Derral Eves believes anyone can grow an audience on YouTube.
That’s why, in 2013, he launched VidSummit, an annual bizdev concert for creators at every stage of their careers. Heading into the 2026 event–which runs Sept. 29-Oct. 1 at the Irving Convention Center in Texas and is expecting all-time-high attendance–Eves says VidSummit continues to have a crucial role in our space.
“For me, if you want to create a future you believe in, you need to be an active participant in the present to make that happen,” Eves tells Tubefilter. “I can honestly say there was a time where I really feared for future generations, and the reason was that the content everybody was watching and engaging with and being inspired by, some of it was very deplorable.”
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Launching VidSummit helped Eves find a community of passionate, professional, and cause-dedicated creators who wanted to make meaningful (and of course entertaining) content, he says.
“These creators are contributing their amazing gifts to make the world a better place in their own niches. That’s what inspires me,” he says. “That’s why I grind. It’s not about the fame, it’s not about the money. I couldn’t care less about that. It’s about the impact. Any project I gravitate toward, everything I do, I think, Okay, what’s the generational impact?”
While VidSummit is a major part of Eves’ efforts to help these contributing creators grow their audiences and turn their digital presences into long-term businesses, it’s not the only way he spreads his message.
In 2021, he published The YouTube Formula, an in-depth guide built from his years of experience growing more than two dozen channels to over a million subscribers each and 60+ billion collective views.
The core advice in that book is still actionable here in 2026–but so much has changed that Eves felt it was time for an update.
The YouTube Formula 2.0 released Sept. 15 and is a “field manual” for all modern creators, Eves says, with additions like real-world case studies from creators who read the original book and put Eves’ advice into action. Readers dive into chapters like Try, Fail, Analyze, Adjust: A YouTube History Lesson, The Algorithm Breakdown, Why Most YouTube Channels Fail to Succeed, Recon and Research Before You Record, YouTube Shorts: The Fastest Way to Get Found on YouTube, and Small Tweaks, Big Peaks.
“The foundation [of the book] hasn’t really changed, but the landscape has changed dramatically,” Eves says.
For example, “Shorts were coming on pretty hot when I wrote the first book, and it was kind of hit or miss on how it was going to integrate,” he notes.
He says the biggest changes from 1.0 to 2.0 is around “the type of content people are consuming–short-form, long-form, livestream, podcasts,” plus how “YouTube has taken over the television. Just in the last couple years they’ve really aggressively taken over the television, and it’s changed the way people watch TV.”
YouTube has also given creators a new wealth of information about their content performance, Eves says. When he published 1.0, “all we had was new viewer and returning viewer.”
“Now [with YouTube’s added metrics] we’re able to deep dive into the viewer at a granular level,” he says. 2.0 includes real examples of how creators can find, analyze, and utilize performance metrics to grow their channels.
As for including case studies, Eves says those were crucial. “We included what these creators learned and what clicked with them and why, and the global impacts it can have on individual brands or businesses.”
Another big development area Eves addresses is generative AI; he says “the pedal has been to the floor” there for the last four years, and won’t let up anytime soon.
Ultimately, Eves hopes The YouTube Formula 2.0 can be a little slice of VidSummit for any creator, whether they’re newbie or seasoned, a hobbyist or planning to make our industry their career. (Obviously, though, he hopes creators who read will join him and 4,000+ attendees in the years to come.)
“I’ve had people with 50 million plus subscribers get value out of this information, and I’ve had people who haven’t even started a channel yet,” he says. “My favorite type of comments I get are when kids want to read it, and their parents are encouraging them along the way. I do treat it not as a textbook, but more as a manual of understanding how humans respond to content.”
If you want to catch Eves at this year’s VidSummit, a limited number of tickets are still available here.
VidSummit is a Tubefilter partner.
