Why We’re Leaving Donut - BIGTIME 

Relatable garage builds > reaction videos

You two are the biggest reason I kept watching Donut after "Up to Speed" stopped.

You guys just started this channel, have 1 video and ALREADY have 865k subs. This speaks volumes to how much people love you guys and are looking forward to your next chapter.

One of the reasons I haven't been watching Donut that much is because it stopped feeling like a group of guys having fun in a garage and started feeling like a business automotive YT channel. I won't say the soul was lost, but it had changed.

It is time… let’s go boys!!

First reaction : abject horror. Second reaction: Thank God I'm not the only one who noticed that Donut has become trend chasing clickbait corporate nonsense.

Reading between the lines, its pretty clear that after Donut got bought, all the suits were interested in was "what's going to get us the most views?" (IE, what's going to make us the most money?) While the creative team that made Donut so successful to begin with was ignored in favor of more "mainstream" clickbaity videos.

Money Pit was not just one of the best things Donut did, it was one of the best things on RU-vid. VERY few channels were doing anything with that level of planning and production value etc.

"I was a comedian working at an engineering company" is the most Workaholics lore ive ever heard lmao

Long story short: Wealthy people bought Donut, and now their money first mentality has ruined it all.

Take time to protect yourselves from burnout (not burnouts)! You’ve got millions rooting for you. We will be here, waiting, excitedly. Headed for the BigTime

You two were the main reason I watched donut. I could tell that y’all really enjoyed the work. I’m really glad that y’all got together and got a channel for yourselves. I hope it goes great for you guys and I’ll be here watching

The fact that 60k a year is poor in LA is crazy

We ALL want 1. Racing 2. Car builds 3. Bro time 4. Knowledge We know you two will provide

I completely agree with you guys. I thought "Real mechanic stuff" was going to be opening a window and letting fresh air coming in, but in fact, is the equivalent to closing the window and firing up the stove. I hope you bring legends like Bob Hall, giving him the time to talk and elaborate. Such amount of knowledge cannot be wasted doing reaction videos.

The fact that Jeremiah and Jobe are even in a position to leave Donut and be this close to a million subscribers already shows just how much talent and influence they have. It's obvious that Donut has settled into reaction content and partnerships with other companies, and that's okay, too. After everything they've made over the years, they earned it all. I hope James is able to retire comfortably, and it's no wonder why Jeremiah and Jobe stuck around as long as they did. I can't wait to start supporting you guys, buying merch and viewing content. I rep the Donut hats I've bought every time I go out, and if your merch is the same quality, I'll be buying it, too. I got my buddy in Canada into Donut, and he's the one who told me about Bigtime. We'll both be tuning into your channel, and we'll still support Donut. I have such a backlog of videos to get through, but it's some of the best, most infectious stuff I've seen on RU-vid. Godspeed!

James is why we fell in love with donut, Jobe and Jeremiah are the reason we’ve stuck around since 2019

Donut slowly went from a channel about car and racing history, car science and car builds to a channel about testing cheap products and reacting to other videos every week. Hope you guys can really take it back to the OG concepts with this channel.

My dad was raised in that house. Lots of great memories.

You guys only have a single video and you crushed all these milestones right off the bat. This just shows the love and support your communuty has built over the years. Starting off strong, and congrats on 1 Millions soon ❤

These two leaving feels like the end of an era.

Nothing Donut puts out has the same feeling as their cheap vs. expensive 350Zs, up to speed, and money pit. Those days were the peak.

The entire reason I fell in love with Donut was because of Money Pit an B2B, I loved the HiLow series too but Donut changed and i think alot of us realized it with the both of you. Very excited to follow this channels growth!

As someone who likes working in admin, I am still frustrated by how a lot of people, SPECIALLY admin types, seem to forget that the job of admins and managers shouldn't be to boss people around, but to take off the busy work so that the actual operatives can do what they're good at. I love nothing more than just trying to make things easy or automate tasks so that the people who actually make the business run can, you know, make the business run.

The only reason to watch donut has now left donut....

The RU-vid algorithm boosted you. This was at the TOP of my page. You guys are going to kill it. Love you all!

The fact that I don't even know how to drive a stick shift but still watch your content you two guys make is a testament to how good you two are what you do!

Given that y'all have almost made it to a million subs in less than a week, I'd say there's a lot of us that agree with your creative direction.

Kudos to Donut for letting you two announce your new channel on a Donut video. Immediate subscription.

Jeremy from ECS here, Zach you were one of my favorite guys to work alongside there. If you ever need photo or video work hit me up dude. Congrats on the big move, proud of you.

The two dudes I really enjoy watching the most on Donut. Don't need to wish you two luck, this will be a great ride and we're here for it.

I knew this was coming since I met you guys, but I was waiting for you to become BigTime before releasing the video of you being terrified while riding my Jet Scooter in the alley...hahahha.

We know you wont have the budget Donut has, but our hearts are with you. Lets fucking go!!!! You were the reason why many of us were watching donut

Garage builds and motorcycle stuff. LETS GOOO. I’m so happy you two started this channel. I’ll be a viewer as long as you keep this mindset. BIG TIME

You two are literally the reason I started watching Donut Media. Love seeing this!

As an Englishman, an idiot, and a very part time donut viewer. It took me a VERY long time to realise you weren’t both the same person.

The moment Donut sold equity to an ‘investment group’ sealed its fate. Random suits looking at Excel spreadsheets started pushing for cashflow metrics and ‘maximizing value’ without a care as to the core values and pedigree of Donut. Thank you for making this brilliant decision and I hope to follow your success with this new channel.

this is the exact type of content that i’ve been wanting to see Donut do, and as they’ve grown I knew it was going to be harder and harder for them to do that. Nothing but love for channels that make it big, but i’m so excited to see what a place where creativity is safe can produce. You two have always been my favorite on the Donut channel, and i can’t wait to see how good i know this will channel will be

I loved watching both of you gentleman throughout the years I hope for the best ill be coming with you!!

Jeremiah is just that guy. I mean, he talks about how he wasn't exactly favored at first, but 5 days after posting these two almost have a million subs. 🐐

Tbh the amount of donut employees that lacked automotive knowledge always blew my mind. Most of them never gave me “car guy” vibes.

I was incredibly confused when y'alls made the video about the S13 engine autopsy and the rebuild never came, so glad theres going to be more of the grassroots stuff, im hype

I love to see you guys happy. I love to see you guys willing to take the plunge and to do it for your own hearts and as creatives. I've spent enough time in the business world to know a tiny bit of what that means. A lot of people never take that leap. Bless you guys. You can definitely see your hearts smiling in this video, even if there's a little bit of terror and no guarantees of how this turns out. I think most of us could see the shift in Donut content over the last few years. There's still some fun stuff happening, and I wish them the best. I'm not even a car guy in any proper sense, but I love them, and moneypit and Science Garage and Bumber2Bumper type stuff is what always made me love Donut. Can't wait to see what you guys do with what brings you life. May you be blessed to find the technical guys, camera people, and all the parts and pieces and people you need to make the stuff you love.

You two guys are the reason Donut was so big over the past 3-4 years. I love that you now will have your own channel. WOW. Congratulations! Yes, I've subscribed.

Jeremiah being a biomedical engineer/standup comedian is such a hilarious and perfect backstory for him 😂😂😂

Love this for you guys! Greatness ahead, best of wishes dude! 🤘

I am stoked and excited to see what comes. Big respect to you both following your dreams. Huge inspiration!

"As the only 2 guys who did any work at Donut....we decided to leave." 😂😂

I cant believe Donut didn’t want a video/series dedicated to building your Silvia! I think I speak for everyone, I’m looking very forward to this channel.

I can relate to you both so much in different ways. I’m mechanically inclined, but not a “car guy”, really. I work in the medical field of heart surgery. But watching you both on Donut made me feel like, “if these guys can do this, I can to.” So now I’ve built a DF Goblin from a donor Chevy Cobalt SS and in the process, I reached a lot of mile markers, so to speak. I pulled my first engine, rebuilt my first engine, rebuilt my first manual transmission, and the list goes on. I’m excited to see where you guys go and what you do.

i’m ready, you guys are awesome, glad to hear y’all chase what you truly wanna do, and hyped for some of the content you talked about. can’t wait to see it happen🙌🏼

“I’m never on time but I’m disciplined “ “I’m always on time, don’t know what’s going on”. 😂😂😂 classic

It’s important that you both know: we as the fans and audience noticed the changes that pushed you both away, and we are all on your side to blow this channel up by taking it back to grassroots builds and making the content YOU love to make. It translates through the screen, I can promise you that. Money Pit was amazing and we want more like that, so stoked for you boys!!

I love that you guys are doing your own thing. It's your passion, and that will certainly come through!! DO YA THANG BOYS!

Donut has changed from it's fun interesting B2B / Up to Speed roots to tiktok style mainstream content. It's so relieving hearing the presenters express what i felt was happening to Donut, and twice as relieving to hear them say that they're going to make their own Fun, Interesting and most of all Creative content. Good on you boys, never forget what you set out to do when made this channel, I'm subscribed already.

I basically stopped watching donut about a year ago. You could tell the channel just wasn't the same anymore. I'm stoked for you guys! Bring back the old school content!

When Donut started to be in car manufacturer’s advertisements, I knew it was becoming a corporate hellhole

It tends not to matter as much what the content is - if you enjoy what you're doing, that passion comes through in the final product and people enjoy watching that. When you are burnt out and beaten down by the process, it shows and becomes less fun to watch. Glad to see you guys taking this leap of faith and looking forward to some greatness!

Good luck with everything. Look forward to seeing the videos!

Sensationalism is destroying the entertainment industry, but especially RU-vid.

Imagine jumping off a big, known and well established show, not knowing exactly to expect, and not even a week later have 2mill views, 200k likes and over 600k subs! It's safe to say, you did the right thing for YOU guys, and I'm hyped for it!

I was so confused seeing this new channel pop up on my feed, im super happy to see you guys branching out and attempting your own adventures. I watched all throughout hs and have a few projects going on slowly, big part of my later childhood

You 2 are honestly the two that kept me watching donut after it was sold. I fw pumpernickel and nolan but yall 2 were the best, definitely got my support 100%

Money pit miata is what got me into donut. We dont need 100k budgets on a build, they are fun, but unobtainable for most viewers. Money pit miata was in depth and made building on a budget look so fun.

It’s crazy how people haven’t learned from Smosh that when you sell your channel for the money, the channel takes a dump.

I like seeing talent not being wasted. Thank y'all for continuing on doing what y'all love.

I am so glad this video automatically showed up in my recommend feed, because I'd hate to miss this news. Literally, the sole reason why I even enjoyed watching Donut content is because of these two guys. Instantly subbed to this channel, no questions asked. I'm so happy for them and wishing them the best. Can't wait to see the content they post in the coming months! 🎉

You writing the script for James makes so much sense now

Donut went from 'must watch' to 'watch if I can't find something better', to 'when are they gonna start making car videos again' to 'gonna pass on this video but I guess I'll stay subscribed in case they make car videos again' RIP Donut, Welcome to Bigtime. 😊

I started following around Money Pit. I like the whole cast, but Jobe's knowledge of the engines and builds is what kept me coming back.

95% of what I know about cars, I learned it from you two. I'm really excited about what we'll see here. Glad you started. Best of luck!!

I mean zero disrespect to Donut when I say this. You two were the reason I watched that channel. I so desperately wanted more of the Miata money pit type content and WANTED you guys to work on that S14. I’m excited for the future for you guys. I think it will be bright. I know I’m not alone in my sentiments.

the downfall of hoonigan and now the downfall of donut… be still my heart

I love the work you guys do. Can't wait to see that the future hold for BigTime.

I remember back in 2019, when they were starting out it was a great channel and being able to watch their videos as in Automotive as been a great experience and I greatly appreciate these two as well. As it gave me the information and will to go out and get a project car (300zx) while making it better than before. Keep up the great work, can't wait to see what's next!

Massive growth kills every youtube channel. You see it over and over again

As a finance guy who works in the corporate world, there's nothing that can kill a company like running it purely by the numbers. It's crazy how rampant it is for managers to think every decision needs to be made to directly improve a financial metric. It totally ignores the customer's (viewers) needs and kills the soul of the company. If you're giving the people what they want the finances will be fine, unless you're just intentionally burning cash on bullshit.

You guys have the opportunity to catch lightning in a bottle here. I loved the old donut and even my one year old son would watch the videos intently with me. You guys capture that old charm and it’s to the moon! Good luck fellas! We’re rooting for you!

I cant believe it! You 2 are my favorite Donut crew members and now yall are going to have a whole channel together? This is a huge W!

The fact that they already have 1mil views and 400k subscribers shows how much they really are loved

I don't think I've ever unsubbed from one channel and subscribed to another so quickly in my life. You two were the only ones keeping Donut alive.

The Money Pit Miata buildalong in your garage was my favourite series on Donut. Nothing after was as good. I'm really looking forward to what you have coming.

Proud of y’all! Can’t wait to see the stuff you guys put out!

Think we all appreciate the transparency in this video! Salary talk, money talk, personal stuff etc

740K subs with just this one video so far... you guys will be just fine. We felt the changes you talk about and we agree. We're here for whatever you want to show us.

You guys were by far my favorite part of the donut channel. Can’t say enough how much I’m looking forward to better car guy content. Very excited to see what you guys do!

The 2 guys from donut that actually brought true "car guy" stuff to the table, awesome

A shout out to Bart just made me shed a tear 🥹 Bart was and forever will be the best thing Donut ever had.

I thought you guys were all part owners and friends making fun vids together. Working for corporations takes the fun out of everything because it's 100% about profits. I hope you have FUN with this channel. I'm here for it!

Thanks for everything you've done in Donut and I wish the best for you guys in you new channel. I've always learned so much from you in your Donut era. I hope you keep up the good work boys.

It's crazy to think that I'm watching this video while rebuildingcc the rear brakes on an old Audi- my first project car that I got because of the inspiration I got from you.

These 2 dudes carried donut HARD. This channel is gonna be nuts

the two people that kept me watching donut cutting out all the other stuff to just do their own thing? subbed and bell

I'm glad for you guys. The corporate youtube buys are getting crazy and end up producing lesser content to get that return of investment, and it sucks. I've stopped watching several channels that have been bought because a lot of them go from cool informational videos of builds and such to just doing lower budget reacts, dumb wacky thing, or cheap comedy reviews. This isn't just a car thing but a whole site wide issue. Im glad you guys are returning to form a little and getting to enjoy what you're producing again.

Dudes, thanks for being real and honest with your fans. I was getting tired of "Professional Mechanics react to Tiktok" b/s., esp when Money Pit is what first pulled me in. I'm a gearhead in my 50's, and am always looking for content that is genuine, not over-produced and not created only for max views. I wish you nothing but luck. I subscribed immediately and can't wait to see what you do here. You are *clearly* good people who deserve success!

"don't worry, you'll still be seeing us!" then i click over to this channel and it's "why we're leaving donut"!

Classic case of the Suits showing up and thinking that they’re the reason for success and not the creatives. Congratulations to you guys for fighting for your creative freedom. Can’t wait to see where this channel goes.

Leave LA now that you're not tied to Doughnut. Go to a better car location in the mid west or east. Totally agree Doughnut isn't what it used to be and we need a fresh take for fun car content.

Noticed a while ago Donut was making changes and some of my favorite stuff was going away. Glad to see you guys branching out and doing what you love and giving us the content we all want. So excited to see what this channel brings!

The Donut Miata build is what grew my interest in cars from an observer to an active member.