This article reflects our journey at the time of original publication. As of early 2026, we're now seeing approximately 300,000 views monthly across our channels. The system described here is what made that growth possible.

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We started where most founders start. One video a week, if we were lucky. Quality was inconsistent. We were burning out. And the numbers reflected it: 817 views in our first month of taking content seriously.

Three months later, we hit 40,000 monthly views. We were producing 8 long-form videos and over 40 shorts. The founders were spending less time on content, not more.

Here's the system we built.

Where We Started (And Why It Was Broken)

Before we built any system, we were doing everything ourselves. Ideation, scripting, recording, editing, thumbnails, scheduling, posting. One long-form video consumed an entire day. Sometimes more.

The quality suffered because we were learning multiple skills simultaneously. We're software developers. We know how to build products. We didn't know how to color grade footage or write hooks that stop the scroll.

We were spending 90% of our time on content and 10% on the actual business. That ratio was backwards, and we knew it.

The 90/10 Problem

When content consumes most of your time, you're not building a business. You're building a media company that happens to have a product.

For a while, we convinced ourselves this was necessary. "Content is a long-term play." "You have to put in the reps." All true, but not sustainable if the business stagnates while you're filming.

We needed to flip the ratio. Spend 10% of founder time on content, 90% on the business. But the output couldn't drop. If anything, it needed to increase.

That meant building a machine.

Building the Machine

The first step was acknowledging we needed help. Not eventually. Now.

We hired a Head of Content to own the pipeline. Someone who could ideate topics, coordinate production, and keep everything moving without founder involvement in every decision.

Then editors. We started with one, added more as volume increased. Remote hires, working asynchronously. We'd hand off raw footage, they'd return polished cuts.

Script support came next. Research, outlines, talking points. The founder still delivered the content, but the preparation was handled.

Finally, publishing and distribution. Someone to schedule posts, repurpose long-form into shorts, manage the social calendar.

Each hire removed a bottleneck. Each bottleneck removed freed founder time.

The Pipeline That Runs Itself

Here's what the system looks like now:

Ideation: Head of Content maintains a backlog of topics based on what's working, audience feedback, and strategic priorities. Founders can add ideas, but the pipeline doesn't depend on founder input.

Scripting: Research and outlines are prepared before recording. The founder reviews and adds their perspective, but the heavy lifting is done.

Recording: Founders block time for recording. That's the main time investment. Show up, deliver, done.

Editing: Footage goes to editors immediately. Async handoff means edits often come back overnight.

Review: Timestamped feedback in Clipflow. No back-and-forth emails. Specific notes on specific moments.

Publishing: Scheduled and posted by the team. Repurposed into shorts. Distributed across platforms.

The founders touch two steps: reviewing scripts and recording. Everything else is handled.

Results: The Numbers

Month 1 (founders doing everything): 817 views Month 2 (team starting): 12,000 views Month 3: 37,000 views Month 4: 40,000+ views

Production went from 1 long-form and maybe 2 shorts to 8 long-form and 40+ shorts monthly.

The content compounded. More videos meant more surface area for discovery. Shorts drove traffic to long-form. Long-form built deeper trust.

And the founders? We went from 90% content time to maybe 10%. The business started getting the attention it needed.

What Made It Work

Three things made the difference:

Hiring before we felt ready. We didn't wait until we could "afford" a team. We hired when the pain of doing everything ourselves was too high.

Building for async. Every process was documented. Every handoff was clear. The system didn't require everyone to be online at the same time.

Letting go of control. The first few videos the team produced weren't exactly how we would have done them. That was okay. Consistency at volume beats perfection at low output.

The system isn't complicated. It's just intentional. And it works.