Meet the Secret YouTube Strategist Behind Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestley

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Lift Off with Aman Manazir

Aman Manazir

6 episodes

3 hours ago

Lift Off with Aman Manazir helps ambitious people escape the 9-to-5 and build businesses that give them freedom. Through interviews with top founders and straight-to-the-point educational content, Aman shares the exact lessons, systems, and mindset shifts that took him from a six-figure software engineer to a millionaire entrepreneur in his 20s. If you want to think bigger, build faster, and create a life on your own terms, this show will give you the playbook.

All content for Lift Off with Aman Manazir is the property of Aman Manazir and is served directly from their servers with no modification, redirects, or rehosting. The podcast is not affiliated with or endorsed by Podjoint in any way.

Entrepreneurship

Education,

Business

Meet the Secret YouTube Strategist Behind Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestley

Lift Off with Aman Manazir

1 hour 2 minutes

2 weeks ago

Meet the Secret YouTube Strategist Behind Ali Abdaal and Daniel Priestley

Today, Aman sits down with Safwaan, the strategist behind Ali Abdaal, Daniel Priestley, and Ryan Deiss — to break down the systems and mental models powering the biggest creators on YouTube. Safwaan reveals why real breakthroughs take 400+ videos, the invisible teams behind people like Alex Hormozi, and why Average View Duration is the only algorithm that matters in 2025.

They also explore Safwaan’s unconventional path into entrepreneurship — from selling Xboxes for chickens and running a cable business at 13, to losing £10K in Forex before finding his lane in YouTube strategy.

This episode is for anyone who wants to understand how elite creators grow, how to build a powerful network, and how to create content that lasts.

🎧 Listen to all episodes of Lift Off on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@LiftOffPod

Listen to our new podcast, @TheEntropyShow: https://youtu.be/MDJQXbXPngg?si=vQqITmNzy3fhfcV1

💌 Free weekly productivity insights/advice – https://amanmanazir.com/newsletter

📷 Instagram – https://www.instagram.com/amanmanazir/

🐦 Twitter – https://twitter.com/amanmanazir

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⏱️ Timestamps:

00:00 Introduction
00:55 YouTube Manager Behind Ali Abdaal
01:09 Why YouTube Success Takes 400+ Videos
02:06 How Top Entrepreneurs Approach YouTube Differently
03:10 The Invisible Teams Behind Alex Hormozi
05:51 The 20-Person Team You Don't See
06:23 Key Roles: Editors, Strategists, Designers
08:46 What Made Ali, Ryan & Daniel Stand Out
10:05 How to Build an Elite Network
12:07 Treating Airport Terminals Like Bus Stops
15:56 Organizing Events Creates Exponential Growth
16:33 Learning Bias to Action From Ali
17:08 Working For Ali: Boss to Friend
21:56 Why Ali Abdaal Employees All Leave
23:05 Entrepreneurial Teams vs Long-Term Retention
24:53 Creative Disagreements With Ali Abdaal
27:15 Testing Thumbnails With Data Not Opinion
28:43 Business Needs vs Influencer Desires
29:52 Selling Xbox for Chickens at Age 11
34:20 Building a Cable Business at 13
36:42 Making Tens of Thousands as a Teenager
38:55 The £10K Forex Trading Loss
41:36 Should You Work for Entrepreneurs First?
44:02 Starting the YouTube Agency
47:42 Why Agency Model Actually Works
49:48 What Really Works on YouTube Today
49:56 Average View Duration Over Everything
51:29 Why Retention Editing Is Overhyped
52:38 How to Write Hooks Sentence by Sentence
54:15 What Separates Channels That Last
56:19 Why You Must Keep Reinventing Yourself
57:44 Ryan Deiss Going All-In on YouTube
58:51 Build Authority Offline or Online First?
1:00:13 Financial Freedom Playbook for Your 20s
1:01:46 Outro