Aspiring Creator

By Pete Matheson

Talking about the creator economy, as a Tech Youtuber with a small team.... more

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FAQs about Aspiring Creator:

How many episodes does Aspiring Creator have?

The podcast currently has 48 episodes available.

Aspiring Creator episodes:

August 05, 2026 Behind the Scenes of Samsung Unpacked
In this week's episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about the reality of the creator events circuit - free folding phones, flying to Paris for just one hour, and what solo-travelling to press trips is really like.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Samsung Unpacked 📱
03:40 - When 100K Becomes 700K Overnight 📈
07:38 - Hiring 1of10 🎯
13:03 - Creative Control in Sponsored Content ✋
16:02 - Traveling Alone as a Content Creator 🧳
19:46 - A 1-hour Paris Trip 🇫🇷
LINKS
🎙️ Last week’s episode with Lauri from Tech Notice: https://youtu.be/Vyfyc7gbiaQ
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
23min
July 22, 2026 How Much Does Your Subscriber Count Actually Matter?
In this week's episode of Aspiring Creator, Lauri from Tech Notice joins me to unpick the loop every creator seems to be stuck in: fix your views, land the brand deals, then watch the brand deals kill your views.
We also talk about the AI-generated titles and thumbnails that are now beating the ones I make myself and the easter egg in YouTube's like button.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Stuck in the views x brand deals death loop (+ 1of10) 🔁
15:26 - YouTube's secret like button 👍
27:17 - Dead internet theory is here 💀
41:16 - Do subscribers even matter? 😅
51:32 - The future of YouTube 🔮
1:00:11 - Update on using Claude in the business 🤖
1:10:30 - $1M or 1M subscribers? 💰
1:19:09 - Why a bigger team isn't necessarily easier 😩
🔗 LINKS
Tech Notice: https://www.youtube.com/@theTechNotice
Lauri: https://www.youtube.com/@LauriPesur
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
1h 49min
July 01, 2026 Why I'm Starting to Lose Trust in the Brands I Work With
In this week's episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about why it increasingly feels like we're unpaid beta testers for big brands, why I think our Prime Day video flopped, and the lowball offer that made no sense.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Our weekly content schedule ⚙️
02:23 - Building a fake wall in the studio 🧱
07:18 - My big brand bugbear 😮‍💨
11:45 - Our Prime Day video flopped 📦
14:30 - When brands lowball you 📉
LINKS
📺 I Shot a TV Commercial in China - https://youtu.be/cDzvdZDsSGw
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
20min
June 24, 2026 I Shot a TV Commercial in China
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about getting treated like a celebrity for a day on a commercial shoot in Shanghai, finding the one type of content that actually funds your channel (hint: it's not AdSense) and why we stopped posting short-form content.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Flown to China for a TV commercial ✈️
14:55 - Why 100K subs won't pay the bills 💸
24:24 - The AI-channel experiment 🤖
25:41 - Affiliates, income, pipeline - all in one app 🎛️
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
31min
June 11, 2026 I Started a Second YouTube Channel (Here's Why)
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about my new one-take second channel, testing long-form video on Facebook, and what running shorts for 3 weeks straight did to my channel's numbers.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Why I started a second channel 📺
06:25 - Leaning into your unfair advantage 💪
10:09 - Posting long-form to Facebook?? 📘
13:52 - Am I moving back to Howl 💀
19:08 - What 3 weeks of only shorts taught me 📈
29:01 - Vibe coding our whole business 💻
🔗 LINKS
Pete Matheson's Cool Channel - https://www.youtube.com/@PeteMatheson2
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
41min
May 20, 2026 Why Posting Shorts Might Be Hurting Your Long-Form Views
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about a brand that turned a 4-page brief into 40+ pages mid-shoot, what 2 weeks of focusing on shorts actually did to my views and subs, and how I just used Claude to plan my entire video schedule through the end of 2026.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - 4 Pages To 40 Pages Overnight 📄
04:09 - Why I Want A Zero-Edit Second Channel ✂️
10:52 - Shorts Doubled My Subs (Was It Worth It?) 🤔
16:57 - Paddy Galloway's Best Creator Advice 🧠
25:14 - Letting Claude Build My 2026 Content Schedule 🗓️
LINKS
🔗 Paddy Galloway’s 30 Lessons from Turning 30 - https://www.linkedin.com/posts/paddy-galloway-459b8913a_i-just-turned-30-ive-dedicated-over-50-activity-7460328048635191296-IFmy
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
34min
May 13, 2026 My Last Sponsored Video Just Flopped. Hard.
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about saving a tanking video by retitling it within 24 hours, losing creative control on a sponsored deal that completely killed it, and whether Claude is about to gut the SaaS industry.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Turning a 10/10 into a 1/10 📉
06:03 - Losing creative control on a brand deal 🚫
12:23 - Brand wants to fly me to China ✈️
15:07 - Is Claude killing SaaS? 🤖
19:01 - Shiny new toy syndrome ✨
20:45 - $500 vs $30k brand deals 💰
26:15 - Cutting production effort ✂️
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
28min
April 29, 2026 Is The YouTube Algorithm Killing Established Creators?
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about why YouTube views are tanking for established creators right now, why the algorithm has stopped surfacing videos to subscribers across the platform, and how I ended up with two failed monitor videos in a single week.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Two Failed Videos In One Week 💀
04:26 - Why Established Channels Are Cooked 🔥
12:44 - I Replaced Monday.com With Claude 🛠️
19:09 - Quickest Press Trip Ever 🛫
20:16 - Good Metrics, Bad Views 📉
21:51 - Can't Reach My Own Audience 🚫
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
42min
April 22, 2026 5 Ways Claude is Changing my Creator Workflow
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about the creator tools I'm building with Claude (a Monday replacement, brand tracker, contract checker + more), whether pausing long-form for 2 weeks to test shorts is worth it, and why Samsung (not Howl) might actually be the reason creators aren't getting paid affiliate income.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - Paris with Huawei ✈️
03:00 - Is Samsung the real affiliate problem? (not Howl) 🤔
08:28 - The creator tools I'm building with Claude 🛠️
20:09 - Taking two weeks off to test shorts 📱
25:26 - I just ordered the DJI Pocket 4 📸
💬 SOCIALS
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
32min
April 08, 2026 No Sponsorships, a Claude Pitch Bot, and Apple Noticing Us
In this week’s episode of Aspiring Creator, I talk about having 0 sponsorships booked for Q2 after our biggest quarter yet, building an AI system with Claude to automate brand outreach, and how persistence finally got Apple to send us products.
If you're building a creator business and want the unpolished version of what's working (and what's not), this one's for you.
New episodes every Wednesday 🚀
⏰ TIMESTAMPS
00:00 - The short form vs long form debate 🎬
05:15 - We have an empty sponsorship calendar 👀
08:44 - Why I said no to a paid brand event ✈️
12:40 - Stop sending rate cards to brands 🛑
14:51 - Claude meets brand deals (automating the process) 🧠
21:39 - Is Samsung the problem? 💸
23:02 - How we got Apple to notice us 🍏
LINKS
🖥️ Studio Display XDR Review: https://youtu.be/hQCzpUfBpqg
🎬 Becky’s YouTube Producer App: https://youtubeproducer.app/
💬 SOCIAL STUFF
▸ Instagram: @petematheson
▸ LinkedIn: @petematheson
▸ Website: https://www.petematheson.com/
...more
31min

FAQs about Aspiring Creator:

How many episodes does Aspiring Creator have?

The podcast currently has 48 episodes available.