If you want to build something big without getting buried in operations, this story shows what it actually takes to do that.

The Story

I reached out to Niklas Christl in 2022 with a cold message.

His YouTube channel stood out immediately.
The storytelling was world class.
The audience trust was real.

We started with a few smaller projects and quickly saw the bigger opportunity. If we wanted to build a meaningful business, it had to be done differently.

From the start, we agreed on one thing.
Nik should stay focused on creating.
Operations should never slow him down.

Story Hero Academy was a massive project. The product development alone was complex and time-intensive. 9 modules. High production standards. A creative team that eventually grew to eight people.

That meant tight timelines, constant dependencies, and a production pipeline that could easily fall apart without structure.

I handled the entire operational side.

I owned the project planning from start to finish.
I managed timelines, priorities, and dependencies.
I built the operating system from scratch.

We designed the team structure and clear ownership.
We installed a strong meeting cadence so decisions happened without friction.
Weekly rhythms replaced chaos.

I created SOPs for production, marketing, and fulfillment.
I built the full Notion workspace as the single source of truth.
Everything lived in one place and everyone knew what to do.

Creative production was the hardest part. Managing editors, animators, marketers, and launches at this level was new and complex.

Nik stayed out of daily execution.
The team moved forward independently.
The system carried the weight for over 3 years!

As Nik has said himself, this project would never have come to life without that operational foundation.

One thing was clear: The academy did not just launch. It became a real business.

The Results

Story Hero Academy launched as a full-scale education business on Nov 2025.

• A team of 8 people operating with clarity
• A complex creative production pipeline running smoothly
• Over $400K in sales in just the first 2 weeks.
• Nik fully removed from day-to-day operations
• A scalable foundation built for long-term growth

While we were working together, Nik’s YouTube channel grew from 100,000 subscribers to over 900,000 subscribers.

That growth happened without him taking on more operational work.

He stayed focused on creating. The systems carried the business.

Nik's Words

“This project would never have come to life without Ali. From the very beginning, he built everything in a way that allowed me to stay focused on creating instead of getting pulled into operations. The systems, structure, and clarity he brought made it possible to build something this big without burning out. I could not have done this on my own.”

The Investment

This was structured as a profit-share partnership.

Instead of a fixed fee, we aligned incentives long term. I received a significant share of the profits in exchange for building and running the operational backbone of the business and continuing to support its growth.

This ensured maximum commitment on both sides and reflected the level of value delivered.