if he is now spending most of his waking hours setting up this "office" / organisation and creating work, how is his content going to improve and become engaging/exciting?

he doesn't have a life, he now doesn't have the self-awareness to know he doesn't have it, what he is doing with it and he has escaped the treadmill of career-creation in medicine to run on another faster treadmill. Will just have to watch him grow bored of this malarkey and jump ship to something even more soul-destroying soon.

there was this little window where he should have escaped the need to "go big" and carry on his snake-oil YT career creation BS as a side-hustle. And actually gotten a life. He's blown it.

 

[hollowcrown]

As someone pointed above, we have moved into the realm beyond parody

Props for the reveal-all in that marathon video (the videographer probably took breaks to go yawn into his armpit), but pray if he is now spending most of his waking hours setting up this "office" / organisation and creating work, how is his content going to improve and become engaging/exciting?

he doesn't have a life, he now doesn't have the self-awareness to know he doesn't have it, what he is doing with it and he has escaped the treadmill of career-creation in medicine to run on another faster treadmill. Will just have to watch him grow bored of this malarkey and jump ship to something even more soul-destroying soon.

there was this little window where he should have escaped the need to "go big" and carry on his snake-oil YT career creation BS as a side-hustle. And actually gotten a life. He's blown it.

He needs to be making far, far more content if he wants to justify having a "team" around him.

Look at LinusTechTips. Obviously was a personal channel at first but its branched out into being one of the biggest tech channels on Youtube, bringing out multiple videos per week on many channels. There is tangible and visible growth there and I don't doubt every team member pulls their weight - it's not just a channel about Linus any more and lots of the other people on the channel are personalities and stars in their own right.

Ali's personal brand is very attached to him though. Angus and his other hanger ons will most likely make their own channels and try to copy Ali's formula when really he should try to be keeping them in his network.

That's why it is going to fail.