“Hey what’s up? MKBHD here,” Marques Brownlee says, sitting behind a Rivian R1T, a truck from the Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker, Rivian.
The familiar tagline known to millions of tech enthusiasts globally is not coming from his MKBHD YouTube channel which is predominantly focused on gadget reviews and all things tech, but from Autofocus, a new channel dedicated to another interest of his, cars.
The first video MKBHD posted on Autofocus, which has gathered over 300k subscribers in less than a month, is noticeably shaky and windy. Unlike the high definition professionally made videos shot with expensive RED cameras on his main channel, the videos on this new channel are shot handheld from his iPhone.
MKBHD is taking the advice he has handed out to thousands of aspiring content creators to start out with the most basic equipment available to them, just as he did thirteen years ago when he shot his first product review with his laptop webcam from his bedroom.
Thirteen years later and what started with one channel has grown into a content empire with four YouTube channels and over 15 million subscribers.
MKBHD videos include product reviews, explainers, impressions, interviews, and podcasts. He has successfully built a fast-growing team intending to provide guidance to anyone looking to navigate the rapidly evolving world of consumer technology.
Becoming a Diamond Creator
In December of 2008, 15-year-old Marques had just gotten a new laptop that came with a remote. He decided to review the remote which he uploaded on New year’s day.
The video which has now gotten over four million views did not blow up at the time. Still, Marques like other early adopters of YouTube was not looking for fame or virality, but for an avenue to express his obsession with technology products.
It was just another hobby to occupy himself when he wasn’t playing golf or ultimate frisbee after school. And so he continued to make product review videos, adding software tutorials to the mix.
In this way, he grew a dedicated following of tech loyalists. This community helped him narrow the focus of the channel to hardware videos.
“I just made software tutorials for, like, 300 videos, and then it was like, OK, enthusiasts like hardware a little bit. And then smartphones had this big boom, which kind of got a little broader as we went on. Now, anything with an on button is game,” he told Hollywood Reporter.
When Marques entered the Steven Institute of Technology for college, his workspace moved from his bedroom desk to his college dorm room. He was aware of the college requirement to do a compulsory internship with a company, but he didn’t know where he would do the internship.
Eventually, after much encouragement from a professor, he decided to intern for himself by working on his YouTube channel. After college, he continued making YouTube videos as his full-time job. He received the Diamond Creator Award for hitting 10 million subscribers in 2019.
Dominating YouTube
As the YouTube channel grew, it moved from his bedroom to a dedicated studio space in a rented building. Now, MKBHD is currently making plans to build his own personal studio.
The one-man operation where Marques did all the writing, shooting, and editing of videos is now made up of multiple team members including a motion graphics artist, editor, and creative director.
But he still retains control of the most important aspects of the operation, describing the channel in this interview with Recode as some sort of octopus with multiple tentacles, some could be cut off without any damage, but others are essential.
“I thought of myself as this business was growing, kind of like an octopus where I have one arm doing one thing, another arm doing one thing, and some are more precious than others. Like being on camera, writing, and editing are very important to what makes an MKBHD video. But it turned out that I was able to find talented people, [and] I could cut off one of my arms and hand it to them and they could do a way better job with that part of it,” he shared.
A Story of Consistency
MKBHD’s growth over time is a story of consistency, continually showing up, honing the craft, and just doing the work. He’s no overnight success. He has not had any particular moment that shot him to the limelight or significantly increased his social standing except perhaps his interview with Kobe Bryant which only introduced him to basketball fans.
This is perhaps what made him the creator he is. His growth can only be attributed to his unique content like the Retro tech series and the yearly smartphone awards.
MKBHD is the result of constant evolution – he started with his laptop camera and now he films with $50,000 worth of camera equipment– alongside the desire to make quality tech videos which have helped him remain relevant till today.
MKBHD got an invitation from Apple to attend the recent “Far Out” event. He and a host of other tech reviewers were given the opportunity to watch the launch of Apple’s new products and give their hands-on first impressions, making him one of the first consumers to experience these products.
“This is cool, This is really cool,” Marques said excitedly talking about Dynamic Island, the new iPhone feature announced at the Apple September 2022 event.
MKBHD has come a long way, not bad for the 15-year-old boy anxiously peering into his laptop webcam.
