How a kid who filmed video gaming videos became a YouTube producer for founders
I'm Evgeny Maximov. I've been making content since 2014. Here's the whole story, year by year, with the photos to prove it.
Evgeny Maximov·Founder of a done-for-you YouTube agency
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14–15 years old · 2014
Video games and let's plays
I loved video games, so I launched my first YouTube channel. 20–30 minutes of boring let's plays, every single day. I became a YouTuber because of a "silly" interest. More than 10 years later, I'm still making content.
My first video with my face, published at the end of 2014 -
16 years old · 2015
Reviews, articles and a real mic
I bought a mic and started filming myself with an old camcorder. Same niche, but more complex videos. I also wrote articles for a gaming website. That's where I learned the basics: writing, editing and speaking on camera.
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17 years old · 2016
Live streams and my first podcast
I worked as a streamer for several teams and on my own channel. We launched a podcast recorded live on Twitch: 50+ episodes in one year, each with 3,000+ downloads. That was huge for the Russian market back then.
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18 years old · 2017
Photography and filmmaking
With my first good camera, a Canon 600D, I had already published around 1,000 videos, but never shot real camera footage. So I went deep into photography and filmmaking. My goal was 100 photoshoots in one year, one every three days. I think I got to about 95.
Then school ended, and I went to university to become a navigation officer.
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19–20 years old · 2018–2019
Filmmaking for clients, and two awards
I filmed event ads, interviews and experiments for my university. Our team was sent to Moscow, 1,800 km from my hometown Novorossiysk, to compete at a forum of Russia's largest transport universities. We took third place. A year later, we won first place in the same uniform.
Meanwhile I filmed for businesses, events and influencers. Then I started a new YouTube channel about filmmaking, photography and editing, from scratch.
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20–21 years old · 2020
200 days on a tanker
To get a navigation diploma, you need two 6-month contracts on real trading vessels. I boarded a tanker at the end of February 2020, and then COVID stopped the whole world. I spent 200 days on board, saw 3 continents and about 10 countries, and touched ground once.
A great exercise in losing your mind at sea. Not recommended. But it made one thing clear: this job wasn't for me. I wanted to make content, not move oil between countries.
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22 years old · 2021
Switching to English
I watched Ali Abdaal's revenue breakdown and it opened a new world for me. I switched everything to English: YouTube, online courses, a digital store and work with international clients. Lots of experiments, all in a second language.
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22–23 years old · 2022
The second contract, and a clear decision
I still had to finish a second contract on another tanker. Long night watches turned out to be the perfect place to think. I read a lot of books and wrote scripts for future videos. Sea work was bad for me, but it was the place where I grew the most.
Off the coast of Africa -
23–24 years old · 2023
Making a living as a one-person YouTube producer
I got my diploma and never used it. Content became my job. I made a living as a YouTube producer who did everything alone: the idea, the script, filming, editing, thumbnails and publishing. Clients paid me to run their channels from start to finish.
On the side, I worked as Head of Content for a startup in early 2023 and sometimes spoke about content at offline events. That's where I saw how many experts want to be on YouTube but have no time to do it themselves.
Speaking about content at one of my events -
26–27 years old · 2025 – today
A YouTube production agency for founders
Early on I made content for entertainment niches: video games, streams, podcasts. That's where I learned that views alone don't pay the bills. Since 2022 I've worked mainly with experts, founders and businesses with real expertise, because for them content turns into sales.
In 2025 this became an agency. Today a 7-person team makes long videos and shorts for our clients. You film one day a month, we do the rest. And I still speak on stage about business YouTube.
On stage, talking business YouTube
All because a kid started filming video games in 2014.
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