Nadeshot Reveals Why He Stepped Back From 100 Thieves to Focus on Content
Nadeshot has been a major force in content creation and esports for well over a decade now, but in 2024, he pivoted back to being a full-time creator rather than staying at the helm of the organization he helped found. And, while he didn’t leave 100 Thieves, his decision to step away from a bigger role with the team was something long in the works.
Throughout 2024, and with some conversations dating back years, Nadeshot had openly noted that he was “overwhelmed” at various points while leading 100 Thieves as the company’s CEO. After many conversations with the organization’s board, the former Call of Duty pro finally committed to stepping back and focusing on content creation again, putting a specific focus on his Twitch streams.
“I finally manned up and had a conversation with our board, our executive team, about where my head was at and how I want to handle my time at 100 Thieves,” Nadeshot said on the Around the Bar Podcast.
Since founding 100T in 2016, Nadeshot spent a majority of his time in the the org’s Los Angeles office running operations and doing business, while also creating specific content for the brand. This took him away from his own YouTube and Twitch channels for nearly eight years and left him working on the business side of esports instead until he finally decided it was time to step back following a tough few years for the company.
“Say I wasn’t a creator in my past life before 100 Thieves started, if that door were closed or didn’t exist at all, maybe I would have enjoyed being in the weeds of the business every day,” Nadeshot said. But since I knew, at least in my head, being a creator on the internet can be like a ticking timebomb, you never really know how long you’re gonna be able to be around.”
He also said many creators in the space compare their careers to that of pro athletes in the NFL, where the average career for someone who makes it to a livable stage of content creation might only be two years, while the names people recognize as mainstream are closer to players who are in the league for a decade or more.
“I just was worried that with a baby on the way and this new part of my life starting, not only do I feel like I am not best suited to handle the role of CEO of 100 Thieves but I’m also pissing away a lifetime of work, you know I’m only 32, but 15, 16 years as a creator is still a long time. I just wanted to get back to what I was good at."
Back to the Grind
And know it well he does. Since returning to full time content creation, Nade has averaged over 4,600 viewers, recorded 10.8 million hours watched, and gained over 167,000 followers on Twitch alone, according to SullyGnome looking at his 2024 stats.
The specific example he brings up is how 100 Thieves made most of its content early on, outside of big productions, with two or three people—a videographer, editor, and sometimes a sound guy—helping the talent involved. Those projects performed well with smaller teams, but as the company hired more people and more than 10 people started working to produce similar content, Nadeshot felt like things were getting out of hand, but he didn’t say anything.
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It got to the point where Nade realized he was asking permission to do simple things despite being the CEO of the company. But even now as he is no longer involved in the day-to-day operations, he still has a clear idea of what he thinks 100 Thieves is at its core and what it needs to be to succeed.
“I think 100 Thieves’ biggest focus should be operating as an esports business,” Nadeshot said. “I think the focus should be on winning as many championships as possible because all of the upside that we get for our business is created through the excitement and hype of those teams winning and beloved moments for the fans to be a part of.”
Nadeshot also drops some references to how 100 Thieves could have leaned more into being a media company like Barstool or IGN, but the expertise needed to do so was not there at the scale of a gaming-centric company with people who understand the internet, content, and the org’s brand. Not only that, but he acknowledged that even if you find the talent to fit, there is a solid chance that those creators will have the end goal of growing their own channels and striking out solo, as was the case with something like Machinima.
“The only thing I think that I can control really, really, really, really, really well is having the best players, can’t control the outcome, but having the best players across each team in the games that we care about to win as much as possible,” Nadeshot said. “I don’t see us as a media company, I see us as a team that creates content off of the things we do in the game competitively but also the friends and family we have across all of gaming in general.”
