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Linus Sebastion From Linus Tech Tips Is Stepping Down As CEO (youtube.com) 79

Posted by BeauHD from the not-clickbait dept.
In a 10-minute video called "I'm Stepping Down..," Canadian YouTuber Linus Sebastian announced that he's stepping down as CEO of Linus Media Group, the company that runs Linus Tech Tips (LTT) as well as companies like Creator Warehouse and Floatplane Media. Slashdot reader thesinfulgamer writes: Linus talked about resigning from LTT on a livestream 3 years ago. He announced today that he is stepping down as CEO and changing to "Chief Vision Officer" to focus on just the content and community with zero business administration duties. His former boss from NCIX, Terren Tang, will be taking over as CEO on July 1st. In the video, Linus also mentions Linus Media received an offer of $100 million to "sell out" but turned it down, "citing a combination of factors like the fact they liked working with the company as it was and that, to be real, they were already super rich already," adds Kotaku.
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Linus Sebastion From Linus Tech Tips Is Stepping Down As CEO More

Linus Sebastion From Linus Tech Tips Is Stepping Down As CEO

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  • The title says "Sebastion". Come on editors, that's a really obvious misspelling. Are you guys even literate?

    • I am not a slashdot editor, but today my confiddce in bieng one has nevr been higger. I do not see anything worng with the tittle. NO mispellings detected.
    • The story also goes on to misspell Terren Tong's name. Sloppy.

  • Different people are good at different things (Score:3)

    by luvirini ( 753157 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @05:05AM (#63534177)

    And Linus is clearly more a creative type than a manager. Though he has apparently done a good enough job as a manager to grow the company that much.

    So if they get an actually good manager it might go great for them. But there is of course a catch. A new manager will inevitable cause a shift in the culture and it remains to be seen if the end product remains as good after that shift is complete.

    • Re:Different people are good at different things (Score:4, Interesting)

      by AmiMoJo ( 196126 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @05:16AM (#63534183) Homepage Journal

      LTT feels a bit over-stretched at the moment. They spent a lot of money on a new lab and test gear, but most of the videos they are putting out are just basic reviews or them trying some daft cooling system.

      There is a lot of potential there, although I think they could do with an EE on the team because there have been few times lately where if they just had someone who knew some basic electronics or even how to use an Arduino they might have done a lot better.

      • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

        by conorjh ( 6311812 )

        but most of the videos they are putting out are just basic reviews or them trying some daft cooling system

        they ran out of ideas a while back. I enjoy builds but theres only so many times I can watch him install a load of hard drives

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          It would be nice if they did investigations like Gamer's Nexus (maybe a partnership?) but digested a bit. I love GN, but they put out these long videos with lots of in-depth details and I end up skipping through large parts of them.

          LTT does do undercover shopper and computer repair shop stuff, but I think everyone knows they are mostly crap. Again, GN's reviews of prebuilt systems are much more interesting.

          Hmm, sounds like I'm saying they should just be GN. I think LTT has a lot of unique stuff going for it

      • there have been few times lately where if they just had someone who knew some basic

        To me, that describes the entire history of the channel no matter what the topic is. Seems 'fun' on a surface level, but quickly breaks down to "Why am I watching this?"

      • Most their videos are sponsors shoutouts with a few tech reviews in between, I quit because it was too much on the nose. SponsorBlock helped greatly but I discovered it after I quit LTT

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by tlhIngan ( 30335 )

          Most their videos are sponsors shoutouts with a few tech reviews in between, I quit because it was too much on the nose. SponsorBlock helped greatly but I discovered it after I quit LTT

          Well, LTT is more of a sponsored channel than anything else. It reminds me more of the old Computer Shopper magazine that was like 2" thick every month, but then you realize there's only like 10 pages of content and everything else was ads. The only advantage was Computer Shopper had ads from literally every computer shop the

      • There is a lot of potential there, although I think they could do with an EE on the team because there have been few times lately where if they just had someone who knew some basic electronics or even how to use an Arduino they might have done a lot better.

        Just curious what you mean by this--what kind of scenarios are you talking about?

        I used to be a real hardware hound, but haven't followed stuff closely since Tom's hardware was ACTUALLY Tom, and since Anand was ACTUALLY Anand in his parents garage.

        • Re: (Score:2)

          by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

          There was an episode a month or two back where they were modding something to make it smart, and a it ended up sucking for lack of a simple but of microcontroller code.

          Also their soldering is terrible.

      • The lab is still a work in progress. A lot of potential there; I'm hoping they take tech reviewing to the next level with its capabilities, but so far we haven't seen much.

  • Battle of the Linuses (Score:3)

    by xack ( 5304745 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @06:22AM (#63534229)
    One Linus is more influential, and one is more famous.

  • While his content is sometimes* interesting I honestly cannot stand his voice. There's something about the tone and intonation that is just really off-putting.

    *I say sometimes interesting because it is a mixed bag of good technical videos and clickbait pointlessness answering the dumbest questions no one ever asked, content for content's sake.

    • Re: (Score:3, Insightful)

      by leathered ( 780018 )

      I'm not sure how he's become so popular. 90% of his content is filler that leaves me feeling dumber for watching it. It's not worth subscribing for that 10% of good content when there's many other tech youtubers who are much more consistent with quality.

      • Re:Is he still the primary performer? (Score:5, Insightful)

        by Computershack ( 1143409 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @07:41AM (#63534341)
        You're looking at it from the assumption that everyone knows as much about PCs as you do. They don't. The number of people who use PCs who have built their own is probably a fraction of a fraction of 1%.

        • Re: (Score:3)

          by laxguy ( 1179231 )

          yes, he is looking at the value proposition for his own time.. was that so hard to understand? we don't need to talk about other people when we are clearly talking about ourselves.

        • Re: (Score:1)

          by frankjr ( 591955 )
          Hrm, most men in my age group (35-40) and even a couple of women I know build or have built their own systems before. Everyone I know who plays games on the PC has built one. We're not the majority, but most of the marketing seems to be aimed at us and while I couldn't verify it one statistic shows 19% of the PC gaming market in 2019 is custom built machines.

        • You're looking at it from the assumption that everyone knows as much about PCs as you do. They don't.

          No, that's not the point. Some of his content is literally filler. You need a minimum level of understanding to appreciate that content and if you have that understanding you'd instantly know how stupid it is. Just look at his PCI-e videos which answer the important questions such as can you run a PCI-e video card through 4m worth of end to end connected PCI-e riser cables, or the even more important question: Can you run a network card by using a PCI-e to mini-PCI-e converter, which has an ExpressCard adap

      • The only video I ever saw Linus in was when Mehdi from Electroboom showed up to try and damage ram chips with high voltage. I don't understand the appeal of Linus' channel.

      • To provide some balance... I generally enjoy the videos and have done so enough to watch a few where the content wasn't something I'd have otherwise been interested in. I'm writing here as an occasional PC builder and tinkerer.

        To each there own but when it comes down to it, it's just entertainment, and as presenter, he's entertaining (and not just when dropping stuff).

      • I liked when we would buy weird hardware and check it out. The problem is eventually you’ve seen enough to know it’s gonna suck when they plug 2048 XiaoBits Tinies into the BuzzSimpleTek Waffler. (and the reason you never tried is because you knew it would probably suck)

        A problem that extends to any theme that might interest you.

  • I just know him by name, but I never watched YT "influencers", I don't have time for this, I prefer doing a hobby or going outside or compiling a kernel, than lost my time on YT. I'm like the grumpy old guy here :)

    • Re: (Score:2)

      by spudnic ( 32107 )

      I'm typically the same way, but his show can get fairly technical while staying entertaining. You should give it a chance. If it's not interesting, just move on.

  • Comment removed based on user account deletion

    • Re: YouTube channels have CEOs?!? (Score:4, Informative)

      by RegistrationIsDumb83 ( 6517138 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @09:23AM (#63534533)
      I think he employs like 80+ people and has multiple buildings. He managed to grow a YouTube channel into a full fledged hardware business. It's actually pretty impressive.

      • He managed to grow a YouTube channel into a full fledged hardware business. It's actually pretty impressive.

        can't find any hardware from them.
        under a different name, perhaps?

        linus tech tips store sells your garden variety "merch" garbage, like shirts, pillows, and backpacks.

    • Wha-HUH? Da-fuq? SwAAAH? [other colloquial expressions of shock and disbelief]? So he's hiring someone to run his business who has actual knowledge and expertise running a business. This is news for nerds? Seems like it must be a slow news day.

      Well, at least we all know why you don't run a successful business. ;-)

    • LTT Media is one of.. if not the largest tech media companies now with 100 full time employees.

      In case you haven't been paying attention all of the PC and Gaming print magazines are gone. G4 TV is dead. You've got Arstechnica owned by Conde Nast and it was acquired for $25 million. Gizmodo was acquired from Univision for $20m. LTT was offered $100 million. That puts them in the same league as like WIRED. Vice Media had a lot of tech coverage and they're going bankrupt.

      Youtubers are the mainstream media

  • LTT (Score:5, Interesting)

    by argStyopa ( 232550 ) on Friday May 19, 2023 @09:15AM (#63534509) Journal

    I completely get this.
    I know the conventional wisdom from the cheap seats is that running/owning a successful business means rolling in $dough while you tell your minions to do everything but...yes, while success does bring financial rewards, it also means a crapton of hard work, late nights, and generally getting pulled into the morass of running the BUSINESS instead of doing the thing you started the business to do.

    Frankly, running a business - from payroll to accounting to HR reporting to personnel management to hiring to firing, etc - all pretty much fucking SUCKS.

    I completely get that if one reaches a particular level of success, one gets the opportunity to step BACK from the business machine and go back to 'doing the stuff'.

    I've always enjoyed LTT as a pretty bias-free zone, with pretty good presentations that go into meaningful tech detail and provide a lot of insights. Sure, they have gotten into ruts, and not every video's a hit but that's to be expected.
    Good channel, and good luck to Linus and team.

    • with pretty good presentations that go into meaningful tech detail and provide a lot of insights.

      Are we talking about the same LTT?

      • Very much so.
        I think Anthony Young has a *wealth* of tech knowledge and is quite good at communicating it.

        Sure, and as I implied, some of the LTT videos are banal crap, but I generally walk away from Andrew's commentary feeling better-informed than when I started.

        • I think Anthony Young has a *wealth* of tech knowledge and is quite good at communicating it.

          If that's the case, then they don't use him for anything he actually knows anything about. While Linus' knowledge could be improved immensely by forcing him to just read the instructions, Anthony at least manages to be a competent human being. But he frequently stumbles into topics he clearly doesn't know what he's doing with, leaving the take away from the video being "this product might be cool, but I'm crap and I didn't spend enough time figuring it out. Check out our sponsors."

    • Frankly, running a business - from payroll to accounting to HR reporting to personnel management to hiring to firing, etc - all pretty much fucking SUCKS.

      Frankly, what fucking SUCKS about all that, is not having the cashflow in a business to hire the skilled personnel who are well trained and specialize in those business needs.

      After hearing them turn down a $100 million dollar buy out offer citing being "super rich", guess I don't really have much sympathy left for CEO Nerd getting burned out doing HR reports and payroll taxes.

      • Envy is corrosive as fuck.
        You might want to keep an eye on that.

        • Envy is corrosive as fuck. You might want to keep an eye on that.

          After watching someone turn down a $100M offer as the tech world continues to smolder and burn with the stench of dot-bomb 2.0, that's not exactly an envious situation being presented. It's considerable humor. This is like accusing someone of being jealous of a lottery winner who blew it all.

          And my point stands regarding all that "business" shit few real nerds want to deal with in. One can only hope Linus wasn't getting burned out in the a quite avoidable way. The struggles of having to wear all the bus

          • After watching someone turn down a $100M offer as the tech world continues to smolder and burn with the stench of dot-bomb 2.0, that's not exactly an envious situation being presented. It's considerable humor. This is like accusing someone of being jealous of a lottery winner who blew it all.

            Some people have "enough". They do not need more. They are truly the rich amongst us.

            There are plenty of others who have "more", but nothing is ever enough. They only want "more". They are not wealthy, they are poor; although they do have a LOT of stuff.

            People are fucking crazy. Well, Linus seems to be not so crazy... but you... I will just stop here.

  • Unfortunately, he's not stepping down from making content like the headline had me hoping. His videos actively make people dumber and spread misinformation.

    And to the others here saying that this is the average Linux experience, he straight up does not read what's on his screen like the common luser he is. If I made a video saying that Windows is impossible to install because I don't know how to load a storage driver during install, you'd all rightly bash me for being a moron.

    • And to the others here saying that this is the average Linux experience, he straight up does not read what's on his screen like the common luser he is.

      So basically like 99% of users out there. If you think that this isn't precisely how the average user works then I suggest peaking out of your parents basement and talking to normal people for a change.

      If I made a video saying that Windows is impossible to install because I don't know how to load a storage driver during install, you'd all rightly bash me for being a moron.

      Actually no we'd be wondering WTF is wrong with Windows in 2023. Seriously, storage driver? What is this, Windows 2000 being installed on a cutting edge SATA RAID controller? Are you going to make a video on how to protect yourself from the millennium bug too?

      • Yes, storage drivers in 2023. Built a machine 2 months ago and installed windows for 5 minutes to do firmware updates.

        Why even leave this comment if you agree that users won't read and will run into problems installing either Windows or Linux? You're not even saying anything except for trying to get an own.

  • I give him props for being self-aware enough of his weaknesses to know when he hit his limit and to identify the right candidate to fulfil the missing role. Also equal respect for how far he got in-spite of those weaknesses. A day for his community to celebrate. There is a lot to be said about a leader who can identify good talent and put them to work in a productive manner. He seemed to excel on that front. I trust he made a great choice in his successor and they will do just great with Linus in

  • " they were already super rich already," Ok, that's enough already, after all, how many times can you be super rich.

  • If they were a public trade company it will be the equivalent to Steve jobs stepping down in Apple for the pepsi guy everyone taught he will be better... Personally it's a bad move, i get what he wants... to fire people without the social repercussion, like firing Luke as a Manager of floatplane, its a good move in terms that luke isn't manager material, floatplane development has been stagnating for a while, they want to be next youtube but is clear their current twicht inspiration... and fire dennis beca
  • I stopped watching when he started defending and promoting Windows 11. Zero credibility now. This has nothing to do with gaming compatibility and everything to do with control of your operating system.

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