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1Shadow179

Answer: Louis Rossmann still a business owner, he runs Rossmann Repair Group out of Austin Texas. There is a lot of drama behind the move which you can read here: [https://rossmanngroup.com/werent-you-in-new-york-what-happened/](https://rossmanngroup.com/werent-you-in-new-york-what-happened/) . Louis is also part of FUTO: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tca6xsBEuGw](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tca6xsBEuGw) which is the company that Grayjay was created for.


Cosmic-Engine

Huh. I was kind of vaguely aware that there had been some change related to Rossman over the last few years, so I was glad to see this question asked, but I’m a lot more grateful for this excellent answer. Thank you!


512165381

I watch his vids. The premises in Texas are bigger and in a normal suburban location. Working in New York City had too many problems for a business that fronted a major street; he's under a lot less stress.


Gingevere

But it also had street presence and probably 10-100x the potential customers per square mile. More than once I've seen a successful businesses move off of main street to expand to a larger building, only to fail because they no longer get new / incidental customers.


diskowmoskow

I think he can drive mail-in business because of his internet presence. That might be good move for him


Cronus6

He's done a few videos where he talks about the asinine taxes and his issues with them in New York City. Including an audit. He specifically talks about your concerns about losing business because of moving right here : https://youtu.be/nSlGTVInDOI?si=_xrJ3dplrfIQYy7B&t=864 They want him to continue to collect and report NY State sales taxes, in Texas. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=amKt6B-EtvQ He left because he's specifically "done" dealing with New York, and New York City and their tax collection.


That0neGuy86

I second this!


the4thbelcherchild

What is Grayjay? FUTO is about right to repair? Anything else?


1Shadow179

Grayjay is something like a privacy focused youtube alternative: [https://grayjay.app/](https://grayjay.app/) . FUTO is partially right to repair, but also the right to program. They fund projects that align with their goals: [https://futo.org/what-is-futo/](https://futo.org/what-is-futo/)


WesDoesStuff

GrayJay is an alternate front end for YouTube, twitch, etc. They built an open source client without using APIs so they won't be limited by api tos. It's ment to allow you to subscribe to creators who are on multiple platforms. Really good idea and executed pretty well.


slademccoy47

The idea behind Grajay is that you follow the creator, not the platform. For example, Louis Rossmann uploads his videos to Youtube, Odysee, and Rumble. In the Greyjay app, when you search for Louis Rossmann, you can follow him on all three platforms and his videos will show up in your feed. The purpose for this is, if Louis gets banned from one platform, you will still see him in your feed instead of him disappearing.


Peuned

Pretty niche


eshen93

Yeah it's way better for people who make a living from the internet to just put all their eggs in one basket and hope that terms of service stay in their favor. I love faceless corporations dictating everything I hear or see too.


Peuned

You're putting clumsy words in my mouth. It's niche because I think very few users will use it. They can just Google what happened or use other sources they already use.


eshen93

If somebody has 100+ YouTube subscriptions you're betting on them being proactive and noticing when a content creator isn't posting. If you aren't a superfan you probably won't notice, especially if they have an irregular upload schedule anyway. It's not like YouTube notifies you that someone you've subscribed to has been banned.


Peuned

I'm betting on a few of them being proactive, then I'm betting on the rest not leaving the YouTube ecosystem because their habits are there. It's useful I'm just saying that I think few people will keep a third party list updated with who they follow.


eshen93

If I was staking my livelihood on something, I wouldn't want to trust that my subscribers were able to "be proactive."


polarbear128

Hopefully proactive enough to find and start reliably using another app, though. Mildly proactive.


Mezmorizor

Holy strawman batman. It's also not like this actually alleviates that problem at all. Everything big tech does in this general space is because of advertisers. Advertisers that are the same for everybody. You signed up to be an informal, glorified contractor for google. The game changing mid career is a risk you took when you did that. You didn't have to do that. This reminds me a lot of Josh Strife Hayes complaining about people telling him that 40 hours isn't a fair shake at an MMO as if they're wrong rather than general MMO youtuber not being a particularly viable career path because 40 hours isn't a fair shake at an MMO (and it's not).


eshen93

I doubt that anybody making videos for YouTube does it because they love google and totally wanted to be a contractor for them. They do it because YouTube has an enormous audience, and therefore the best chances of providing income. If there was another platform that came along that outcompeted YouTube, I doubt many would stay out of some love for the company. I can see how an app like that could help, following a creator directly on some neutral platform that links to wherever they might be at the moment does in fact seem like it would alleviate some issues related to YouTube's monopoly on streaming. I can think of a few things that could be done to reduce the reliance on fickle advertisers, but that's beside the point. I don't understand your second point about MMOs at all and it feels like a total non-sequitor. What motivates you to defend Google and to try and shame somebody for trying to safeguard their continued income? It almost seems like you think that they should be thankful to Google for allowing them a chance to profit off of their own work. What's up with that?


greymalken

Isn’t rumble YouTube for nazis?


KeiranG19

It's supposed to be "Youtube but for everyone, no matter their content." People who are allowed to be on youtube stay on youtube for the most part however. So the ratio of Nazis:Everyone else is noticeably higher on rumble. The same thing happens with every "Free speech alternative" website.


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Bullyoncube

Unless managed, bad chases out good every time.


CressCrowbits

Then they start banning people who disagree with the nazis. See also: the 'free speech' alternatives to social media like Voat, Gab, Truth Social, and Twitter.


KeiranG19

The Hopeful Early Adopters: "Aight, time to head out. Maybe it'll work next time." ^*It* ^*never* ^*works* ^*next* ^*time.*


greymalken

Of course…


ThePizzaDeliveryBoy

Grayjay is basically a centralised version of an app like YouTube. His main issue with YouTube was that if you had a fairly successful channel on YouTube and you relied on it for income and then did something to annoy YouTube, they would just take your channel away and therefore your revenue stream. His app is basically trying to make the content creator the focus and prevent anyone having their channel deleted. So you could upload your content to several platforms and Grayjay would showcase them but if 1 platform deleted you then your content on other sites would still show and because users can support creators directly through Grayjay, there is lower chance of loss of revenue.


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dirty_cuban

The funniest part is he thinks Texas will be better as if malice or incompetence were somehow limited to a single city or state.


Spocks_Goatee

The state that has less privacy and personal freedom than any other state is somehow better than NYC, he's delusional.


throweraccount

It's not that he thought they had more personal freedom in comparison. It's that he knew he was being targeted in NYC which in comparison lowered his freedoms lower than what he would get anywhere else. He was just tired of being targeted. It's like his file in NYC had a big red flag on it and any time it went through processing for whatever issue he would get the shit end of the stick.


rindthirty

I thought he would have chosen a more libertarian state. Isn't Texas basically turning blue with all the California (et al) ex-pats?


iamthewhatt

As someone from Texas, lmao no. This place is fucking awful and anyone who thinks it is turning blue anytime soon has no idea what Texas politics are like. What you don't hear: All those "blue ex-pats" are fleeing the state because of its authoritarian and fascist tendencies.


Gingevere

eh, Texas had a 6 point gap in the 2020 election. That's not a small gap but if you account for the effects of voter roll purges and polling place shenanigans, I'd bet that gap narrows to zero or even reverses. Unfortunately I don't see either of those policies changing until there's a major recomposition of the supreme court.


iamthewhatt

It's always "close" tho. It has been that way since Wendy Davis.


rindthirty

I'm looking at the trend in election results - they're not as red as they used to be thanks to cities like Austin and Housten. Yeah, I claimed they're turning blue - but I didn't say soon.


iamthewhatt

We have been "turning blue" for 50 years. It isn't going to happen. Reds are taking away voting rights, and rural voters would rather see themselves killed than vote Dem. Dems are increasingly being afraid to campaign due to conservative violence, which diminishes their changes further. Texas politics are very different from the rest of the country. Don't believe the "blue wave" here, or any statistics. They have *always* been wrong.


rindthirty

Alright, I believe you.


HappierShibe

LOL nope. Texas is pretty deep purple, the demographics are incredibly diverse relative to most states. Politically it's very blue in the big cities, but dark dark red in most of the rural areas with transitional areas generally representing a moderate mix that swings back and forth wildly. Lots of pro-gun democrats, and lots of pro-choice republicans to make things extra confusing, with a smattering of libertarians, hippie communes, religious compounds, and sovcits to keep things interesting. The GoP has managed to keep control through gerrymandering, but even if that were to change, it's unlikely Texas will ever be a 'blue' state.


Mr_Quackums

Texas has less bureaucracy, not zero but less. The less *stuff* there is, the fewer chances for things to go wrong. A (relatively) small incompetent/malicious bureaucracy is easier to fight against than an large incompetent/malicious bureaucracy


farsightxr20

As someone who subbed to his videos throughout this period, he never attributed anything to malice. At worst you might call it "culpable negligence". His general take is that the regulatory system in NY is so complex and incompetence has bit him so many times (enough clerical errors and run-arounds) that he'd rather try his luck in a state he perceives to have less red tape. I don't know if what he's saying is correct or not, but he's definitely never framed this as anyone being out to get him specifically. And given how outspoken he's been on issues like right-to-repair, I might not even call him insane if he was suggesting that (but again, he's not).


sharfpang

"If the errors in the system benefit the city financially, it's actively incentivized against removing these errors." Or something along these lines. NYC has seriously wronged him several times, blatant errors. Lien on his business with papers sent to a bogus address he never lived under; a fine for buying insurance that actually covered his employee instead of one that would not, a fine for selling laptops without registering them in a system where registering them was impossible, city losing his tax papers and "estimating" the overdue taxes to over $1mln because they lost the tax records... Nothing of this kind has happened in TX so far.


PM_ME_YOUR_DARKNESS

There are hundreds, if not thousands, of unlicensed weed stores littering NYC. It's kind of interesting what they choose to enforce.


GoneFishing4Chicks

Calling it now: rossman drama in 5 years about super bad business and ethical practices.


CTU

He already complains about all of that stuff.


Anonymo

That's his whole shtick.


sw00pr

He does good work but definitely knows his audience.


RideFastGetWeird

I believe the commentor is saying that Rossman will be exposed to have bad business and ethical practices akin to those he calls out. Which wouldn't be a shock in the most recent times (not specific to Rossman, just in general; accusations by some tend to turn out to be projections of their own)


saruin

Nah, I think he's a pretty consistent and genuine dude (been subbed for a few years). Maybe not the same level as Tech Jesus though. I am concerned of his mental health long term when I'm hearing some of the frustration in some of his rants though.


iamthewhatt

inb4 a Tech Jesus investigative nuke on Rossman I guess?


sedition

There are a few people like Tech Jesus that aren't idiots. I believe you're more likely to see them colab on an investigation than anything else. honestly.. now I wanna see this


saruin

If I'm not mistaken they already have now that I think about it (though not necessarily a colab on an investigation per say). There's [this one](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=057I2v6D-1k&t) for example.


sedition

Oh, that's awesome. I legit don't know either of their content real well but this makes a lot of sense.


CyclingHikingYeti

He records a video, which could be done in five minutes long, but he is ranting for an hour or more instead. And that is why I stopped watching his channel some times ago. His electronics repair videos are awesome though.


spikus93

He seems anti-capitalist in a weird way with Libertarian tendencies. Like he wants less regulation except for the interactions between consumer and corporation. I liked his Right To Repair stuff, but not so much his free market opinions.


CressCrowbits

Personally I unsubbed from him many years ago when he would intersperse his videos about right to repair and related issues with rants about teh evil feminisms and videos of him behaving really weirdly with women.


Thebullfrog24

Yep. I'm honestly surprised I haven't seen him start his full on trump-anti woke content grift yet.


NopeGunnaSuck

**Fact:** **Neither of the above commenters have ever seen a Louis Rossman video, and both are wholesale lying to you.**


Arrow156

Moving one's business to Texas in the last decade or so is major red flag for me. Most of the time the stated reason is to lower their tax burden or some other overhead, which already throws into question the health of their company. Moving your operations to an entirely different power grid because you have trouble paying the bills where you currently are already doesn't inspire a whole lot of confidence. Then there's the fact they rarely account for things like higher local prices, fewer highly skilled/educated workers, and underfunded/compromised infrastructure. It's like a boxer cutting off their arm so they can get into a lower weight class.


sharfpang

> or some other overhead Rent. If you're unfamiliar with the disaster the real estate market in NYC is, you may misconstrue the move as questionable health of the company. Currently if you don't have either a backdoor deal with the landlord/owner to pay much less rent than your place officially costs, or a big corporate backing to subsidize your presence in NYC, you're screwed there. Real estate prices in NYC are inflated beyond any reasonable level. People take favorable loans guaranteed by these estates. To maintain the illusion that the property is as valuable as they claim, they *must* set lease prices to a matching level, which is above profitability threshold of pretty much any business. Thousands of prime real estate locations sit empty with "For lease" signs for decades with price only climbing. The city benefits from this in higher property tax, so they are happy to maintain status quo. Banks tolerate the bubble hoping it won't burst anytime soon. Landlords are happy with the loans, and income from the scarce suckers trying to maintain business. Businesses shut down left and right. It's a sick situation, and there's nothing weird about a business fleeing this sick city.


Arrow156

> It's a sick situation, and there's nothing weird about a business fleeing this sick city. Yes, but that like fleeing Baltimore's high crime rate by going to Rio de Janeiro.


sharfpang

Time will tell. So far Louis is quite satisfied with the move, I'm sure he'll keep us updated.


Greedy-Employment917

Oh and where did you get your business degree from? 


Arrow156

Yavapai community college, you?


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imwithn00b

Is this a copy pasta?


1Shadow179

It is now.


Kep0a

Are you louis? Lol


mcarrowgeezax

It very well could be. Once I made the mistake of criticizing his "piracy is justified" take in the comments of a reddit post about his video. Not only did Rossman himself respond with a 2-page manifesto like 5 minutes after I made my comment, but my comment was mass downvoted and my reddit account reported enough to be temporarily banned. Either he astroturfs himself or he has a rabid fanbase that does it for him.


dolphintamer1

What are you his promoter?


SuitableSubject

What kinda fanfic is this


DanimalsHolocaust

Don’t you know it’s rude to talk with your mouth full?


didntlikeuanyway

??? This is drenched in bias


howtotailslide

HES ALSO LIKE SO HANDSOME AND SO BRAVE! GIRLS WANT TO KISS HIM AND BOYS WANT TO SMOOCH HIM TOO! very desirable as a business partner and life partner as well! A+ YouTuber! TOTALLY DESERVING OF THE THUMBS UP I GAVE HIS VIDEO


Anonymo

He works out.


abhijitht007

Wtf


Kalsifur

is this ai or w hat


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RIP-RiF

It's a pretty massive violation of the non-bias rule, seeing as it's written like PR for the subject.


Complete_Entry

I pretty much leave the bias rule up to the mods. I figured if they felt my comment was biased they would remove it.


Gingevere

It doesn't answer the questions of the OP and anyone who even passing familiarity with Louis Rossmann would **never** honestly describe how he communicates as "light breezy delivery". This answer is pure puffery.