PixelLink - Here to post pixels and share links, and they're all out of pixels.

[Scoots]

What is Chio planning here?

Real subtle Chio

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[a]

Replying to her new account gets eyes on it without being direct

You're confusing Hololive's 2024 brand power with their 2020 brand power, and forgetting the real major factor - COVID lockdown.....

Also don't forget Senzawa was already a million sub channel with a dedicated fanbase waiting patiently for her next shitpost. A lot of Chumbuds were trained for Gura's absences just by virtue of having been Senzawa fans. She was the largest channel premyth if I'm not mistaken so all that traffic from her old channel coupled with her iconic design just shot her into the stratosphere. I think it could be replicated but you need all the elements and a big pl with a dedicated large fanbase is one they continually miss imo. Tho one of the those elements was the pandemic so maybe it can't be replicated without one

 

[Thomas Talus]

Also don't forget Senzawa was already a million sub channel with a dedicated fanbase waiting patiently for her next shitpost. A lot of Chumbuds were trained for Gura's absences just by virtue of having been Senzawa fans. She was the largest channel premyth if I'm not mistaken so all that traffic from her old channel coupled with her iconic design just shot her into the stratosphere. I think it could be replicated but you need all the elements and a big pl with a dedicated large fanbase is one they continually miss imo. Tho one of the those elements was the pandemic so maybe it can't be replicated without one

I don't think Gura's success is a product of external factors alone. I was vaguely aware of Senzawa's existence beforehand, but never watched her, as a I wasn't really into streams or big into YT until lockdowns. But listening to her talk is, to me, simply a level beyond what anyone else can pull off. She's constantly playing with words and how she says them in a way that's highly engaging*, she can be a dummy but also highly insightful and quick thinking, and she seems to have clearly defined ideas about what to bring and what not to bring to her character that allows her to be a character without feeling a bit schizo. And that's without going into the way her voice just hits right in a way that gets the brain chemicals flowing.

*As a somewhat recent example that really stuck out to me, when talking about the post-it-notes covering her work area, instead of saying "it makes me look crazy," she said "it makes me look like I belong in some kind of ins-TI-tu-SHUN," using non-modern phrasing in a way that 98% of vtubers likely don't even know exists, let alone take advantage of, and messing with how she says words for deliberate effect.

 

[Scoots]

I don't think Gura's success is a product of external factors alone. I was vaguely aware of Senzawa's existence beforehand, but never watched her, as a I wasn't really into streams or big into YT until lockdowns. But listening to her talk is, to me, simply a level beyond what anyone else can pull off. She's constantly playing with words and how she says them in a way that's highly engaging*, she can be a dummy but also highly insightful and quick thinking, and she seems to have clearly defined ideas about what to bring and what not to bring to her character that allows her to be a character without feeling a bit schizo. And that's without going into the way her voice just hits right in a way that gets the brain chemicals flowing.

*As a somewhat recent example that really stuck out to me, when talking about the post-it-notes covering her work area, instead of saying "it makes me look crazy," she said "it makes me look like I belong in some kind of ins-TI-tu-SHUN," using non-modern phrasing in a way that 98% of vtubers likely don't even know exists, let alone take advantage of, and messing with how she says words for deliberate effect.

Oh yeah don't get me wrong her personality is a large factor that's why she had such a large fanbase as Senzawa in the first place Holo just put a huge spotlight on her and the rest is history my point was that coupled with a large preholo fanbase generating lots of traffic launched her in the algo to people like you who hadn't given her or vtubers a shot so she could get as big as she is today

 

[Negzana]

There will never be a second Gura. The vtuber scene has mostly reached a point of diminishing returns. Rin and Pippa started right before vtubing was fully saturated and the best you can get is Hololive having a breakout talent like Bijou, Fuwamoco, or Gigi.

 

[Egg the Boiled]

There will never be a second Gura. The vtuber scene has mostly reached a point of diminishing returns. Rin and Pippa started right before vtubing was fully saturated and the best you can get is Hololive having a breakout talent like Bijou, Fuwamoco, or Gigi.

I'm sure there's a chance for plenty of big indies to come out, but neither Rin or Pippa can be compared to Gura.

 

[sbm]

What was Sakana secret here? Selling coffee?

Pippa. Unironically, it was a rising tide floats all boats situation, and her viewership definitely spread around where other lesser examples of top small corpo talents didn't. The company also managed to borrow some of her branding to distinguish itself.

Along with very low spending for the first year (no managers until Muumi, fewer splashy content spends that other 2021 corpos) and no chance of running out of cash due to being able to inject his own money.

Of course it wasn't all Pippa but I think it's clear that to have success you need breakout talents and you need to shovel in money for a few years until it's no longer need.

 

[Security]

Pippa. Unironically, it was a rising tide floats all boats situation, and her viewership definitely spread around where other lesser examples of top small corpo talents didn't. The company also managed to borrow some of her branding to distinguish itself.

Along with very low spending for the first year (no managers until Muumi, fewer splashy content spends that other 2021 corpos) and no chance of running out of cash due to being able to inject his own money.

Of course it wasn't all Pippa but I think it's clear that to have success you need breakout talents and you need to shovel in money for a few years until it's no longer need.

 

[Thomas Talus]

Pippa. Unironically, it was a rising tide floats all boats situation, and her viewership definitely spread around where other lesser examples of top small corpo talents didn't. The company also managed to borrow some of her branding to distinguish itself.

There was a period where Tenma and Lia leapfrogged past her in subs.

 

[God's Saddest Tattletail]

There was a period where Tenma and Lia leapfrogged past her in subs.

Pippa definitely got a lot of eyes on the company, but I do think the other EN Origins members (and Lumi) deserve credit as well. They all contributed to Phase as the "sad girl idol company" branding that I think really helped separate Phase from other small corpos. In a way it's similar to Hololive's blue Dorito buff: if a channel has the blue Dorito you're essentially guaranteed to be tuning into a high quality stream even if you aren't familiar with the particular talent. Likewise if you tune into a Phase Connect stream, you know what you're getting into... and if you like one Phase girl, you will almost certainly like the others. This really isn't the case with any other small company out there (honestly even big groups like Niji don't have something like this... VShojo does but being known as the whore (derogatory) company is more of a handicap). There is a ton of talent in the small corpo sphere, for the purposes of keeping things related to Pixel there's Kanna, Chio, Daiya, and Lottie all of who I enjoy watching... but nothing about them ties into a cohesive package that says "yes these could only be PixelLink talents" in the way that the "sad girl" branding unites all of Phase. And while Pippa was obviously instrumental, if Tenma wasn't constantly yelling at chat in an alcoholic rage, Lumi wasn't flirting with edgy topics and humor, and Lia wasn't... well... Lia, Phase Connect would look extremely different today. Yes I'm aware ALiAS debuted only months after Lumi entered Phase and solidified Phase's image with Shiina, Rie, and Panko all being their own variety of yabai... I'm just making the point that Phase already had a strong brand image when they debuted.

 

[MerelyTourist]

I'd say cost of starting vtuber corpo today is about 2M$ that you can piss away with no expectation of return ever, killer talents, and >3 years of work till you break even in the quarter. Maybe, if you're lucky. And this cost is kinda applied retroactively to all previous small corpos, you have to invest a lot or you die. And if you don't have free money you die anyway.

 

[Aquatic Novellite]

Along with very low spending for the first year (no managers until Muumi, fewer splashy content spends that other 2021 corpos) and no chance of running out of cash due to being able to inject his own money.

Clearly that's the solution. Do not hire managers. Let the talents fight for themselves, occasionally butt in like a retard, and get everyone mad, so that when you do hire a manager just as the talents are ready to lynch you, it's suddenly paradise for them and they think the future is rosy because it couldn't possibly get any worse after that first year.

I'd say cost of starting vtuber corpo today is about 2M$

Either provide an excel sheet with a detailed list of expenses and sources where you got them from, or kindly never post again.

 

[Kanna's Glowiest Assistant]

I just remembered that Kanna discussed her 2nd outfit plans and her new hairstyle commission just a few days ago

From the sound of it the new outfit was in the very early planning stages, with her just thinking about concepts to send to her mama, but the new hairstyle seems to be pretty set in stone and just waiting for it to be finally drawn and rigged; she expected to have it done in a month or two.
Now perhaps for the hairstyle it's different because it was a donothon milestone so the money was available, but it's odd to be bouncing around ideas for huge expenses like second outfits if the agency is that deep in the red. Unless combined with Chio's recent clip about PixelLink being in a good place, it just means management was keeping the talents in the dark about the company's financial state.

 

[The Proctor]

Clearly that's the solution. Do not hire managers. Let the talents fight for themselves, occasionally butt in like a retard, and get everyone mad, so that when you do hire a manager just as the talents are ready to lynch you, it's suddenly paradise for them and they think the future is rosy because it couldn't possibly get any worse after that first year.

Most managers are useless and actively detrimental to your brand. The ones that aren't can earn vastly more money in other industries. What you need is somebody decent at both PR and speaking to women.

 

[Aquatic Novellite]

Most managers are useless and actively detrimental to your brand. The ones that aren't can earn vastly more money in other industries. What you need is somebody decent at both PR and speaking to women.

I feel like that's squabbling over definitions. Yes, we're all aware that vtuber managers aren't the same thing as a manager in a Fortune 500 company. Maybe personal assistant would be the better term, considering that we know they often make thumbnails or edit shorts or are just someone to vent with.

But the term that has become popularized for this kind of job in the vtubing industry is manager. When we speak of managers, we do indeed mean that, and not a Fortune 500 something or other organizer.

 

[MerelyTourist]

Either provide an excel sheet with a detailed list of expenses and sources where you got them from, or kindly never post again.

Streaming assets at premium corpo prices, assets for regular projects at premium corpo prices, advertisement costs, various legal fees, 3 years worth of salaries & other operational costs, "merch is fucked again" budget... I remember fishman dropping something along "oh yeah we spent like 20k on art just this month" lines.
I can't see in what world anything less than 1M$ gonna be enough to survive growing pains in EN market, even with SEA salaries.

 

[Realticule]

What you need is somebody decent at both PR and speaking to women.

Those two things seem mutually exclusive.

 

[Nigel Nigerman]

Either provide an excel sheet with a detailed list of expenses and sources where you got them from, or kindly never post again.

 

[I Wanna Die]

Streaming assets at premium corpo prices, assets for regular projects at premium corpo prices, advertisement costs, various legal fees, 3 years worth of salaries & other operational costs, "merch is fucked again" budget... I remember fishman dropping something along "oh yeah we spent like 20k on art just this month" lines.
I can't see in what world anything less than 1M$ gonna be enough to survive growing pains in EN market, even with SEA salaries.

A million rubles isnt the same as a million dollars slav.

 

[VSoyBoy]

Streaming assets at premium corpo prices, assets for regular projects at premium corpo prices, advertisement costs, various legal fees, 3 years worth of salaries & other operational costs, "merch is fucked again" budget... I remember fishman dropping something along "oh yeah we spent like 20k on art just this month" lines.
I can't see in what world anything less than 1M$ gonna be enough to survive growing pains in EN market, even with SEA salaries.

The motherfucker who said that Doki should start a corpo everybody.

 

[I Wanna Die]

The motherfucker who said that Doki should start a corpo everybody.

Doki saving up enough to start a corpo would be a feat in and of itself.