Sidney “Sidneyraz” Raskind spent 15 years in obscurity before transforming into a life hack sensation with 7.8 million followers across various social platforms. 

The former media professional, who worked behind the scenes at React Media managing YouTube channels with 15 million subscribers, couldn’t replicate that success for himself until mobile editing technology finally matched his creative abilities. After failing out of college twice and moving to Los Angeles in 2012, Sidney persisted through years of trial and error before his breakthrough came.

“I am a YouTuber in my mind and my heart, but I didn’t make it until 15 years after I started in 2007,” Sidney explains. His content creation business finally took off in 2021, after he had methodically posted multiple videos daily on TikTok and Instagram for nearly two years.

“When I started making life hacks, I didn’t even intend for it to be a life hack,” Sidney admits. “It was just things I had found out, like how to use a can opener correctly or how to use a travel pillow more comfortably.”

This approach took clear shape in 2021-2022 when he developed a consistent format. Sidney explains his content strategy: “I started focusing on tactile things that you can do and move around easily within 30-second bites or less. I knew that the intro had to be the same, the content had to be easily repeatable, and the structure had to be similar so people understood it.”

When he launched his creator business full-time in May 2022, his signature phrase “Here’s something I didn’t know until I was in my 30s” secured partnerships with Microsoft, Google, TikTok, and Ancestry. 

“I struck a chord with everyone on the Internet who had been living in a world of finding information from people who talk down to them, but then also in a world where it’s cringy to admit you don’t know something,” Sidney notes.

Technology and Strategy: What Made It Work

Sidney’s professional background provided him with industry knowledge, but technical barriers hindered his personal success. After spending nearly five years at FBE managing YouTube channels and over a year at Firework, he had a solid understanding of content strategies but struggled with execution.

“I never had the ability or time or money to learn how to edit correctly on Premiere Pro,” he explains. The turning point came when smartphone technology improved enough. “When phones caught up with my ability, it was game over.”

Sidney used specific platform features to build his audience, starting with TikTok. “The key to TikTok at the time was becoming the meme,” he explains. “They gave you the trend, they gave you the audio, they gave you the motion.”

His strategy focused on volume and consistency rather than perfection. “A big key to my growth is just not wasting any time on something that I think nobody will see,” Sidney says. “Don’t put your heart and soul into it. Just make something and put it out there.”

This method worked well when he committed to posting three to four times daily. “It took me a year and a half to get to 90K followers on TikTok. And then I kept posting three to four times a day for a while,” he explains. The result: “I grew from 90K to a million in two to three months.”

Audience Engagement and Content Development

Sidney’s approach to audience building was both methodical and personal. “I was replying to literally every single comment,” he recalls. “Then somebody commented, ‘This dude is replying to every single comment.’ I was like, ‘Yeah, I am.’ Because I knew that the platform was relaying the success of that person coming back and watching it again.”

His content selection process comes directly from his own learning experiences. When TikTok advised him that “content that people can easily replicate does well,” Sidney adjusted his style, focusing specifically on “tactile things that you can do and move around” that could be shown in short video formats.

Sidney’s cross-platform strategy changed as he grew. After initially editing directly within TikTok, he switched to VideoLeap to create content that could be shared across platforms without watermarks. “I knew that watermarks de-emphasized content on other platforms, so bing, bang, boom, syndicate to other platforms as much as possible,” he explains.

For different platforms, Sidney has different solutions. He notes that “Instagram and TikTok have very different audiences and content formats,” with TikTok favoring short, engaging videos while Instagram focuses more on “polished, low-effort posts with long captions.”

Success Amid Personal Challenges

Despite his growing professional success, 2024 brought major personal challenges for Sidney. While working on a home renovation, he and his wife temporarily relocated to Richmond, Virginia, where he experienced burnout without initially recognizing it.

“My consistency was terrible because I just didn’t feel like I wanted to do this anymore,” Sidney admits. “I didn’t realize I had burned out until my producer in September told me I had burned out, which was crazy.”

During this challenging period, Sidney and his wife suffered the loss of their second daughter, which further affected his work. Despite these ordeals, his professional path continued upward, marked by important milestones, including a White House visit, a VidCon appearance, and the release of a book.

“It’s actually a very interesting juxtaposition to have my career be going so well in many ways, but then my personal life not going well,” Sidney reflects. The financial impact was clear: “I made half the revenue I did in 2023, which was hard. But we made it through.”

To address his burnout and maintain his business, Sidney decided to hire support. “I hired a producer,” he explains. “I tried to find the help I needed and hired a strategist.”

Health Challenges and Content Direction

In early 2025, Sidney faced another significant life challenge with a cancer diagnosis requiring the removal of his stomach. Rather than keeping this private, he decided to incorporate it into his content, adding a new dimension to his online presence.

“This was a time when I truly just felt like I owned it completely,” Sidney explains. “This was mine. And no one can tell me how to do it.”

Sidney has found ways to incorporate this experience into his usual content style, combining his characteristic humor with it. “I’m finding out about seahorses. That’s crazy. Seahorses don’t have stomachs. Didn’t know that before I had stomach cancer,” he notes, showing how he continues to find educational angles even in difficult circumstances.

When faced with criticism about sharing his health journey, Sidney keeps his perspective: “If I can disappoint my family, I can disappoint people on the internet.” He credits this philosophy for enabling him to handle negative comments and stay focused on creating genuine content.

Insights from the Creator Economy

After two decades in and around content creation, Sidney has developed a clear perspective on the creator industry. One of his main observations concerns terminology that can mislead newcomers.

“I would change the term manager to agent,” he suggests, explaining that most creator “managers” primarily secure brand deals rather than providing full career management. “Content creators, especially new content creators, hear ‘manager,’ but more likely than not, they’ll get an agent.”

For aspiring creators, Sidney recommends practical output over perfectionism: “The amount of content does not mean good content. If you want to do this, you have to find time, find a rhythm, and insert it into your life.”

Platform adaptability is another key lesson from his experience: “Utilize the platforms the way they want to be utilized, even if you don’t like the update. Who cares if Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or TikTok added something that you don’t like? That means use that thing.”

Pulling Through with a Smile

Faced with hardships, Sidney remains committed to his career. He’s scheduled to speak on industry panels at VidCon, discussing the history of internet content creation and helping connect industry executives and creators.

“This year, I think because of the 1 Billion Follower Summit, because of last year’s VidCon, I highlighted the fact that I’m like a creator of two worlds,” Sidney explains. His distinct perspective stems from having “lived, worked, and existed in the industry side of things for so long” before becoming a creator himself.

For Sidney, events like VidCon represent more than just professional opportunities; they also provide a sense of community. “VidCon, to me, is probably the most important event of the year just because I’ve connected with it on such an emotional level since I was at VidCon 1,” he shares.

Despite the challenges of creator burnout, personal loss, and health issues, Sidney approaches 2025 with his characteristic humor, summarizing his outlook with the slogan: “I have no stomach for this.”