it's time for a change.

This is a big one, folks. Theo, the guy behind the channel you've been watching, just dropped a super personal update. He's hit 30, and it's got him thinking—a lot—about where he's been, what he's doing, and where he's headed. The bottom line? He's craving authenticity, wants to get back to his roots of building cool stuff, and is making some pretty visible changes, all while being incredibly grateful for his journey and everyone who's been a part of it.

Here’s the breakdown of what’s on his mind:

• Channel Origins & Unexpected Boom:

  • The channel wasn't some grand plan; it actually started because he wanted a place to vent about tech and get a better grip on what creators needed while he was working on his business, Ping.
  • He never imagined it would blow up like it did – hitting 100,000 subscribers in the first year was wild.
  • Fast forward a few years, and now there's a whole team helping him run the show, which is pretty amazing.

• Turning 30 & What Really Matters:

  • Hitting the big 3-0 has been a catalyst for some deep reflection on his life and work.
  • He's realized that at his core, he's a "builder." That's who he is, and that's what makes him happy.
  • Lately, he's been feeling much happier, and a big part of that is because he's been diving back into building, especially with his project T3 Chat. He says it's been an awesome outlet for that "urge to just ship."
  • This reflection is pushing him to want to go "back to the way things were" in terms of authenticity and focus.

• The Big Appearance Change: Bye-Bye Blonde and Stash!

  • You'll notice a big change: he's back to his natural hair color and has shaved off the signature mustache. He admits it's still a bit weird seeing himself like this again.
  • The mustache story is pretty funny – it was originally grown for a video where he was responding to a "Primogen thing" and couldn't find his pack of fake mustaches.
  • The crazy part? Viewership legitimately went up after the mustache appeared, so he felt like he had to keep it.
  • He candidly shares that he felt like he was "playing a character" with the blonde hair and mustache, and as the channel got more popular, he leaned into it more. That didn't always feel great.
  • At heart, he feels he's a "skate rat that learned to code because he broke his arm," not the blonde-haired, mustached persona.
  • He's actually pretty scared about this change because, based on past A/B testing (yes, he A/B tested his look!), he knows going back to his natural appearance will probably hurt his viewership numbers.
  • Despite the potential dip in stats, he's tired of that optimization game and just wants to be himself.

• The Grind, Burnout Fears, and Leaning on the Team:

  • Life's been intense: he hasn't had a proper vacation in over five years.
  • He hasn't taken more than a single day off since going through Y Combinator back in early 2022.
  • While he genuinely likes working constantly on exciting projects, he's also very aware of the risk of burnout, especially since he went through it in 2023.
  • To combat this, he's built up his team on both the channel side and for his business, Ping.
  • He gives big shoutouts to Julius and Mark, who are "carrying everything" with Upload Thing and T3 Chat.

• Teamwork Makes the Dream Work (Literally):

  • The channel isn't just "his" anymore; it's "ours"—a full team effort.
  • He misses video editing (he genuinely loves it!), but admits FaZe has become a better editor than him. This video is one of only two he's edited himself this year.
  • Ben Davis (you might know him from the Svelte and Go communities) has stepped up as the channel manager and is responsible for most of the thumbnails now.
  • It's wild, but the channel now has in-person employees making it all happen.
  • The sponsorship model has also evolved. Working with around 50 brands instead of just 5 has almost quadrupled the workload, making the team even more essential. This has also helped justify bringing Ben to San Francisco full-time.
  • He feels a responsibility to "perform" for his team and make sure everything is running smoothly.

• Content Philosophy: Authenticity and Passion First:

  • He firmly believes the channel's success was never about chasing fads; it was always about him talking about and doing things he genuinely cared about.
  • The channel originally came out of missing those deep, nerdy conversations he used to have with fellow engineers at Twitch, especially after COVID hit.
  • What's been unbelievable to him is that focusing more on what he's actually excited about (like AI, thanks to T3 Chat) is making the channel's numbers the best they've ever been.
  • He's pretty frustrated with the current state of the AI world and the "AI bros" influencing in it, drawing parallels to how the JavaScript YouTube community felt when he first started – full of beginners and grifters.
  • He's stoked to be part of a new wave of experienced folks who want to have real talks about how AI truly impacts things.
  • His ultimate goal for the channel has always been for it to feel like you're having a lunch or dinner conversation with other smart engineers who are geeking out over cool tech.

• What’s Next? More Building, More Balance:

  • He’s actually taking a short trip with friends for a few days, so he won’t be around as much.
  • Don't worry about content droughts, though! They have videos recorded for the next four weeks.
  • A heads-up: some of these pre-recorded videos will show him with the blonde hair and mustache. He hopes viewers understand it’s the team publishing scheduled content, not him just reposting old stuff.
  • He's planning to be less reactive to breaking news. No more dropping everything to film a video instantly.
  • Conference travel is getting a major cut: down from 15 last year to less than five this year. He needs to be realistic about his time and energy.
  • The big shift? He wants to focus more on building. He feels his channel is at its best when he's actively building things.
  • He's trying to find a better balance where he can sneak in a lot more coding time, rather than splitting his time just between content and business management.
  • This means he'll be leaning even more on his teams, but the hopeful outcome is more great videos for everyone.

• Huge Thanks and Looking Forward:

  • He's overwhelmingly thankful for every single viewer, the support, the kind words (even from people he's looked up to for decades!), and the life he gets to live.
  • He even gives a humorous shoutout to the "crappy commenters" for boosting engagement in the algorithm!
  • He’s incredibly grateful that they've found a way to make the content sustainably through brand support, without having to charge viewers.
  • If you told his 15-year-old self—a "skate rat from a farm town"—that this would be his life, he would've just laughed.
  • This video was a bit of a ramble and not the usual tech deep-dive, but he felt it was important to share these thoughts and be more honest.
  • He’s excited to see what life looks like when he’s 40!

So, expect to see a more authentic Theo, a continued focus on high-quality, passion-driven content, and an even stronger emphasis on building and sharing those experiences. It’s a big change, but it sounds like it's coming from a really good place.