How Colin and Samir Turned Creator Interviews Into a Media Business

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How Colin and Samir Turned Creator Interviews Into a Media Business

By the end of 2019, Colin Rosenblum and Samir Chaudry were close to abandoning their YouTube business. The business recorded an $18,000 loss that year, forcing them to rely on freelance production projects to keep the YouTube channel running. In early 2020, a year-long brand ambassador contract with Samsung gave them the financial stability to focus on their content. By 2026, they had built a creator-focused media business around a weekly YouTube show, The Publish Press newsletter with more than 130,000 subscribers, paid courses on creator monetization, and Press Publish LA, a sold-out summit held at the FOX Studio Lot in Los Angeles.

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Building and Selling The Lacrosse Network

Samir Chaudry founded The Lacrosse Network in 2012, shortly after graduating from college, with the goal of creating a lacrosse-focused equivalent of the NFL Network. He started the business without outside funding, working from his parents' bedroom with a couple of laptops and a camera. To help cover expenses, Chaudry and his team worked on branding, design, and social media content for a clothing line owned by his family.

Meanwhile, Colin Rosenblum was working 40 hours a week at the front desk of a hotel in Boulder, Colorado. He bought a used Canon 60D camera and began filming the University of Colorado lacrosse team, eventually producing a documentary series called Club Ball. The series attracted 20,000 to 50,000 views per video. Chaudry discovered Rosenblum's work and invited him to Los Angeles for a three-month internship.

On June 4, 2014, Whistle Sports acquired The Lacrosse Network, which had grown to more than 210,000 YouTube subscribers and approximately 2.3 million monthly views. Rosenblum and Chaudry remained with the company, producing sports content and working with other creators. In 2016, they left Whistle Sports and launched their own YouTube channel, Colin and Samir, shifting their focus from a lacrosse-specific network to building a media business under their own names.

Samsung Signs a One-Year Deal

The Colin and Samir channel initially struggled to generate enough revenue, and the founders financed their videos by taking on production projects for YouTube creators Dude Perfect and Yes Theory, as well as other commercial work. By the end of 2019, the business had recorded an $18,000 annual loss, and the founders were considering abandoning the channel to pursue other jobs.

In early 2020, Samsung offered Rosenblum and Chaudry a one-year contract to serve as brand ambassadors. The agreement provided a reliable income source and gave them the opportunity to reconsider their content strategy. They began developing a weekly show examining how YouTube creators build audiences, produce content, earn revenue, and manage their businesses.

The new format drew on the founders' experience running their own channel and working with other YouTubers. Their interviews with creators such as MrBeast explored production costs, staffing, audience growth, and monetization.

The Publish Press

In May 2021, Rosenblum and Chaudry launched The Publish Press, a newsletter covering news and developments in the creator economy. Their YouTube videos focused on long-form interviews and analysis, making them less suited to reporting industry news as it happened. The newsletter allowed them to publish more frequently. It initially ran on Substack before moving to beehiiv after reaching approximately 20,000 subscribers. The switch gave the team better control over newsletter design, subscriber analytics, and referral programs. 

By February 2022, the business had grown into a substantial operation. In an interview with Nathan Barry, Chaudry disclosed that monthly operating expenses were between $60,000 and $65,000, covering staff, office space, equipment, and travel. Brand sponsorships generated approximately 95% of revenue. The YouTube channel had earned $107,000 from 107 million views in 2021. Around ten people worked with the business. 

In September 2022, the YouTube channel reached one million subscribers. By December, the YouTube production team included three editors, a production manager, and a script researcher, alongside Rosenblum and Chaudry. The Publish Press operated with a general manager, a business development lead, a writer, and an editor-in-chief, supported by its publishing partner, Smooth Media. As the operation expanded, the team moved from a 1,000-square-foot studio into a two-story, 3,000-square-foot studio and office. YouTube advertising revenue also increased to $268,000 for the full year, although brand partnerships remained the company's primary revenue source.

Colin and Samir Enter the Creator Education Business

In December 2023, creator marketing company Whalar announced The Lighthouse, a network of membership-based campuses planned for Venice, California, and Brooklyn, New York. The facilities would provide production studios, private offices, shared workspaces, and educational programs for professional creators. Rosenblum and Chaudry joined as co-chairs of the Creator Council, which reviews membership applications and helps shape the community. They also became creators-in-residence, with an office and studio planned at the Venice campus. Marketing Brew reported that the pair held shares in the venture. Annual membership was expected to cost approximately $5,750.

In January 2024, Rosenblum and Chaudry launched Creator Startup, a 30-day live course developed with Kajabi and priced at $1,797. The program focused on helping creators build sustainable businesses around their content. The founders spent approximately 18 months developing the curriculum, preparing worksheets, recording lessons, and refining the material. They hired a dedicated team member and worked with an outside agency, Course Studio, to complete the program. The first cohort enrolled 70 students and generated just under $100,000 in revenue, although Chaudry told Digiday in February that the income had not yet covered the development costs. He projected that brand partnerships would contribute 50% to 60% of the company's revenue in 2024, YouTube advertising approximately 10%, and speaking engagements, consulting, creative projects, and courses around 30%. The business also expanded its educational products with Brand Deal Blueprint, a self-paced course on securing and managing sponsorships, advertised at $899.

In 2023, its long-form content generated 102 million views and 17 million hours of watch time. The longer interview format suited television audiences, who watched for nearly 39 minutes per session on average, compared with about 15 minutes on mobile devices. YouTube Shorts attracted another 61 million views that year but generated only $3,300 in advertising revenue.

Publish Press Comes to Brooklyn

On September 4, 2025, Rosenblum and Chaudry hosted Press Publish NYC in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. The one-day summit brought together approximately 400 creators, production professionals, and executives, with admission determined through an application process. The event featured discussions about the creator economy and a live recording of The Colin and Samir Show. Microsoft Copilot, Adobe, YouTube, Spotify, and beehiiv were among the participating sponsors. Chaudry later reported that the event sold out after being promoted in three editions of The Publish Press newsletter. Across 2025, the publication distributed 167 newsletters and recorded approximately 6 million cumulative opens.

On May 28, 2026, Press Publish LA brought approximately 500 creators and media executives to the FOX Studio Lot in Los Angeles. The summit explored the relationship between independent creators and traditional entertainment companies, with YouTube and Google Gemini as title sponsors. Speakers included representatives from Smosh and MrBeast's company.

The Business Beyond the Content

The interesting part of Colin and Samir's business is that its most valuable opportunities may have little to do with YouTube advertising. Their videos attract an audience of creators and media professionals, but the relationships built through those videos support a much broader business. A creator watching an interview might become a newsletter subscriber, purchase a course, or attend a conference. These businesses share a distribution advantage, but their economics, operating requirements, and measures of success are different.

A focused media brand develops a deeper understanding of its market with every interview, article, and audience interaction. That knowledge can reveal commercial opportunities that are difficult for outsiders to identify. The business's long-term value depends on how effectively its owners turn those insights into products and services customers are willing to pay for.

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*** Every week, we pick apart how the world's best media brands got to where they are. This post is the long read. Growth Curve, our weekly newsletter, is the sharp version: same insight, shorter format, straight to your inbox. Subscribe free here. ***