The crowd erupted into enthusiastic cheers as Tyler Toney appeared doing driving stunts in a monster truck. Almost 15,000 people—myself included—had waited hours to see the five Dude Perfect YouTubers make an appearance. Throughout the evening, the crowd only grew more ecstatic as the Dudes told stories, played games, and competed in a demolition derby. Where did Dude Perfect’s popularity begin? The story of Dude Perfect centers around five young college graduates who seized an entrepreneurial opportunity that became wildly successful.
While Tyler Toney is largely the most recognizable figurehead of the group, Dude Perfect’s magnetism is found in the collection of all five members—Tyler Toney, Cody Jones, Cory and Coby Cotton, and Garrett Hilbert. While some entrepreneurs enter their field with the goal of making a profit, such was not the case with Tyler Toney and his college friends. Dude Perfect was founded in 2009 when the college roommates filmed a video of them doing trick shots while playing backyard basketball and posted it to YouTube to show their friends and families. The next morning, the Dudes were astonished to find that it had gone viral overnight. After posting more trick-shot videos, it did not take long for their channel to explode and to accumulate over one million subscribers. After five years, all five members—several of whom were newly married—agreed to quit their jobs and devote themselves full-time to Dude Perfect. As one of the Cotton twins stated, “We just felt like we were on to something and we just wanted to keep making fun videos.” The YouTube channel soon expanded from merely trick shots into comedy, contests, and much more. Today, the Dudes have accumulated almost 57 million YouTube subscribers—one of the largest on the platform—; have created several other side YouTube channels; regularly go on tour, entertaining audiences in the tens of thousands; sell merchandise and books; and create social impact by working with children’s hospitals and groups such as Make-a-Wish Foundation.
The story of Dude Perfect comprises a unique and inspiring illustration of entrepreneurship. The young college roommates did not try to find a niche, but rather a niche found them. When they recognized the want for more content, they committed to it and fulfilled that demand. Further, they have helped fill a gap in the entertainment world, creating high-quality and family-friendly content that appeals to people of all ages. Like true entrepreneurs, the Dudes are constantly looking for new ways to reach more people. As Ty said, from day one, “Each video had to be better than the last, and that’s honestly been our philosophy ever since.” Every day, their electric personalities and competitive spirits intrigue thousands. If we can learn one thing from these young entrepreneurs, it is this: sometimes big opportunities can present themselves when we seize seemingly small opportunities.
I actually almost chose Dude Perfect as my choice too! I absolutely love the way that they not only have stuck together through all of their struggles as a group, but the way that they all demonstrate their concrete faith in God throughout their lives on and off of the internet. I think it is a big risk to show your faith on the internet, however, the dudes took a chance and, by the grace of God, it has payed off big time!
This story is very intriguing to me. Dude Perfect did not try to specifically target an audience. Dude the content of their videos, they were naturally able to amass a large audience. They intended to share something with the world that they are passionate about and paid dividends in their lives greatly.
I grew up watching dude perfect, trying so hard to replicate their tricks. It really is wild seeing them acquire such a large audience compared to their inception. Seeing their channel become one of the largest is impressive. The fact that they’re able to do so much charitable good with it as well is truly magnificent.
I think this blog post is really cool. I used to watch a lot of Dude Perfect so naturally when I saw an article about Dude Perfect I had to read it. I didn’t really know their story so reading about their 2009 video going viral was very informing.
It strikes me that a key lesson is that the guys of Dude perfect discovered their current profession simply by doing what they loved. Pursing passions can often end in failure, and certainly I would never advise anyone blindly chase unobtainable dreams. But they didn’t pursue some grandiose dream; they just recorded themselves having fun and uploaded it to Youtube. Sometimes it is that simple.