Ali's studio in London (2021)
project history · status: running · last event: milestone (2022-09-18) · owner: Ali · last mentioned: 2023-12-08
Told alongside: Ali builds a team for his online business · Ali moves from Cambridge to London (2021)
| date | event | what | video |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2021-10-20 (happened 2021-10) | launched | Ali's business has taken a big studio space in London on a one-year lease; when he was there alone after moving in about two weeks earlier, he felt strong buyer's remorse. | Everything's Changing - Life Update 00:01:17 |
| 2022-05-12 | milestone | The lease on Ali's London studio expires in October 2022 and he does not think the business will renew it, as the place is stupidly expensive. (hedged) | What Am I Doing With My Life? 00:35:35 |
| 2022-09-09 | milestone | A year after moving to London, Ali and his team are thinking of moving the studio and expanding the team. | I Journaled Everyday for 90 Days. Here’s What I Learned. 00:05:56 |
| 2022-09-18 (happened 2021) | looked back | Ali took the London studio as an experiment: after four years of working from home on his channel, the business was doing ridiculously well, with super high margins, when he moved to London. | My London Studio Tour (2022) 00:29:13 |
| 2022-09-18 | milestone | In the next couple of months Ali's business will probably move to a hybrid model: two extra bedrooms in his home as studios for the YouTube channel and the podcast, and WeWork or similar co-working hot-desk passes for the team. (hedged) | My London Studio Tour (2022) 00:30:28 |
| 2023-12-08 | looked back | In 2021 Ali decided to move from Cambridge to London; his business got an office and a proper studio and hired a lot of people. | Everything's Changing - Life Update 00:07:09 |
What is said about it
17 statements, by date (the events above are the turns of the thread; these are the details).
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali's London studio costs his business about £11,000 a month plus 20% VAT, about £13,000 a month or about £150,000 a year, which he calls utterly absurd. — 00:01:41
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali hopes the London studio will be return-on-investment positive. (hedged) — 00:01:41
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali has made himself a rule of no cameras and no filming at home, though he expects to break it at some point; the studio makes coming to work a lot more fun. — 00:02:33
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali calls his office space "the studio" because it sounds cooler. — 00:08:43
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — announcement: Ali wants the London studio to look great for filming, with a sofa, a bookshelf, a lamp and loads of plants in a light, airy, pastel-coloured style. — 00:09:40
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — announcement: Ali: For the podcast, the studio will get a table so that interviews can be filmed from three angles. — 00:10:05
- 2021-10-20 · Everything's Changing - Life Update — Ali would like the studio fully set up with ceiling-mounted lights and microphones, like the studios of Peter McKinnon, MKBHD and Linus Tech Tips, to reduce the friction of filming. — 00:10:41
- 2021-12-24 · How Much Money I Spend as a YouTuber (2021) — Ali's business moved into its studio in October 2021; it costs $14,600 a month, $58,400 for September to December. — 00:15:02
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali: The gallery, a communal co-working area on the floor of Ali's London office, often feels private because his team is generally the only one there; they sometimes film videos and co-work in it. — 00:00:45
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali underestimated how much storage a business needs for the things that accumulate; in his next studio or office he wants far more storage space. — 00:07:25
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali: Part of how Ali justified the expensive studio room is that it comes with the gallery as a co-working space and other spaces in the building that are nice for filming. — 00:20:19
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali's London studio costs £10,800 a month plus VAT, which his VAT-registered business reclaims, so £10,800 is the figure it works with. — 00:23:15
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali: Taking WeWork as the price anchor, Ali values the hot-desk access to London co-working spaces included in his studio rent at about £3,000 a month, leaving £7,800 for the private office itself. — 00:25:24
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali: For four years Ali filmed in his living room or bedroom; on moving to London he decided against it, because cameras, lights and cables everywhere were affecting his personal life. — 00:25:58
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali: By Ali's breakdown, his business pays a premium of £6,300 a month for the studio to be the room it films in, rather than a bedroom in his home. — 00:26:27
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali judges the £6,300 a month his business pays for the studio's extra vibes probably not worth it: it is a lot of money, and the vibes could have been created far more cheaply on purpose. (hedged) — 00:29:13
- 2022-09-18 · My London Studio Tour (2022) — Ali's studio is not really fit for purpose: since the team is always filming videos, podcasts, Academy sessions or courses there, nobody can really work in it, the reason for having people in person. — 00:29:48