You don’t have to venture too far into productivity videos on YouTube before seeing Ali Abdaal, a former doctor turned entrepreneur who creates content on productivity, personal development, and life as a creatorpreneur. Beyond Ali’s cheerful British tone and tactical advice is a team helping him grow his business.

That team is led by Angus Parker, Ali’s 26-year-old London-based General Manager. Angus runs Ali’s $5 million-per-year business and manages a staff of 13 so Ali can focus on creating new income streams.

We’re breaking down the highlights of Angus’s role within Ali’s business—from how Angus got his job to building Ali’s online course, “Part-Time YouTuber Academy,” and how he manages their staff to keep everyone productive and motivated. 

To hear the full episode of Angus’s career experience and takeaways, watch on YouTube or listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts.

How Angus got his job and the value of cold emails

I graduated in July 2019 from the University of Cambridge. I'd studied geography and I was looking to get into a journalistic role. Working for a YouTuber hadn't crossed my mind. 

Six months later, I had done a number of freelance gigs and it was going okay, but I decided to send an email to Ali. Cold email completely out of the blue. I had spoken to him once the previous year about exams and I’d seen that he had advertised for an editor about three months prior—his first hire. So, in my email I essentially said, “I can't edit, but I can write and research. Do you need help?”

At that time, he had around 500,000 subscribers and was working full-time as a doctor while trying to put out three videos a week. Given the volume of videos and that he still had his full-time job, I thought there must have been some sort of capacity issue there.

Coincidentally, he replied that he was on the verge of putting out an advertisement for a similar position. We started working together two days a week, which quickly became three days a week. Then when the pandemic hit, it was more or less full-time. I've been working with Ali for three years now, but it essentially all came from that one cold email.

I think a lot of people fall into the trap of applying for jobs which are advertised for rather than thinking: “What do I want to do? And how can I get there?”

For me, the cold email was very much based on, “How can I provide value to Ali?” rather than “Can I have a job?” I think that approach of providing value first and not expecting anything is really important.

People can only say no. They're not going to take offense if you're kind and you ask politely. If there is a job that you want to do, be confident enough to send someone who is in that role an email asking them what they are currently doing or what skills they have.

Building a live online course within a week

By late 2020, we'd become very reliant on our successful Skillshare courses as the primary source of income for the company. We knew we wanted to create some sort of course that was away from Skillshare.

Ali had talked to Tiago Forte and David Perell, who were running “Building a Second Brain” and “Write of Passage,” respectively, to live cohort-based courses that were doing very well. We all knew that there was a space for a live, community-centered YouTube course.

So, we put together a four-week live course: “Part-Time YouTuber Academy” (PTYA). We planned it in Ali’s flat in an afternoon. I wrote it up the next day, then by the end of that week, we had a course ready to launch.

Within three or four days we had over 100 people sign up. At that point we realized it was something that we could grow into something else—something far bigger. 

That unlocked the potential to hire more and expand as a business. Since then, we've done six cohorts of PTYA.

Why creators should diversify platforms

Our most powerful levers for promoting and selling our course are our mailing list and Ali's weekly newsletter. We have all sorts of email funnels that work to convert people to buying the course.

People don't necessarily understand or appreciate the value that we're providing immediately. But with our longer email sequence, hopefully by the end people know the value of the course and what they're going to get out of it.

Growing an email list is important to us for many reasons. There's just so much more value in being able to directly contact people rather than trying to do it through a platform like YouTube or TikTok or Twitter. 

Having more than 3 million subscribers means nothing if YouTube disappears. If we want to carry on producing courses, selling courses, even providing free content, we need that direct connection.

If you are reliant on a third-party platform for that audience, then you are kind of setting yourself up to fail. You should be trying to cultivate another audience somewhere else so you’re not risking everything on one platform.

Growing from an all-star generalist into a business role

Ali was the first creator I wrote for. I didn't have any experience in writing scripts. When I joined Ali, my job was very much a generalist role. I was researching, writing, helping with the YouTube uploads, and basically being a YouTube producer. Because Ali was working full-time as a doctor, I learned how to edit and was editing 2-3 main channel videos each week.

I tried to improve my skill set by trying and doing things. In a team of three people, we all needed to muck about to a certain extent to be able to get the content out.

I get excited by adding new skills to my generalist repertoire because I think sometimes you can get into a bit of a rut if you don't. You just drift along in what you do without actually challenging yourself.

About a year ago, Ali was convinced that we needed a general manager to come in from the outside who'd had 10 years of experience running a business.

I didn't have 10 years of experience, but I had been in the company for two years. I knew that there were a lot of gaps in my skill set that I needed to fill for this position. I still think there’s a lot to learn, but I don't train to be brilliant at the role that I do.

As general manager, my role is to ensure all the trains are running on time and everything is operating smoothly. That ranges from check-ins with my direct reports to making sure that things like sponsors and revenue are sorted.

I sometimes describe it as doing everything that Ali doesn't want to do so he can concentrate on doing the creative stuff. 

I'm very good at organizing. I'm very good at keeping a lot of plates spinning. If Ali was left to make sure that everything’s organized, things would probably slip through the cracks—and he knows that.

Sure, there might be deficiencies in my skill set. But if a person is ambitious enough, then their ability to develop into someone who can run the business effectively is far more valuable than trying to go outside and bring in someone who might not even fit.

Navigating imposter syndrome, and some career advice

Someone like Ali has far more self-confidence than I do, which is good, because that's what you need for YouTube—to be able to put yourself out there. I still think I lack that to a certain extent, but it's something I just need to get over.

I think my imposter syndrome comes from where I've accumulated knowledge over the past two and a half years, so I can't necessarily see where I was and where I am now. It’s also hard for me to evaluate the knowledge that I've gained around YouTube and stuff that other people don't know. 

I started helping someone the other week with a YouTube channel and I assumed my advice was obvious. Then you realize that actually, the stuff that you've accumulated is far more than you initially thought.

My number one bit of advice comes back to one of the first things I mentioned, which is: don't be afraid to email the people that you want to work with and provide value first.

Don't be constrained by the jobs that are advertised. Be constrained by the imagination of a job you want to do. Just because the door’s closed doesn't mean that people inside don't want your help.

Backstage Careers is a podcast that shines a light on the linchpins working behind the scenes with some of the biggest entrepreneurs and creators. Led by YouTube expert Jeremy Mary, it has featured the influential team members behind pro creators and entrepreneurs such as Airrack, GaryVee, MrBeast, Tim Ferriss, and more.