Friends of Max Chernov

Just came back to my hotel room from a YouTubers conference in Bangkok. I met quite a lot of new people, and in most cases I was the one to start the conversation. It felt very natural, and I had an inner confidence. That actually surprised me a little. I’ve always been active in networking at business events, but I remember how I used to force myself to approach someone first. I still did it, but often it felt cringy, or like I was trying too hard. But somehow that changed over time. Maybe it’s because in the last three years I’ve conducted hundreds of interviews with so many different people. Or maybe I’ve just become more confident in how I look, talk, and move haha. Anyway, an interesting bit of self-reflection.

Having Russian food in Bangkok (ok technically it’s Georgian-Greek but they serve Ukrainian Borsch for example haha)

I’m not Singaporean, but I love this place. Many of Singapore’s values resonate with me. Though I’ve had my ups and downs here, I feel like part of the family. Sometimes I meet viewers who say I’ve motivated them to move here or even apply for citizenship. I’m low-key proud to have played my part in showing this beautiful place to the world and breaking some of the misconceptions that exist about Singapore abroad. So, happy National Day! Happy birthday, Singapore 🇸🇬

My interviewee today is Ho Kwon Ping, the founder of Banyan Tree — one of the most inspirational people I’ve ever met. He’s one of the richest people in Singapore — a 73-year-old prominent entrepreneur who built a hotel empire across 28 countries. One of the key takeaways from our conversation: don’t sleepwalk through your life.

Still looking for a personal assistant.

Definitely need some haircut (and sleep) Btw Hong Kong video is doing well! Almost 500 comments since last night! Lots of different opinions (which if good!)

Our first interview in Hong Kong — I’m super excited! I’ve been planning to do interviews there, and this one is just mind-blowing. British activist Judith Mackay is 81 and has lived in Hong Kong for 60 years, fighting global tobacco corporations. She’s met world leaders and advised them on tobacco regulations — from Putin to Lee Kuan Yew and many more. Every time I meet someone like this, I remind myself — I have the best job in the world! Alright, watch the video now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7dJF89_sHVI

Btw, we’ve strategically decided to stop posting YouTube Shorts for now. The reason is simple — to get big results with Shorts, we’d need a fully dedicated team and business process just for them. So far, they’ve only been a second priority. We’ve been creating Shorts from our long-form videos, using AI and some manual tweaks — but that’s not enough. Instead, we’re shifting our main focus to producing long-form videos for a broader audience. More planning, more preparation, and even more interesting people to interview. Our internal goal is to create a long-form video that hits 10 million views. Let’s see if we can make it happen.

Just got the black badge tick for our channel! It’s pretty rare to get verified by YouTube these days — even many large channels never receive it. So this feels like a cool achievement. I’m happy!

It worked out! Here’s the point where we changed the title and thumbnail—people started clicking on the video much more! That’s the game of YouTube. By the way, I’ll be hosting an online YouTube workshop for those who want to start their own channel. Grab your seat here (it’s free): https://www.shym.sg/workshop

Damn! The video isn’t performing as expected. We’ve just changed the title and set 3 new thumbnails in rotation for testing. Let’s see how it goes…

Why are Singaporeans so obsessed with Japan? We’ve been working on this short video for a while, and I think we’ve made a great final product. Go check it out and let me know what you think in the comments! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WnHHvB5AoPQ

Back to Singapore. I missed home!!!

500!! 🎉 thanks, everyone for being here!

Do you guys know any foreigners living in Hanoi? I’m looking for someone to interview — especially Americans P.S. And how come we are still not 500 here?? need one more 😅

Remember Mohan, the billionaire I interviewed last year at his mansion in Phuket? I met him again (the beauty of my job haha). He shared an idea for a networking group he’s creating, and it instantly gave me inspiration for something similar in my own business — that’s the power of speaking to incredibly smart and experienced people!

Just interviewed a Singaporean who spent five years in a Singapore prison.

Got pretty busy the last few days. We came to Phuket with the family for a month, so I had to sort out some logistics—housing, a car, summer camp for my older daughter, etc. All good now. Phuket feels like home; we’ve been here a million times. The best part is that it’s low season, so there aren’t many people and the traffic is light. What’s new? I received around 150 applications for the Personal Assistant role—pretty crazy. So many people want to join a project they see potential in and that resonates with them. Honestly, I don’t know how I’d hire anyone if I didn’t have social media and YouTube. Out of the 150 applications, I sent a set of questions to about half of them to assess their personality traits. Got 50 form submissions back. Then I filtered out the ones who matched my criteria and just this morning sent a test assignment to the finalists, with a 48-hour deadline. I’ll keep you posted on how I choose the right PA. Also, I’ve already scheduled a couple of interviews for my YouTube channel here in Phuket, and I’m heading to Chiang Mai for a few days. If you know anyone interesting to interview there—entrepreneurs or content creators—let me know. P.S. Phuket feels hotter than Singapore right now. Crazy.