Young people are unlikely to earn a substantial income on YouTube, so they should do it for enjoyment, advises Caspar Lee.

Caspar Lee advised aspiring content creators to focus on having fun on YouTube rather than solely aiming for financial success, as the chances of achieving financial success are low.

In the 2010s, a 30-year-old British-South African YouTuber gained over 6 million subscribers through his comedic videos and challenges. He later quit to pursue entrepreneurship in 2019.

"At first, YouTube wasn't popular, but people were still watching it, and eventually, it gained popularity," Lee stated in a CNBC Make It interview.

According to Lee, more young people today aspire to become creators than astronauts. While this is commendable, it's important to note that starting out as a creator for fun is advisable because although the chances of making a substantial living from it are increasing, it's still a challenging endeavor.

"The competition for becoming a big YouTube star is intensifying as the long tail of the creator economy grows."

The creator economy, which involves individuals monetizing their abilities online, is projected to increase from $250 billion in 2023 to $480 billion by 2027, according to a Goldman Sachs report.

According to Lee, YouTubers with large subscriber bases can earn millions of dollars through the Partner Program, which enables them to monetize their videos through ad placements.

On YouTube, MrBeast, one of Lee's colleagues, has the highest number of subscribers and earns between $600 million to $700 million annually, as stated in Time magazine.

In 2023, nearly half of content creators surveyed by NeoReach earned an annual income of $15,000 or less, while only 13% earned more than $100,000.

Aspiring YouTubers should aim for success without relying on followers or fame, as advised by Lee.

"Creating content about yourself requires your own relevancy, but if you can create content about a specific subject, you can rely on the relevancy of that subject," he explained.

"Consider how you can reduce your dependence on your own relevance while consistently producing content."

Influencer.com and Creator Ventures are companies that Lee co-founded after his YouTube days.

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