Before the Covid pandemic hit, YouTuber Daniel Mac had an idea: To ask people driving supercars what they did to be able to afford them.
After uploading one video that went viral, his fame shot skyward. Today, he has more than 20 million followers across his social media platforms. In an interview with Playboy, he shares how he handled sudden and unexpected fame, how he continued to build upon his success, and more.
Playboy: What inspired you to start making videos?
Daniel Mac: It really boiled down to me not living in an area where wealth, like was abundant. I grew up in Tucson, Arizona, and you don’t see Ferraris around or any supercars there. So I moved to Dallas, and I finally start seeing all these crazy cars I’ve never seen before in my life. And I just thought, like, how does somebody afford that? And why don’t I just walk up to them and find out?
And I was confused that no one had really done it prior. So it was more just like, straight up curiosity. And that’s kind of like the field that I was going into. I was just starting out a job in finance doing financial advising, so I think that’s kind of where things pair together. I just was confused and wondered how I could personally afford a Ferrari myself. So I thought, might as well ask, straight from the horse’s mouth on how to do it.
Playboy: What led you to pursue the “What do you do for a living” approach?
Daniel Mac: I think the question is just the general thing that everybody thinks in their mind when they see somebody in a nice car, and it’s just the most simplistic way of asking someone that doesn’t seem rude, that isn’t like, “Hey, how are you rich?”
And people just assume, “Hey, this guy just wants to know how he can become successful, too.” So it’s kind of just like a catch all work question that also has just so many more branches that you can go with. If you notice my first videos, I am really respectful, like, “Hey, sorry to bother you.” And now I’m like, “Hey, yo what up?” Because I think a lot of people, at least in LA, know my videos, so they know what I’m about to ask them.
But at the beginning I’d wear a collared shirt when I went out, fancy pants, because I just wanted to be an unassuming, polite young man, basically. And I just was very soft spoken when I did it. So, yeah, it’s kind of morphed a little bit. I’d say I’m a little more rash, and people say I yell a lot now, but it’s just because I’m excited.
Playboy: You found your confidence.
Daniel Mac: I still get nervous when I go up to cars here and there, but once I do one for the day, like if I go to Rodeo Drive and sit there for a couple hours, I do my first one of the day. Then once you get denied, or you keep doing it, then it gets easier, for sure.
Playboy: Your focus started on on Supercars. Tell us about your interest in them and the people that own them.
Daniel Mac: I’ve always been a car guy, as well as always having been into wealth in general, and finance. I opened up a brokerage account the day I turned 18. I’ve always been interested in the financials of things: graphs and numbers and all that kind of stuff.
So I was a car guy, but I really became a huge car person when I started the account. It’s because a lot of people at the beginning were like, the car scene is very unforgiving if you mess things up, and it’s a very steep learning curve. So I will not say that I was an expert in cars when I first started out. I was kind of like your average Joe, just interested in cars.
And then all of a sudden it was like, learn or die while doing the account, essentially. And now I love them so much, and I have, obviously since I started doing my stuff. But people get mad at you a lot of the time. So yeah, I was interested in how people become wealthy. I didn’t want to make it a serious account. I wanted to make it like entertaining, comedic, but also give like, insights here and there.
So if you notice, not all my videos I post are just hardcore financial information. I splice up people being silly, people being sketchy, people actually giving good advice. And it’s just kind of like a entertainment /knowledge blend, which I think is fun.
Playboy: What was your reaction after your first video went viral?
Daniel Mac: Oh, it was crazy. I mean, I had zero followers. I had like five followers that were my friends, or whatever, that I just send videos to. So my first video I ever posted was me doing the what do you do for living thing. I posted it on a Sunday morning after going out. I was probably hungover.
So I wake up at like one. And I remember my roommate was in the other room, and I was like, “Yo, dude, this post has like 30 views.” And it just kept going up. And then it had 100 and was doubling every 20 minutes.
Eventually I think it ended at like 30 million views, and I got a million followers in like five or six days off of three total videos. So like, everything I posted got like 40, 50 million views. And this was, like, 2020, during Covid. No one could film cars, and I was in Dallas, so I could go to these car shows.
So yeah, it was just insane. A million followers in under a week. And I was just shocked. And no one I knew even knew it was me, because I didn’t show my face in videos.
Playboy: Did you feel pressure seeing it jump that quickly?
Daniel Mac: I just thought it was gonna fizzle out in a video or two. I had no expectation of making it into a career. So I just was like, “Oh, this is awesome.” But if you would have asked me would I be doing this four years later? I would say there’s a 0% chance of that happening. Like, not even so, 0.0001%. So, yeah, it’s just shocking.
Then when it kept working for the first year, I just had this [feeling of] impending doom that it was all going to explode any day. And then that slowly kind of eased up. I can still do other things, like, check out, mansions, yachts, anything car related. So I’m not too worried. But I was scared for like, a year and a half, two years.
Playboy: Tell us about some of the best interview moments.
Daniel Mac: One of my favorites that’s really epic would be the Fast and Furious 10 movie. I got invited out by Universal Studios, and it was set on a giant hill next to the Coliseum. It was the first time the Coliseum has ever done any kind of movie thing, like a premiere.
So I was standing there and for some reason, they knew I was going to do my thing, so they just let me and my camera guy go onto the actual red carpet with all the cast members. It’s so funny because Helen Mirren, Vin Diesel, John Cena, everyone’s standing around, and then there’s just me and my camera guy.
So we just started going up to some of the cast members, like, unplanned. I’m going up to Vin Diesel, I’m going up to John Cena, getting them in videos. And these are all holy grail people to ask. And the Universal team was just like, go for it, sure. Helen Mirren grabs me because we did a brand deal a year prior. And she’s like, “Daniel, get over here.” We take pictures and we’re drinking. It was just crazy.
Asking President Biden what he does for a living was crazy too. At the Detroit Auto Show, I ran up to him and got him in a video that was insane. And I’m surprised Secret Service didn’t tackle me there. But oh, my first crazy video was with Jason Derulo. I got him at a gas station when I was visiting LA. He’s just pumping gas in Tarzana, and we just saw his Lamborghini Huracan pulled over. He was really cool too. So that was my first big celebrity one.
Playboy: What are some of the answers you’ve gotten that have really taken you by surprise?
Daniel Mac: I’ve literally heard everything, like every single thing you can think of. I’ve had people that do pornography music. And they make a million dollars doing that.
Or, they have an ice empire. They said, “We’re the ones that supply ice cubes to everyone.” And I’m like, “Oh, wow, I guess someone has to do it.” I think the most shocking ones are the ones where people say: oh, I make the filaments in light bulbs. And they’re billionaires. Basically, anything that is common around your house, like, the screws that go in chairs, somebody’s a billionaire by doing that.
I’ll [also] get crypto billionaire people that are just average Joes. They accidentally bought like 100 Bitcoin or something to buy, like a fake ID in high school or something, forgot about it, and they are now worth like $80 million. That happens all the time. Like 5% of the people I walk up to are like these crypto mega millionaires by accident.
Playboy: Who’s on your interview bucket list?
Daniel Mac: Some of these people are pretty controversial, but I think that’s why they’re on my bucket list, because they would get crazy views. So obviously, Donald Trump would be crazy. Especially right now, that would be awesome. Elon Musk, and Kanye West. That’s three of the most viral videos I can think of.
Other than that, I think Dwayne The Rock Johnson. I’ve done, like all the big kind of a Lister stars, but he’s one that’s eluded me. I feel like somehow I’ll be able to do something with him, whether it’s like a movie promo or just catching him in LA, but he’s one of the biggest people. Yeah. And then those three, those three are at the top, the most viral videos I could get.
Playboy: What advice do you have for content creators hoping to hit it big?
Daniel Mac: I’d say try as many different things as possible, throw them all into the wall and see what sticks. If you have something that gets more views than usual, just hone into that. Because you need a niche. Some people can make general content, and usually that’s what happens when you find your niche and then you branch out. I don’t think you can do the opposite.
Eventually, once you get enough followers, you could kind of branch out and do other stuff. But like, for me, it’s kind of the same thing. I got lucky because off the rip I did the way to do a living thing, and it stuck, which isn’t typical. Most people spend several years trying to blow up.
I would say, be patient, which I didn’t have to deal with. So it’s easy for me to say, but be patient. Try a bunch of stuff, and then focus on that. And then now that I’ve been doing the what you do for living thing for so long, now I do, like, informational videos. You gotta just lock in on whatever people like.
Playboy: Last question—your favorite supercars.
Daniel Mac: I think my top car is the Lamborghini Countach, it’s the Wolf of Wall Street car, the classic in white. It’s just like the epitome, I love wedge cars, I like that era of ’80s, ’90s. Apparently, it’s a nightmare to own.
The Ferrari Daytona SP3 is a new car that just came out that looks incredible. It’s naturally aspirated, so it’s equally powerful and awesome. I think it’s one of the best looking cars maybe ever made. So maybe one day I’ll be able to drive one, but I think they’re worth like $6 million, so we’ll see.
The De Tomaso P72 is a new car that just came out. It’s kind of like a hyper car, but everything inside of it is rose gold, the shifters [are] modified to your hand. It’s the epitome of luxury. And it’s a manual car, which is very cool.
The McLaren 765 is one that I may get next. And I think it’s just beautiful, and that’s kind of a little bit less expensive than the other ones, although it’s still like half a million dollars. So that’s a really beautiful car that’s really crazy and raw to drive, apparently.
And I’d say last, probably the Ferrari F 40. It’s also the epitome of classic wedge cars. And I like my wedge cars, so it goes along with the Countach. Same vibe.