Mike Fernie - Leaving DriveTribe and Going Solo

About this episode

Mike Fernie discusses his transition from DriveTribe to creating content independently on his YouTube channel.

Mike Fernie spent 8+ years at DriveTribe, became Head of Video, and helped build some of the channel’s most-loved nerdy engine deep dives — now he’s gone solo on his own YouTube channel. We talk Clarkson/Hammond/May behind-the-scenes, how YouTube actually rewards consistency, and what Mike’s building next (including a big-turbo XJS and the infamous V10 MX-5). https://www.youtube.com/Mike_Fernie Enjoy. Show Notes: 00:00 Mike Fernie: the quick backstory (engineering → car media)03:06 Leaving DriveTribe: why he went solo (and what changes)06:05 Making videos people actually finish: workflow + production choices08:56 What the audience really responds to: retention, comments, feedback loops12:10 DriveTribe’s evolution: what worked, what got harder over time14:58 From mech eng to car journalism: how Mike got in18:02 Did DriveTribe change car YouTube / car journalism?20:55 The next phase of content: personal brands vs “channels with presenters”23:54 Favourite videos + experimenting creatively (what he’d do more of)56:00 Icon cars: reliability, running costs, and what’s actually worth owning1:00:48 Mike’s car taste: the stuff he’s drawn to (and why)1:04:09 Project car plans: ambitions…

People in this episode

Host: Sam Moores

Guest: Mike Fernie

Topics covered

• YouTube content creation
• car journalism
• DriveTribe
• personal branding
• video production

Keywords

• DriveTribe
• YouTube
• car media
• video production
• engine design

Mentioned in this episode

Organizations: DriveTribe

Products: XJS, V10 MX-5