Starter Story’s YouTube Growth Hack: Turn Censored Shorts Into Long-Form Clicks (and Revenue)

There’s a clever psychological trick buried in YouTube’s short-form content ecosystem—and Pat Walls, founder of Starter Story, is using it like a pro.

Instead of just making Shorts that entertain or summarize long-form interviews, he censors them.

Literally. He bleeps out words. He cuts mid-sentence. He hides the juiciest parts—on purpose.

And it works. His guest, Erikas, makes $4.5M/year with Shopify apps Kaching Bundles and spends almost nothing on marketing. But if you want to know how, you have to watch the full video.

This tactic is more than a gimmick. It’s a psychological unlock. It plays directly into a phenomenon known as the "problem state"—the idea that once someone is exposed to an incomplete idea or unanswered question, they become mentally preoccupied with resolving it.

How the Censored Short Strategy Works

1. It creates an open loop your brain needs to close

The human brain hates unresolved tension. In storytelling, this is called an open loop—a narrative gap your mind keeps trying to fill. When the Short censors a key insight (like how the growth happened), it leaves viewers itching to know more.

In Pat's actual Short, the transcript reads like this:

1. “All of our growth is coming either from or .”

2. “I’m personally researching ____.”

3. “The answer is something you probably wouldn’t expect…”

It’s not random. It’s deliberate narrative design. By cutting out the resolution, Pat pushes viewers into a state of tension. Curiosity kicks in. The only way to resolve it is to click the long-form video.

2. It turns Shorts into a high-converting funnel

Most Shorts just summarize the long-form video. That gives away the value upfront. But when you censor the payoff, the Short becomes a funnel instead of a summary.

It’s not just “content.” It’s bait—ethically deployed. It promises value but holds it back just enough to make the viewer chase it. This turns Shorts into low-cost, high-ROI distribution engines. More long-form video views lead to better watch time, which means stronger YouTube recommendations and more subscribers.

This works especially well for founders or marketers trying to grow without ad spend. No performance marketing. No PPC. Just smart editing that nudges curiosity into action.

3. It doesn’t rely on hype—it relies on tension

This strategy isn't fake clickbait. It doesn’t overpromise. It simply withholds. Viewers aren’t being lied to; they’re being challenged to lean in.

The censored parts are real value—key phrases, insights, numbers. But they’re carefully removed to create friction. And that friction becomes the fuel. The viewer doesn’t feel tricked. They feel compelled to watch more.

4. It uses narrative design to influence behavior

The structure of these Shorts is designed for escalation. You start with a problem, drop an unexpected fact, tease a transformation—and then censor the solution. That’s what pulls the viewer up the funnel.

The psychology behind it is the same as cliffhangers in TV, blurred-out headlines in tabloids, and half-told gossip. Humans don’t like gaps in knowledge. Especially when the gap involves money, status, or secrets.

Once someone enters a problem state, their brain fixates. They don’t just want closure—they need it. And if you design your content to open that loop, the viewer will click to close it.

The Same Psychology Powers Books, Lead Magnets, and Funnels

This curiosity gap tactic isn’t unique to YouTube. It’s a foundational marketing move across formats:

• Lead magnets that give you the what but not the how. You understand the problem and maybe even the framework, but to solve it? You obviously need the course or tool.

• Books that sell the tool. Russell Brunson’s Traffic Secrets explains the strategy, but if you want to implement it, you need ClickFunnels.

• Free content that primes demand. The most effective free content doesn’t deliver full resolution—it builds desire for the full solution. Alex Hormozi uses free books like $100M Offers and $100M Leads to get clients for his private equity Acquisition.com.

The censored Short is just the video-native version of this same principle.

This isn’t just a YouTube trick. It’s a powerful lesson in marketing psychology: tension drives behavior. If you build content that creates just enough friction, the right viewers will follow the trail.

Sometimes, the best way to get someone to click… is to leave something out.

Top Tweets of the day

1/

Extremely low price is a signal that your product is low-quality. It doesn't matter if your product is actually best in the market.

2/

Love this reframe. Direct response can only take you so far. Brand is how you charge out of market prices.

Apple can charge $2000-$5000 for a Mac and people buy it easily. It is also true with Nike or Rolex.

Brand is hard to build. It often takes decades to build it. And it requires propery associations.

Alex Hormozi had a Grant Cardone video on his channel. He removed it. Why? Brand.

Apple doesn't let bad guys use their phone in movies. Why? Brand.

Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson doesn't get beaten in movies. Why? Brand.

3/

I recently realized big companies don't use all AI.

I've seen behind the scenes of big companies where data labelling happens. There is always a human behind these AI.

TikTok had AI that spotted bad videos but humans still had to take the last call.

Similarly, now Google and Amazon are using AI translators but humans still have to verify the translations.

From Scale AI to Open AI and TikTok to Google, there is a human behind the AI until the human and AI is indistinguishable.

Rabbit Holes

1. How I Build AI Apps 10x Faster for Clients (Real Workflow Breakdown) by Brandon Hancock

2. Founder-Led Sales for Introverts by Nick Fogle

3. Myntra's SEO strategy to get 43.8M monthly organic traffic! by Buildd

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