You know who these guys are, whether it was in one of their many reviews, in person, or on Instagram, you’ll know that these two guys sitting in cars are one of the fastest-growing YouTube channels right now, and we got to interview them. “I’m Jakub!” ”I’m Yuri!” “And we’re going for a drive!” That’s their phrase, you’ll remember these guys after reading this 10 question interview with them.
1. What got you started and why?
I started the channel in 2012 filming exhaust videos. I was shopping for aftermarket exhausts for my Subaru WRX and noticed that almost every video that showed the exhaust sound had wind noise, people laughing, filming with cell phones in portrait mode at night, etc. They all lacked quality so I wanted to solve that problem myself by trying to make the best intake/exhaust sound videos. After a few years of doing that on the side of having a real office job, Yuri and I decided to film car reviews so that we can get more access to cool cars and it's worked out so far!
2. Why cars/automotive stuff?
I've just always liked cars. They're fun and bring people together.
3. What has surprised you the most since starting to do this?
The amount of success we've had. As weird as that sounds, I didn't really expect this to take off and do as well as it has. So I'm grateful for everyone that has subscribed, watched, and supported us.
4. How has this changed you as a person?
I'm still the same person I always have been, except now I have a job that doesn't feel like a job. I've worked harder than I've ever worked because it's my own business (50/50 with Yuri of course).
5. What are the things that inspire you the most?
The success of the Grand Tour (formerly Top Gear) trio. The fact that they were able to stay together all these years and also control their own content with their own production company.
6. Is there an achievement or video that you are most proud of, why?
Being able to make a living from a YouTube channel is a crazy achievement to me. I never wanted to be on camera or be famous or anything like that, I've always wanted to do something I love and be able to make a living from it.
7. What have you learned that you would share with others about starting something new and unique?
Whatever you're thinking about starting, just start it. Don't keep thinking about it and not doing it.
8. If you had a crystal ball how do you think things will look with The Straight Pipes in 5 years? Where do you want things to go?
With the way YouTube works, I have no idea where we'll be in 5 years. Maybe we'll be stuck at 1 Million subscribers, or maybe we'll be at 10 Million. All I know is that I love what I'm doing and would like to continue being able to do this for as long as possible. I would like to be successful enough that we can hire people to do the things that take up a lot of time that we don't enjoy doing. There's a lot of emailing, scheduling, editing, meetings, lawyers, negotiations, accounting, social media, phone calls, etc. that go on behind the scenes. It would be nice to re-focus our time into what we're best at, two guys having fun with cars and making videos about it.
9. How did you guys meet?
Highschool! We had some classes together but mostly through snowboarding and hanging out.
10. If you both could have your ultimate dream car (money no object), what would it be?
Since we mentioned this in one of our recent videos, you'll have to watch our Attainable Dream Car Road Trip video to find out ;)
Go follow Jakub and Yuri @thestraightpipes on Instagram and subscribe to them on YouTube for the best car reviews you can get!