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Why We Left Buzzfeed (Some Thoughts on Taking Risks)

2016-11-16 · collab / interview · Gaby Dunn, Allison Raskin · 4:27 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Everyday life (also: Internet & YouTube) · mode: Advice & reviews · tags: guest or collab

Guest hosts Gaby Dunn and Allison Raskin of Just Between Us explain why they left BuzzFeed to prioritize their own channel and argue that a company is not your friend: take risks and listen to your gut.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Gaby and Allison introduce themselves; comedy channel that rarely gets real; Allison's first vlog

  • ★ Allison Raskin: Allison says their channel is a comedy channel that rarely gets real, and they are using this video to answer a question many people ask them. — 00:00:05

00:00:30 — Why they left BuzzFeed: left over a year ago; first months amazing; ages and first writing jobs; pushback about their own channel; unclear department

  • ★★★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says they left BuzzFeed over a year ago; Allison calls it probably one of the scariest decisions they have ever had to make. — 00:00:33
  • ★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says she had had a writing job before and was 26, so she was less enthused; Allison says it was her first writing job, at 25. (playful) — 00:00:41
  • ★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says BuzzFeed was an incredible environment of people their own age making stuff, and she once thought it sad she could not work there her entire life. — 00:01:10
  • ★★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says after a few months things changed: there was pushback about their having their own channel, and their department's role was unclear. — 00:01:22

00:01:36 — Drop Just Between Us or commit to BuzzFeed; outside interest; JBU is theirs; jobs can be left, listen to yourself

  • ★★★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says they toyed with dropping Just Between Us to commit to BuzzFeed, but it did not feel right; Allison says outside interest came and they chose to prioritize the growing channel because it is theirs. — 00:01:41
  • ★★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says jobs can be left: listen to yourself, and if a job is no longer the right fit, even at a great company, you break up as in a relationship. — 00:01:57

00:02:12 — The company owns what you make: people let go from BuzzFeed can't make their series again; worry about giving them their best ideas

  • ★★★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says a company owns everything you make for it; people let go from BuzzFeed can never make their series again because it is BuzzFeed's intellectual property. — 00:02:12
  • ★★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says this scared her: whether to give BuzzFeed her best ideas, and the idea of it owning anything to do with Just Between Us. — 00:02:31

00:02:47 — Grateful for the exposure, but a company is not your friend; take risks; you only have yourself and what you've made; listen to your gut; the other side isn't roses

  • ★★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says she remains grateful to BuzzFeed for incredible exposure, but a company is always a company and is not your friend, even when your coworkers are. (hedged) — 00:02:47
  • ★★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says big companies can trick you with stability and creative freedom, but at a certain point you have to remember you need to take risks. (hedged) — 00:03:14
  • ★★ Gaby Dunn: Gaby says in the end you only have yourself and what you've made; she wondered whether any of these companies would exist in five years, and only the two of them were sure. — 00:03:24
  • ★★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says many people are happiest staying long-term at a company, but it was not right for them; their main message is to listen to your gut and what feels right for you. (hedged) — 00:03:47
  • ★★ Allison Raskin: Allison says the other side isn't roses — constant stress — but they have worked on projects much bigger and more their own than they could have at BuzzFeed. (hedged) — 00:04:03

00:04:17 — Allison is uncomfortable being sincere on camera: where are the jokes?

  • ★ Allison Raskin: Allison says talking sincerely into a camera feels uncomfortable and asks where the jokes are. (playful) — 00:04:17

In the description and comments

  • ★★ The description says Allison and Gaby from Just Between Us stand in for Hank to talk about taking risks in a career and why they left BuzzFeed. — video description · Hank Green

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Mentioned

Central: BuzzFeed · Just Between Us

Also: Allison Raskin · Gaby Dunn · intellectual property · intuition

Only in the description or credits: Pizzamas

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