Nebula / Dropout CEO Showdown

[@Psychedelic-giraffe]

Now that the curiosity stream deal has ended, I would buy a nebula/dropout bundle in a heartbeat

[@patricks2645]

For the Nebula x Dropout project: Brennan Lee Mulligan gets a bunch of nebula creators and dropout cast together for a hidden camera LARP show

[@blinkfilms1]

that could be so funny

[@JIinuX]

Brennan Lee Mulligan joins JetLag for a season. This would be epic!

[@speakwithanimals]

oh my god that would go so hard

[@CreativeMindsAudio]

I would so watch that!!

[@putrescine_uk]

Shut up and take my money.

[@Ailieorz]

Dropout, or more specifically Game Changer, is just Sam's long term audition to become The Riddler in the DC Universe. Nobody else can identify a weakness and skewer it as well as he can.

[@T1J]

oh nice looking forward to listening. i'm a huge fan of dropout

[@IshTheDM]

Very cool to be watching a good discussion between creators you like, then look in the comments and immediately see one from another creator you like!

[@WhatEverComesToMlnd]

ALL the best creators are fans of dropout, notable examples also include Tom Scott and Hank Green :D

[@uncleBeardface]

I feel like if you put legaleagle and Brennan on an epiaode of Um Actually together, theyd either become best friends or fight to the death.

[@hagashi1]

For the record, Dropout could just be Sam charging me for Sam Reich content. I would pay it gladly.

[@Orion_Is_Sleepy]

For $6/month, honestly just Make Some Noise and Game Changer would be worth it. Sam could charge $20/month for Dropout and it would be absolutely worth it, considering their backlog

[@Imperial_Squid]

Without D20 it wouldn't be worth it for me personally but GC and MSN are a large part of why I watch too tbf

[@thecommexokid]

@@Orion_Is_SleepyThis is why the price is good where it is. 3/4 of their content is tabletop stuff I don’t watch and I still feel like I get my monthly money’s-worth without it! They don’t need you to be invested in everything they put out to subscribe at their current price point. At $20 they lose subscribers like me who are only there for a certain subset of stuff.

[@solutanbrun]

Same

[@DaoFAQ]

Totally honest Mike Trapp is the one who brought me to Dropout and Um Actually keeps me around. GC is hit and miss personally but I’ll still start every episode. I watch most of Dirty Laundry and I stopped with Make Some Noise after 3 episodes.

[@dominictemple]

Um Actually, with Nebula creators would be a great and easy crossover.

[@Nortarachanges]

This!!

[@benalexander9669]

I thought you were about to correct something they said with those first two words 😂

[@MeNowDealWIthIt]

There's probably also a way to have Jet Lag as an episode of Game Changer, with the actual Jet Lag people as guests.

[@loganhurley5590]

54:30 gave the exact parameters for the inevitable Dropout-Nebula collab. Brennan takes 4 key Nebula creators and 2 Dimension20 veterans through an 8 episode mini-campaign. Boom. Sam Reich please love me.

[@gox6499]

I was thinking more a Jet Lag themed Game Changer episode

[@JBCoops88]

When Dave Wiskus said at about an hour and a half that "this episode is probably gonna be the most listened to all the way through" I laughed really hard. Us Dimension 20 fans are commited.

[@der.Schtefan]

Subscribed to Nebula for JetLagged, and Dropout for Dimension 20, and it gave me so much more joy and content than any of my Netflix/Disney/Paramount crap.

[@Indecirphrus]

So true

[@brianatford6603]

Same

[@pauljordantalbot4100]

at 52 min, Sam brought up how the future might be beyond "game / panel show", but me and my friends grew up LOVING british panel shows (we're from the US) cuz they provided a refreshing comedy improv that just does not exist within the scope of American humor. I say to sam, you're providing something needed, and lets keep diving in! love dropout to death.

[@googleguy-ft8xh]

I’m a member/supporter of the dropout youtube channel (not the streaming service) and so I think Sam’s assessment of it as primarily the content itself really holds. Dropout is not a streaming service but a premium content production company WITH a streaming service.

[@ofentsekgatla3338]

Being a dropout fan means that when I saw this video was ending, my first thought was "well that was short".

[@TaycenTimothy]

My favorite is that Sam/Dropout used to have a text service you could subscribe to for announcements-but it was also an inbox that Sam himself would check and respond to. He’s probably far too busy and has far too many fans for it to be feasible anymore, but talk about grassroots organic audience outreach. A huge encouragement to watch their content as it released was Sam personally thanking me by name for doing so.

[@allyabernathy4098]

that is so cool. and one of the reasons i love dropout - everyone in their cast is so relatable and funny, it feels like hanging out with friends

[@StraveTube]

I still have that number in my phone as "Sam Reich!" I just checked the conversation history, and on April 3, 2020, I texted it saying "turn Game Changer in The Sam Reich Weekly Sound Effects Show you coward." Then I apologized for calling him a coward. I'm going to use the conversation as proof that I had a hand in creating Make Some Noise.

[@kayseboy5678]

He is still doing that in the dropout discord

[@kumiredruid]

Dude, it's blowing my mind that Sam Reich and Robert Reich are related. I have so much respect for Robert's work, its crazy that they would be related.

[@WilliamRoyNelson]

I'm glad I'm not the only person who learned that here.

[@kevind3974]

Ya he’s his dad. Also his brother Adam is a professor at Cambridge. His family’s got some big names in it.

[@WhatEverComesToMlnd]

@@ozymandiousrex7155 whats the episode? :D

[@viktormon]

@@WhatEverComesToMlnd I believe they're talking about "Do I Hear $1?", ep 2 of season 2 of Game Changer :D

[@wtcajesuit]

I admit, I opened a new tab to Wikipedia Sam Reich's dad just as Dave called me out.

[@klmnclement]

What a lovely conversation! Good call on having this be the episode most listened-through, you two flowed really well together and I’m looking forward to seeing more in the future!

[@piquantement]

"All those subscribers, giving money just to watch you?" I know it was a joke, but this is like, half true. Sam's enthusiasm for everyone on GameChanger makes you feel it too.

[@KingOfDoma]

1:12:15 *brain flashes back to that episode of Game Changer where the point of the episode was to get the contestants to unionize without doing it consciously*

[@benwaardenburg]

What episode was that?

[@TriggsMusic]

I’m in music management for a career and I can’t thank y’all enough for this discussion. I really think that content creators are innovating and rebuilding how all media should be approached from a business side. Thanks guys

[@SimonDonkers]

29:20 Answering the important questions. Sam, where did you grow up?

[@Imperial_Squid]

He's been lying to us *_the whole time_*

[@otralee]

For what ever reason, Sam approving of Nebula will likely push me to join Nebula.

[@Miglow]

Make sure you get the bundle with Curiosity Stream. Still breaks my brain one can support Nebula creatives, and get a bunch of great documentaries for under $20 a year.

[@scolkereybel]

Genuinely, as a fan of Nebula and Dropout, I think it would be very interesting to see them do work together. And there is some overlap, some of those who are writers and actors at nebula have shown up on 'Um Actually', Maggie Mae Fish being the first example I could think of. But I've no real idea how that would take shape. Considering the recent experiments with the Survivor spoof and Dirty Laundry, I could see them easily being slotted in there, intellectuals put through meat grinders designed for comedians. But that feels more like a 'here's a bad idea' concept, than something workable.

[@allyabernathy4098]

i neeeeed a nebula-cast season of dimension 20 🗣️🗣️🗣️

[@NinaVuoso]

I would love to see nebula music creators on a several music related episodes of um, actually.

[@g0mikese]

I've been subscribed to Dropout for about 6 months. I think my partner and I watch it more than any other streaming service besides KZbin. It's nice to have a place where anything I turn on will be high quality stuff that makes us smile. Highly recommended.

[@john.dough.]

Interestingly enough, I've never heard of Nebula, but KZbin recommended this because I'm a big fan of Dropout. Really interesting chat

[@thibaultmol]

I love both Nebula and Dropout both. They're so clearly different and both coexist perfectly

[@BadgerByNature]

Oh man! This was really great, but funny to hear Sam and Dave both completely miss the mark on Twitch or "watching" people play video games! It definitely is about a social experience, but not primarily based on loneliness. There's certainly a portion of the audience that may consume it in that way, but a lot of us had group gaming experiences growing up that did *not* involve only waiting for the controller to be passed to us. I know groups of friends who would play Zelda together with everyone just chiming in to help solve puzzles, or cheer their friends on. Look at the Scary Game Squad. Sure, we're watching them play - but they are simply playing together. Only one of them ever runs the controller for an _entire_ game, but they're hanging out enjoying the game together anyway. The core of Twitch viewing is exactly that, except we're just not in the room. Maybe my experience here is different from the majority, I can't really say, but I've always viewed it as hanging out with a friend. Even on KZbin it's enjoying the entertainment of the person playing, with the game simply providing a medium.

[@psykedude]

The end of your comment kind of shows their point, even though they don't quite get it. You call it hanging out with a friend, but a streamer or youtuber is not your friend, it's just a parasocial relationship

[@NancyDrew56]

It's also a combination of interest in the game but a lack of interest in actually playing it - I'm a younger sibling so my childhood was spent watching my older brother play games and now that's the primary way I enjoy gaming content lol. Plus I'm disabled/neurodivergent so the games I genuinely want to experience, I can't physically play so I watch other people do it for me! I watch a decent amount of let's plays from a curated number of creators that play the way I would play if I could, with lots of attention to lore and world building.

[@Imperial_Squid]

I ADORE Dropout, really looking forward to this chat!

[@WilliamRoyNelson]

Oh my god just kiss already.

[@MooImABunny]

Hearing goofy creators talking seriously and candidly about their business is pretty wild to me. I've had this experience before, but it is still crazy that a person can be both. It's not exactly what I need, but I feel I need to learn a fairly close skill, and I'm having a real hard time

[@Imperial_Squid]

[board meeting, interior, afternoon, the blinds are pulled down halfway as a projector is on] "Thanks for that Dave, very interesting findings about our demographics on social media. Up next is Sam who will be telling us about a new show he wanted to pitch... Sam?" [everyone looks around, Sam appears to be missing] "Huh, I guess Sam's running late. We can circle back at the e--" "Actually, *_I've been here the whole time ✨"_*

[@KusaneHexaku]

@@Imperial_Squid "So, you all know what we're doing here, right?" "What do you mean? I guess we're here to hear your pitch? What's going on?" "That's right, our investors have no idea what they're about to play..."

[@ShinjiSixteen]

Absolutely **fantastic** conversation. Thank you both for the candor and for sharing!

[@cameronbridger1590]

This was a great interview. Investing in creators instead of shows is incredibly insightful. At that, Sam, pleeeeease let the guests on Dirty Laundry plug their stuff BEFORE the game starts. Its hard to care about people i dont know anything about. And the show is about those people soooo.....

[@tektyman]

Amazing to hear so much about two of the three truly independent subscriptions I've kept paying for after dumping nearly every other subscription I had. 3rd in mind, I would love to see one of these with Floatplane's Luke Lafreniere, especially to hear more nerding out about building out an in-house streaming stack!

[@Firegen1]

Two bosses I actually like.

[@ctcummings21]

Thank you for recording and sharing this conversation. So much widsom and experience.

[@hayleybarnes6966]

As someone in marketing, specifically organic social, the nuggets on sincerity and farming are exactly what I’ve been trying to articulate the past couple months! 🥰

[@isaacverhelst3983]

Cut to me just learning that Sam is the son of the amazing ROBERT REICH?!?

[@hardyworld]

I'm embarrassed I never made the connection before now.

[@gregorysiemsen4073]

I think I run back into this realization once a month.

[@cpeterso]

This is... a game changer!

[@Imperial_Squid]

​​@@cpeterso_he's been Robert's son the whole time!!_ ✨

[@cpeterso]

@@Imperial_Squid Hahaha well played

[@cammychoate]

The discussion of value is really fascinating and those ideas are 100% why I subbed to both of these platforms. Nebula had creators I enjoyed and wanted to see more of (plus the Curiosity Stream bundle as Sam from Wendover discussed recently) while Dropout had shows like Um Actually, Game Changer, and Dimension 20

[@lukeferrell9800]

The two best and most consistent streaming apps are Dropout and Nebula. Im not a super big "industry" interested guy, but this was such a fun and interesting podcast-thing to listen to. Y'all are legendary, keep up the amazing work!

[@evah3136]

Okay, this was fascinating! This was not where I was planning for the algorithm to take me today, but I'm glad I watched. And hearing Sam talk about the crazy ideas they have up their sleeves made me really happy. I love the shows they have now, and would love to see more variety both in content & in faces.

[@MeansOfProduction209]

......wait......Sam.....your dad...is THAT Robert Reich?....well damn.

[@ltob86]

Re: the Video Game "Let's Play" genre - I grew up liking video games, but for some reason, I was always very bad at playing them and could never get past relatively early levels, so the only way I could actually see what the rest of the game was like was to watch my older brother play. That's the appeal of "Let's Play" videos for me.

[@meathack]

Not only did I listen all the way through, I also listened for the first time.

[@kidyuki1]

I'm such a fan of what both of you do. This was a great conversation to listen to.

[@tucciproducer]

The population of the Dropout Discord is the same size of New Bedford, Massachusetts. Hey Sam, where ya from?

[@allisonroth]

This was a fun and interesting conversation to listen to! A highlight was definitely listening to Sam and Dave offer to swap knowledge.

[@solutanbrun]

I love you both because you are so unapologeticly you. Nebula beings me my long-form videos on deep subjects, and dropout lets me be the nerd I am ❤ never change

[@benjaminmoroni]

What a fascinating conversation. I hope you can both find the balance between keeping your personal life private and content like this endearing both of you even more to your audience.

[@uarthchylde]

55:32 It's either watching experts do things expertly and being awed or learning... or it's personality based

[@OneTwo-it1dr]

Wow - love love this interview! Lots of love for the college Humor team and their Dropout shows. You should have Marty Micheal on - he runs Headgum Podcasts and I've seen him talk about creator focused stuff before!

[@skylon01]

I feel like the part of the conversation where they talked about how much of life you keep private and make public really stuck with me because of the “Sam where are you from” joke in Game Changer Battle Royale. It was cool to see how a passing joke can have that much deeper significance in regards to how a business is run.

[@3v1lp1ngv1n]

Truly, he has been here the whole time.

[@BustedHeart]

I've seen Dave in Patrick's videos, but I've never watched this channel until now. And I watched all the to the end, cause I really appreciate the Shakespeare episode of Game Changer. So much so I've grown to really appreciate Sam as a person who makes me happy with all the fun he can barely contain in shows and encourages really ballsy creative moves. I'd encourage anybody who hasn't tried Dropout, to take the challenge to watch that episode and not be hooked on Game Changer. Also the first episode is on youtube and is really hooks you to want more.

[@BaileyWhite]

This is Tesla and Edison if they were friends.

[@123ricardo210]

Huge sidenote: but I really like the framing you used and how the smaller view cuts of where the screen starts. It's almost like it's two different views but with the same camera

[@StalePasta]

On the note of watching video games. Personally I like watching people play games that I'm playing so that I can experience someone else playing the same game as me and learn stuff together.

[@mxspokes]

Re: Cooking Shows: one of the main things about cookings shows is that it approaches a problem with an eventual goal. You know where the path leads but everyone might go down it differently.

[@RyanMorey1]

Oh wow i absolutely did not know Vimeo was spun out of college humor

[@theshadowofmango9209]

We need a dropout x nebula show that goes on both sites

[@Imperial_Squid]

Have Brennan run a campaign for the nerdier creatures and host it on Nebula? Or an episode of Game Changer?

[@KusaneHexaku]

@@Imperial_Squid Game Changer JetLag, I vote Ally because apprently they are good at flying in short notice

[@Imperial_Squid]

@@KusaneHexaku ooooh I'd love to see the 4D chess Brennan would come up with for Jetlag!

[@nitehawk86]

KZbin and the media in general has made me cynical about online content, but I really do feel strongly that you guys need to make it for independent media to survive as a concept.

[@oofbih6397]

56:08 its so popular at least with me is it is good background noise bc of my adhd i need something stimulating enough for me to do things. And video games being enjoyable watching is the same reason sports are popular.

[@oofbih6397]

Not saying im not lonely but it is good for me to function to have this or music

[@soeasyastonercoulddoit]

I need to know what item Sam has consciously placed inside/atop of "The Box of Doom"!

[@ricinaddict]

1:15:00 this is especially interesting to hear because he plays with that intro he describes in a recent episode!

[@vincentroberts8327]

Hbomberguy on Dimension20 when?

[@tappy8741]

It's ironic how talking about always being critical and not putting people on a pedestal has me sharpening the Reich pedestal chisel.

[@the_mcscientist]

Regular 'see a video all the way through' viewer here confirming that this vid is worth viewing in its entirety (with a time accelerator of course)

[@hopelesslydull7588]

14:00 100% If you were to take a month vacation and your team falls apart without you, you are a bad leader. You need to lift people up to a place where those beneath you could run your area "on autopilot" if need be, which means delegating and training people to replace you. Failure to do this is also a huge reason why business owners often get a fraction of what the company is worth when they sell it to retire. The company isn't worth shit if it needs you to function and you're leaving. 24:45 Exactly.

[@-ZH]

Totally read the title as “shutdown”

[@shadebug]

So the thing about the dropout discord is it survives by being consistently ruthless. The mods and the users are all aware that rule 1 is “don’t de a dink” and they will defend against anything that even smells somewhat of dink to the death with no quarter given and no negotiation. On the one hand this does stifle expression and creativity within that discord but it also makes a super safe space, so quite the opposite of KZbin comments. For me, as a person banned from that discord, it leaves a sour taste but I still have the various subreddits I can engage with. Sure, I would appreciate the opportunity to switch from dropout proper to a KZbin membership so I can get in the comments but this is how they run it and, at the end of the day, I’m here for the content I love so I stick around

[@Nortarachanges]

They also did a trial run of lighter hands on the reins in the beginning so mods and community both have memory of what letting dinks run a little freer looks like. Much as I loved the lgbt+ channel, it’s a good thing they scrapped that idea. Couldn’t go a week without some friction or other. Good luck getting in the comments some other way ^_^

[@allyabernathy4098]

two of my favorite platforms ❤❤❤

[@StrangerOman]

It's interesting that I'm watching/listening to this show not because of Nebula, but because I remember Dave as a self contained KZbinr. It feels like I'm a lil bit out of place but on the other hand I'm interested.

[@Earthheart]

Sam is just barely older than me? and that guy is 41? What the fuck did I do to look like this while they look that good.

[@MichaelPuterbaugh]

All KZbin did that Vimeo didn't was implement Flash video... and be acquired by Google

[@bonzupippinpaddleoxacoppil484]

Yo but imagine if there was a D20 season with Lindsey Ellis…😮

[@truckerdave8465]

Video game stuff is easy. I’m the same age as y’all and I watch let’s plays. You can watch someone play a game WHILE playing a game. It’s like having a very personalized show/some companionship related to your current activity.

[@pizzannn]

Dave is 41?? Jesus, he looks great

[@madmonk3030]

Huge Dropout fan, so this was exciting to see

[@somefishhere]

All the way through!

[@davidharshman7645]

Only 15 full time DropOut employees? Does that mean creators on DropOut (like Brennan Lee Mulligan or Lou Wilson or Siobhan Thompson) aren't considered full time employees?

[@flashoftheflood]

brennan is full time, the others are contractors

[@andalilbitqueer]

HOW DID I NOT KNOW ROBERT REICH WAS HIS DAD???

[@dragonmasterjg]

Been a Dropout fan for awhile, but never heard of Nebula. Now I'll have to check that out.

[@cuddlyfoxgirl]

Dave, your first Question about Sam's path towards where is now should be „Sam, where are you from?“ … for reasons. :D

[@tikalupit]

I respect Dropout and Nebula so, so much and gosh I hope they make it in this bleak capitalistic world. The Dropout Discord is one of the best thing I've been in!

[@Spookybluelights]

It's Sam! He was here the whole time.

[@videogames9421]

Sam Reich? He's been there the whole time~!

[@nicklucas-g2h]

Ohh hints at another crossover? color me curious!

[@Ka0sNinja117]

Imagine Brennan Lee Mulligan as the guest on JetLag. Hot damn!

[@insydian]

Love this!!

[@shaylic3795]

Pitch for a show: Pitch Your Show! You have a panel of showrunners in a room and they are pitched show ideas. They pick so many to be produced as a single episode. End of the season viewers vote on which one gets produced into a season.

[@zachm7916]

Sounds adjacent to Cartoon Hell on Dropout

[@ibsulon]

I'm hoping someone sees this... I watched the first part here and then subscribed with my podcast app, but while I can listen to this on Nebula, why can't I watch it there?

[@GoodGoga]

Good stuff.

[@adventuresinthedark]

It was so weird to see sam without glasses

[@3thanguy7]

hoping we can see brennan on jet lag

[@MMorangatang]

I don't know how likely a scenario like that would be, but you know he would hands down be the most intense guest they've ever had.

[@swiftlymurmurs]

Please that's way too much time in the sun for the poor guy

[@TheFerrett3]

Are the corridor crew folk not in the same release idea?

[@leonrb8554]

I'm a member on KZbin with dropout and used to be a nebula sub too, my only issue at the moment is no app for either on consoles or smart tvs, if both of them had one I'd definitely subscribe to both, any idea if/when this will happen?

[@dwiskus]

Can’t speak for Dropout, but Nebula has a smart TV app.

[@leonrb8554]

@Dave Wiskus I will have to check that out, mine may just be too old. Thank you very much!

[@rdarkstorm8414]

Dropout has an Xbox app, can't speak for PlayStation

[@ruule]

I'm so glad he said the thing about watching video games vs playing. I totally don't get it coz yeah growing up watching was not fun because you were just waiting to play yourself

[@Miglow]

I made the similar comments about video games content with actual play content. What's the point about watching other people play a game I could play myself? The difference with Critical Role and Dimension 20, is that they are entertainers. And they add in the chops as actors and improvisors that make it fun to watch. With video game videos, the stuff I see as most relevant and useful and enjoyable to watch deals with two things. Ability to play the game well, and ways to make that entertaining. So, sports. People that post speed runs. Or how tos. Tutorials for how to do complex things in creative are incredibly useful for so many games. Which leads to watching content creators who are just legitimately really good at the games they play. Watching someone play creatively can lead toe trying similar things in my games. Then there are creators like Spiffing Brit that value entertainment and creativity first and foremost.

[@deejus.]

Expected at 2:00 for him to ask "so sam, where are you from"

[@lucyinchat]

Tom Scott is an authentic but private person.

[@PatrickStirling]

this is good

[@mortalspiral]

Got here from a random youtube recommendation and I have to admit that I had no idea that Patrick Willems' fictional boss was the Nebula CEO 🤯 That said the whole discussion was really interesting