{"type":"rich","version":"1.0","provider_name":"Transistor","provider_url":"https://transistor.fm","author_name":"State of Play","title":"He Designs Channels Like He Grows Plants: Kevin Espiritu","html":"<iframe width=\"100%\" height=\"180\" frameborder=\"no\" scrolling=\"no\" seamless src=\"https://share.transistor.fm/e/40522ea2\"></iframe>","width":"100%","height":180,"duration":3418,"description":"Kevin Espiritu runs Epic Gardening, one of the clearest examples of a creator-led media business that became much more than content: YouTube, commerce, products, books, and Botanical Interests.This conversation covers why Silicon Valley is suddenly fascinated by new media, what Kevin learned from the old SEO and affiliate-marketing era, why creators over-optimize the wrong things, how Epic Gardening thinks about products, IP, TV viewership, brand deals, channel strategy, and what it actually takes to build media that lasts.Get the UX Tools Newsletter (written by me)Join 100,000+ designers for weekly insights on creative software and the people shaping it: https://uxtools.coCHAPTERS:0:00 Media is soil0:27 Why new media week starts with Kevin1:38 Silicon Valley discovers creators3:26 From SEO hacks to durable media7:03 True outliers are one-of-one10:19 Why creators get platform-stuck12:33 Products, IP, and real media businesses17:25 Brand deals without draining trust21:03 YouTube is becoming TV23:22 Format experiments and channel strategy30:31 Packaging before production35:07 Scaling beyond the founder40:03 Tommy's media company, live consult45:30 Broad vs niche audiences50:02 Raising money and the next creator companies56:06 Cultural campfiresLINKS:Epic Gardening: https://www.epicgardening.comBotanical Interests: https://www.botanicalinterests.comKevin Espiritu on X: https://x.com/KevinEspirituFOLLOW ME:X / Twitter: https://x.com/designertomIG: https://instagram.com/itsdesignertomLinkedIn: https://linkedin.com/in/tommygeoco","thumbnail_url":"https://img.transistorcdn.com/Q4goNjMCyLVJblsVd-hc65Y9xpTGIkbjq5L00Huluhg/rs:fill:0:0:1/w:400/h:400/q:60/mb:500000/aHR0cHM6Ly9pbWct/dXBsb2FkLXByb2R1/Y3Rpb24udHJhbnNp/c3Rvci5mbS9kZTM4/NTdjYjhlYmI5NzU0/YjRlNDNkMjFiNDgy/NTRhNi5qcGc.webp","thumbnail_width":300,"thumbnail_height":300}