Ammar, Thomas, and I (hey, I’m Matt) met in 2015 in Montreal, Canada through a series of serendipitous encounters.
Bonded over a desire to shake things up, we decided we would do 30 things we’d never done before in 30 days, and make a video about it everyday. We called it Project 30.
By the end of the 30 days, we’d done a bunch of small things like -- get our ears pierced, try stand up comedy, create a secret handshake with the Mayor.
We had maybe 1,500 YouTube subscribers and were flat broke. But by using discomfort as our compass, we felt like we’d found the cheat code.
We changed our name to Generation Y Not.
It was a grind. We shared a one-bedroom apartment with a bunch of friends, did odd side jobs, and created videos in our spare time.
One day, completely out of the blue, we got an email from Snapchat--pitching us to leave frigid Montreal, move to Venice, CA, and get paid to make videos for them. We thought it was a prank.
I mean, wouldn’t you?
We moved to Venice and got a house together, fondly referred to as “506.” And we changed our name again to... Yes Theory.
We finally started to hit our stride together. So many of our dreams started to unfold. It was crazy and wild and chaotic and the very reason we started this project together in the first place.
Along the way, we realized our mission was simple: Seek Discomfort.
Those two words had changed the course of our lives. We realized, in skydiving with strangers, throwing fashion shows, and pushing ourselves beyond our limits that--life’s most beautiful moments and meaningful connections exist outside our comfort zones.
2018 was the craziest year of our lives.
We hit one million subscribers on YouTube. Omg. We launched an apparel line called Seek Discomfort. Sweet.
After challenging him through a YouTube video, Ammar ended up bungee jumping out of a helicopter with Will Smith into the Grand Canyon on his 50th birthday. Insane.
We fooled the internet into believing Justin Bieber eats burritos sideways, which was one of our big “viral” moments. Wild.
Then, we started prepping for our first documentary, with the Iceman, Wim Hof. Cold.
Between the public wins, we have gone through immense private struggles - with families, insecurities, finances. But what’s kept us going is the massive dreams we had from the beginning, and the friendship we share.
Yes Theory is far more than just a YouTube channel to us. It’s a philosophy, a way of life, and a community. We call it our 1,000 Year Project because we hope to keep creating content, tools, and spaces for people to come to connect and seek discomfort together.
None of us knows exactly what the future holds, but we’re committed to building that vision… together. So, stay tuned. So much of this story is still unwritten⚡️🚀
