Star Tech: Nuseir Yassin is empowering content creators to share their tips

Nuseir Yassin, a Palestinian-Israeli, who graduated from the Ivy League Harvard University and soon got a job that he hated and quit in no time, started making videos to make a living.

He founded Nas Daily, a page where he pledged to make 1,000 x one-minute videos for 1,000 days. That has now grown to over 47 million followers across Facebook, Instagram, YouTube, and TikTok.

Nuseir is also the chief executive officer (CEO) of two companies — Nas Academy and Nas Studios.

Nas Academy is a global education platform that empowers creators to build their own academy while Nas Studios is a media and production company, working with brands and organisations from all over the world.

Initially, Nas Academy, which was founded last year, was based out of Singapore, but soon it expanded and set up a shop in Dubai and Los Angeles.

Nuseir has raised $11 (Dh40.41) million in a Series A funding round to back content creators worldwide and build the world’s first platform for creator academies. And Dubai fits into his scheme of things, as it has emerged as a hub for innovation and an artificial intelligence-powered digital economy

The round was led by Lightspeed Venture Partners, with backing from San Francisco-based early-stage venture fund 500 Startups, Tel Aviv-based TechAviv Founder Partners, and angel investors, including Balaji Srinivasan, formerly a general partner at Andreessen Horowitz, OYO founder Ritesh Agarwal, entrepreneur Emilie Choi (President and COO at Coinbase), and US-based vlogger and creator Markian Benhamou, the founder of SmileSquad.

Nas Academy was founded as a platform for video creators to share their knowledge and formulate their own courses and academies for learners worldwide. The platform is known to offer classes and courses on content creation, entrepreneurship, storytelling, social media growth for a consolidated fee between $49 (Dh179.99) and $499 (Dh1,833).

However, discounted rates are offered for bundles of two or more courses.

Nas Daily has become a worldwide rage because of its one-minute über-cool videos on a range of topics and issues such as environmental, social and cultural norms, gender bias, identity politics, curious habits, culinary trends etc.

Nuseir grew up in the northern Israeli-Arab city of Arraba and emerged as one of the leading content creators on social media platforms over the past five years.

Khaleej Times caught up with Nuseir amid his growing interest in Dubai, which has emerged as the leading light for the ease of doing business in the Middle East and North Africa (Mena) region.

Excerpts from the interview:

What are the primary roles of Nas Daily, Nas Studios and Nas Academy?

Nas Daily was founded with a single mission: to become a force for good. We are telling stories from around the world to millions of individuals. It’s a lot of fun—and we believe what we are doing matters.

At Nas Studios, we believe in creating videos that leave a lasting impact on people all around the world — we have worked with social media platforms, corporates, tourism organisations, government bodies with the aim of telling their stories and helping them grow. Nas Academy is an online education platform for the creator economy.

Nas means people in Arabic and Nas Academy’s (The People’s Academy) mission is to empower creators to share their knowledge.

How did you come up with the concept?

Nas Daily came about because I set out to achieve a single mission: every day for 1,000 days, without ever missing a day, I would make a one-minute video.

And throughout my journey, I realised that the world is more than just the stuff you see on TV. I got to talk to humans who don’t normally get a say in mainstream media.

That’s why I want to build a company that is a force for good in the world; especially through Nas Academy, where I want to give everyone the chance to learn how to tell their own story—whether they are a student, a homemaker, or a child in a small village in Uganda.

How has the art of storytelling evolved through the years?

For a very long time, the media was controlled by the 1 per cent. But Twitter, YouTube, Facebook, Tiktok, and other platforms changed that, as new-age media distribution channels were made accessible to those belonging to the 99 per cent.

Anyone can pick up a camera, point it at their face, and upload it for millions to see. That being said, social media is constantly changing. So, you have to learn new skills to ensure your message comes across. And with Nas Academy, I’m not the only one teaching. I’m intentionally creating an inclusive platform for other successful creators, entrepreneurs, CEOs, and inspiring people everywhere to have the chance to teach and spread their skills to the 99 per cent. I often say “video is the language of the future,” and I stand by that statement.

What are the new-age skills on offer?

All the things they don’t teach you in school. These include:

• Monetisation options as a creator

• Scaling strategies to grow your following as a content creator

• Which social media platform to start off with

• Ways to master specific platforms

• How to repurpose your content for

multiple platforms

• Tips for hosting a Zoom event

• Practical advice to boost your confidence

• Drawing techniques for creature

animation

• Creative ways to produce films for

YouTube

• Taking pictures and videos with your smartphone

What is cohort learning?

A cohort-based course is a learning experience that is structured to learn online alongside a community: a group of students enter together, then graduate together. In a self-paced course, students would typically go through the course materials on their own, without any sense of community. That’s why cohort learning is a much more interactive and immersive experience for students — and that’s a big part of what leads to seven times higher completion rates at Nas Academy, in comparison to other online education platforms.

ALSO READ:

• 6 unexpected things we learnt from influencer Nas Daily

• Could you work for Nas Daily in Dubai?

You had received $11 (Dh40.41) million earlier this year... how are you scaling up your operations?

• Expanding our team to scale

• Increasing the number of creators teaching on our platform

• Partnering with other creator platforms like MX TakaTak to increase creator content on their applications (apps)

• Business
• Dubai