How creators blew up
Teardowns of creators who went from zero to a million: what they did, which post broke out, what it earns, and what you can learn from it
Cases
Free: the summary and charts of every case. Subscribers read every chapter.
| Creator | Platform | Monetization | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| X | 17.9K | 1.23M views on one article, day 11 of serious posting | — | ||
| Douyin | 377K | 100K 13 days after the switch | — | None yet | |
| X | 29.1K | 2.38M views on one article, day 26 of posting | — | ||
| X | 1.08M | About 8 months to 10K | $4.1M | ||
| YouTube | 5.37M | 53.3M views on the fourth Short after the switch | $7.6K–38K | ||
| 966K | 3.6M views 59 days in; 10K to 966K in 103 days | — | |||
| Xiaohongshu | 44.8K | 10K to 36K in 6 days | — | None yet | |
| TikTok | 240K | 1.8M views on the second book, video 30 | $24K–60K | ||
| Bilibili | 87K | About 8 days to 10K on Bilibili (estimated) | — | ||
| WeChat Channels | About 140K (self-reported) | About 1 month to 10K, 198 days to 100K (self-reported) | — |
Est. annual income is an annualized estimate calibrated on public data, covering X creator payouts, brand deals, paid communities and courses, and video ad revenue. Use it for order of magnitude only.
Dan Koe, every post in the order posted
Dan Koe- under 1×
- 1–3×
- 3–10×
- 10× and up
Years of short daily posts, then long articles from January 2026: far fewer posts, far more views on each. The hotter the colour, the more views against the account median.
Breakout moments
Each case’s biggest video, measured against that channel’s median views.
- 1
赵姐爱生活 (Zhaojie Ai Shenghuo) Xiaohongshu60后老姐记录生活扔垃圾拍摄剪辑全过程#教程 #视频制作教学 #剪辑教程 #记录365K likes18260× the median
- 2
喆FILM (Zhe Film) Xiaohongshu过来人 The OGs - 喆FILM181K likes15064× the median
- 3
EianXClaude code/Codex+Seedance AI视频：从一个想法到成片的全流程5.33M views8510× the median
- 4
Danielle | TikTok Growth CoachTikTokNew update trend for the holidays - autocut tutorial included! #newu...10.8M views8301× the median
- 5
诸葛青人不错 (Zhugeqing Renbucuo)Douyin你牛大了！DeepSeek生成的生僻字MV DeepSeek+Claude双模型组合做的 《生僻字》MV 音乐：@陈柯宇K-KO（杭州深圳巡演版） 《生僻字》384K likes3494× the median
What’s in a case
Every case follows the same chapters. The excerpts below are from Dan Koe. Read a free report →
- SummaryYears of short daily posts on one theme built the base; in 2026 he posted far less and put the effort into long, practical articles, each one a full method with exercises.Free
- How it happenedHe began in 2019 at 149 followers (self-reported) with daily self-improvement one-liners. In January 2026 he switched to long X articles; one reached 258M views. He also has 1.45M on YouTube and a software startup.Subscribers
- Why it workedShort daily posts on one themeSubscribers
- What went wrongReach is now in a few postsSubscribers
- How to copy itChoose one theme and post short versions of your ideas every day for a year.Subscribers
- Money and brandsHis own programs, courses and app; he promotes his own tools (Eden) far more than anyone else's.Subscribers
- Where it livesX: 7,326 main posts since Oct 31, 2019; 23 long articles since Jan 8, 2026.Subscribers
Every number is tagged
Which numbers are measured and which are our reading, at a glance
- Fact
straight from public data
e.g. 1.08M X followers
- Derived
calculated from facts
e.g. ~8 months To about 10K
- Estimate
from published pay ranges
- Self-reported
what the creator says
- Our read
our judgement
Hand a case to your AI
Every case exports as plain Markdown, ready to paste into any AI assistant.
- Open any case.
- Press “Copy for my agent”.
- Paste it with your goal, for example “adapt this format to my cooking channel”.
# Dan Koe (@thedankoe, X): Dan Koe cut X posts by three-quarters; median views rose 6× Report v1, data as of 2026-11-12. https://blewup.co/cases/dankoe/ He began in 2019 at 149 followers (self-reported) with daily self-improvement one-liners. In January 2026 he switched to long X articles; one reached 258M views. He also has 1.45M on YouTube and a software startup. ## The play Years of short daily posts on one theme built the base; in 2026 he posted far less and put the effort into long, practical articles, each one a full method with exercises.
For creators
Every case ends with a recipe: an idea generator, a script or shot template, production specs, and how many videos to give a format before you drop it.
For brands
Every case shows how the channel earns today and which brands would fit. Several accounts here pass a million followers and still show no sponsors.
Read every case in full
Every case opens with the summary and its charts. A subscription unlocks every chapter: how it happened, why it worked, what went wrong, how to copy it, the money and brand picture, and where else the format lives.
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Questions
How do I read a case?
Start with the summary: the play in one line, whether you can copy it, and the key findings. The first chapter charts every video in the order posted; the hotter the colour, the further it beat the account’s median. The later chapters cover why it worked, what went wrong, how to copy it and the money.
Can I trust the numbers?
Every number carries a tag that says how it is known: fact, derived, estimate, self-reported or our read. Facts come straight from public data; everything else is labelled as what it is.
How often are cases updated?
Every case shows its report version and the date its data is current to. When the data is refreshed or a reading revised, the version goes up and the change is listed in the case’s update log. New cases are added as they are finished.
Why are some cases in only one language?
Some creators and their audience live almost entirely in one language, so their case is written in that language only. Switching language on one of those cases takes you to the other language’s home page.
What can I read for free?
The summary of every case and the charts that open its first chapter.
What does a subscription cost?
The current price is on the subscribe page, read live from our payment provider. You can cancel any time from your account.
How do I use a case with my AI agent?
Open a case and press “Copy for my agent”. You get the whole case as Markdown to paste into ChatGPT, Claude or any other assistant.
I’m a brand. Where do I find who to sponsor?
Each case has a money and brands chapter: how the channel earns today, which brands would fit, the audience, engagement and the business contact.