James Snider 💡

YouTube just fixed many of the reasons sports and entertainment rights-holders have been holding off more live content on the platform. On the surface it’s another set of product updates to get your head around as every platform does. In reality, It’s a further signal for the value they are placing behind live as a platform. And not one that relies on YouTube acquiring rights, but rather the platform providing the tools so live content on the platform is differentiated and can be leveraged by rights-owners and distributed to creators alike. Live streams have always been YouTube’s slightly undercooked product compared to Twitch or even TikTok and these appear to be the biggest updates they have made to date to the live product. What stands out to me are the features that directly improve discoverability and monetisation: 👉 Streaming live in horizontal and vertical. A direct response to TikTok, but also a smart way to help discovery in YouTube’s Shorts feed. Great for rights-holders and even better for decentralised distribution via creators. 👉 React Live. This one could be massive. It lets anyone go live on mobile and react to another live stream. If rights-holders allow it, creators can effectively plug themselves into your broadcast in real-time. That’s the definition of decentralised streaming. 👉 AI-powered highlights. Automatically clipping the best moments into Shorts. Tools like this obviously already exist but baking it in makes it easier to get instant distribution, especially if you’re working with creators. 👉 Side-by-side ads + members-only streams. Ads that don’t interrupt the action, and seamless transitions into members-only streams. That opens up new ways for clubs, leagues, and athletes to make live content wash its face instead of being seen as a cost centre. As always, when platforms launch features like this, they want you to use them. They’ll reward the early adopters. YouTube are making it clear live is core to their platform strategy and if you’re a rights-holder, broadcaster, athlete, or creator, that’s a huge opportunity. For me this all ladders up to the same truth we’ve been talking about for a while: The attention shift is real, and live is a core part of it. The platforms know it. The audiences demand it.

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The number one question I'm asked by other founders in Europe is "How do you expand to the US?" I just sat down with Mike Lander to break down exactly how we expanded Digital Voices to America three years ago - without raising investment for the expansion - into what's now our largest revenue driver. In this conversation, I share: • What it actually cost to expand (real numbers) • Your role as a founder in the process • How to hire your first US team • What your P&L should look like • Which visas we applied for and why • How to approach sales Plus some game-changing advice from Jamie Bolding and Emma Harman that completely shifted our trajectory. If you're a European founder considering US expansion, this one's for you. Link in the comments 👇 What's the biggest challenge you're facing with international expansion? #marketing #founder #internationalexpansion Couldn't have done any of the last 3 years without Chloé Ettinger and Kerry Meakins 💙

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