The Try Guys tried making their own streaming service–and it’s working, with Vimeo’s tools

With creator entrepreneurialism at an all-time high, more YouTube channels turned media companies have been exploring how to bulk up monetization and maintain control over their content by offering paywalled extras to fans. But going off-platform, away from things like YouTube’s Channel Memberships and Patreon’s monthly subscriptions, isn’t easy without technical and operational support.

Especially when you’re trying to design an entire custom streaming service.

That’s where Vimeo comes in. Founded in 2004, it was around for the birth of digital video, and sought to differentiate itself from platforms like YouTube by offering creator services like content production and distribution tools.

Fast-forward over two decades later, and Vimeo’s latest offering for creators is perhaps its most robust yet: Vimeo Streaming, which lets them build their own “Netflix-style streaming services,” so they can reach audiences with extra and exclusive content in a place where revenue isn’t reliant on platforms.

Through Vimeo Streaming, creators get beefy video hosting and playback tools, monetization, and sleek design. Vimeo also handles streaming services’ infrastructure coding, plus customer support and troubleshooting tickets.

Vimeo Streaming officially launched to the public a couple months ago, but it’s already been used by major creators like the Sidemen, Dropout, and the Try Guys, who used it to build their streamer 2nd Try.

The Try Guys got their start making content at BuzzFeed, and went independent in 2018, taking control of the official Try Guys YouTube channel and continuing to produce their core series plus several spinoff shows, like Eat the Menu, Without a Recipe, and Trolley Problems. Their content lived only on YouTube until May 2024, when they booted up 2nd Try thanks to Vimeo Streaming’s framework.

For $4.99/month, fans who subscribe to 2nd Try get exclusive content, plus uncensored and ad-free versions of everything posted to the Guys’ YouTube channel. They also get early access to new episodes. Back when the Guys introduced the service, they said 2nd Try gave them the ability to view YouTube as less of a home, and more of a marketing tool.

“[W]e now get to treat YouTube and any other social media platform as just that, a social media platform, where we are using it to reach new people and excite them as opposed to entirely relying on our ability to survive as a business on them and their ad dollars,” Zach Kornfeld said.

So, how’s that been working out? It’s a year since launch, and the Guys tell Tubefilter that the biggest hurdle with running 2nd Try has been “how to serve two audiences simultaneously.”

“We were steadfast in launching that we wanted to add new value for our 2nd Try audience while not taking away anything from the YouTube audiences that’s supported us for 10 years,” they say. “A year into it, that’s something we’re still navigating and trying to perfect. But that work has absolutely been worth it, and we’re having more fun creating than ever before. I think that the audience can feel that, too.”

One thing that hasn’t been a hurdle? The setup or running of 2nd Try.

“Working with Vimeo allows us to have a streaming platform that looks and feels professional without needing to know a lick of coding. They focus on the 0s and 1s, we get to focus on the content,” the Guys explain.

They have plans to add a free tier soon, where viewers will get one exclusive video a month without paying anything. That’s “something we hope can entice new viewers into giving the platform a shot,” they say.

Running 2nd Try has allowed the Guys to become “more seasonal in our shooting, which we find better for our creativity,” they say. Their process now is closer to shooting chunks of TV than trying to schedule one episode of a show here and another there, with interruptions for filming other programming.

“Currently, we’re on the road filming a new season of The Try Guys while leaving notes on season 2 of New Guy Tries, and when we get back we get to film a brand new show that we piloted on 2nd Try earlier last year,” the Guys say. “Formats used to be ‘always on’ which is very exhausting from a production and creative perspective, so the seasonality of it all allows for our brains to refresh and, hopefully, build up audience anticipation.”

Through all of this, the Guys feel like they’ve been able to form a stronger connection with their fanbase–a connection that relies on using 2nd Try (and Vimeo Streaming’s capabilities) as a vehicle to give fans more of what they love.

“It’s all about the new value you add. Viewers don’t want to pay for things they’re used to getting for free. So it’s all about creating new formats (that couldn’t succeed elsewhere) and having a clear value proposition,” they say. “Transparency is crucial. We’ve found our audience is most invested when they feel like they’re part of it… and that also makes them more understanding when things inevitably aren’t executed perfectly. We’re trying our hardest to deliver them value and want them to be on that journey with us.”