The Truth About fern

Lore & Beginnings (Jonas / Yonas)

Jonas explains the founders’ background:

• He and David met in German high school.
• They later created German satire-style channels (including Zimpletimos → “Zimply”).
• While studying in the Netherlands, they ran a commentary channel.
• Their early inspiration came from a long list of edutainment/investigation creators such as CGP Grey, Veritassium, Vsauce, and others.

First English Attempt with “Reezy”

In summer 2019, they tried English content with Reezy, and it gained traction quickly:

• They reached 100k subscribers within the first ~4–5 videos.
• A notable reaction: Simone Yet tweeted about a video involving Shell’s greenwashing, shortly before her Wired cover.
• Eventually, the channel fizzled, and they joke that “the banner has been a big ass lie ever since.”

Funk Turning Point + Leaving

Around the same period, Zimply joined Funk (a German public-broadcaster-funded youth content network):

• Jonas credits Funk with professional training and stability.
• They left in 2022, partly because restarting Reezy became nearly impossible.
• They also mention a Russian hackers / dark-web project that exists on Fern, but it’s missing “cool interviews” due to legal issues.

How the Fern Team Formed (and the Name)

They meet Elmer, an animator behind the channel Hook. Living in Amsterdam, the three bond over what YouTube lacks.

• The plan: combine Elmer’s 3D animation storytelling with David and Jonas’s journalism and experience building channels at scale.
• The name Fern is explained as a wordplay tied to German concepts (homesickness + TV watching), and designed to work in English (including green branding).

Fern launches on July 11, 2023.

Early Viral Momentum + a Speedbump

Fern becomes closely associated with the era of “mystery board / AI slop thumbnails”:

• Their 3D thumbnail style spreads widely and becomes a recognizable feature.
• They clarify they didn’t fully invent the concept.
• They even mention asking a friend (Neo) for permission to create a version inspired by his Bin Laden thumbnail style.

But after:

• about 4 months and ~15 videos,
• Elmer quits (not dramatically).

Reasoning given: the workflow—constant Blender experimentation, script pressure, and the desire for Hook to keep up—wasn’t sustainable for him. He remains involved via voiceovers.

Overload Leads to Restructuring

With Elmer gone, Jonas and David struggle to run Fern and other projects in parallel while managing a large team (around 60 people). They describe a stress-heavy environment involving:

• HR, sales, legal, operations, and coordination

So much so that it becomes hard to focus on content quality.

Partnering with Electrify (Major Upgrade)

They decide to work with Electrify, described as:

• creator investment + operational support
• while creators retain editorial control
• and sponsorships have a veto power mechanism

They mention validating the model through Derek from Veritasium, whose work-life balance improved.

• Fern partners starting Jan 1, 2025
• It becomes “a game changer”

Electrify takes over many internal functions (HR, sales, legal, etc.), enabling Fern to focus on:

• higher quality, more in-depth videos
• bigger teams (including a writer room + production)
• improved visual quality

They also highlight a Wakan production sent to Afghanistan that has already won four awards.

How Videos Get Made (and Why It’s Expensive)

Fern describes a pipeline-like workflow:

• 100 people total involved at any given time (not all full-time)
• Typically ~30 projects running concurrently
• Story selection
• Research: days to weeks
• Interviews worldwide (including film crews)
• Script written by a main journalist under editorial supervision
• Fact-checking, with possible input from outside experts
• Post-production: ~2–4 months (art direction, 2D/3D animators, sound design, music, and more)

Funding & Sponsorship Limits (Plus the AI Note)

Fern has two main income streams:

• AdSense (view-driven, increases packaging pressure)
• Sponsors (with little/no editorial oversight; Fern rejects almost all, but view pressure still applies)

They argue that AI isn’t great for creative tasks, though it can help in other areas. Still, they note the difficulty of balancing “what we recommend.”

They also say some hard topics—such as investigations into Gaza—are difficult to monetize with sponsors, which motivates diversification.

New “Third Pillar”: Roots Newsletter

To reduce dependence on views and sponsors, Fern launches Roots, starting with a:

• free newsletter
• a couple of stories every other week
• no ads
• strong graphics
• updates and thoughts from the team

It’s positioned as community-building while major investigative work continues.

Notable end bit / jokes: Jonas jokes, “Sorry, Amar. I totally ripped that one from your previous bio,” then teases the newsletter with a reference to a “Minecraft most fascinating server and a crazy hacker cable.”

Personalities Mentioned

• Jonas / Yonas
• David
• Elmer (from Hook)
• Derek (Veritasium)