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Steven Lim
American internet personality From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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Steven Lim (born November 10, 1990) is an American Internet personality and co-founder of digital entertainment company, Watcher Entertainment. Lim first rose to prominence after creating and starring in the Buzzfeed food series Worth It.
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Early life
Lim is Chinese American.[1]
Lim graduated from the Ohio State University in 2012 with a chemical engineering degree. He went on to work as a research and development engineer for the company Procter & Gamble, working on the Tide Laundry Pods.[2][3]
Career
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YouTube and Buzzfeed (2013 - 2019)
Lim started his own YouTube channel in 2013, after realizing engineering was not his calling. Driven by his desire to have more Asian representation in media,[4] he quit his job and began making videos every week.[5] The channel explored Asian-American cultural issues. In 2014, Lim's videos "Asian Parents React to I Love You" and "Things Bilingual People Do" went viral, catching the eye of internet media company Buzzfeed.[6][7]
The company reached out to Lim and offered a job. He served as an Executive Producer, often producing videos on Asian culture or food.[8][9] While working there, Lim came up with the idea of a food series where he and his co-hosts would vist three different restaurants of varying prices and determine which one was most worth it for the given price - this would be the show Worth It. The series was co-hosted by Lim and Andrew Ilnyckyj, with cameraman Adam Bianchi making an appearance in every episode as well. While the idea was initially rejected, the series went viral and became a top viewer for Buzzfeed.[10] Due to its success, NBC Sports commissioned an original episode of Worth It (alongside Hot Ones) to air before the 2018 Super Bowl - featuring Lim and Ilnyckyi eating at different spots in Minneapolis.[11] The series ran from September 18, 2016, to April 8, 2023[12]
Worth It won the 2017 and 2018 Streamy Award for best online food show.[13] As of October 2017, the series had been viewed more than 300 million times for a total of over 2 billion minutes; in 2018 alone, viewers watched 1.5 billion minutes on the show.[14] The show's popularity has led to it being described by BuzzFeed as a Zagat guide for millennials,[15] and has created extreme upticks in patronage for some restaurants featured on the show.[16][17] Lim left the company as full-time employee in 2019, staying on contractually to finish out Worth It.
Watcher Entertainment (2020 - present)
In 2019, Lim co-founded a digital production company, Watcher Entertainment, with fellow ex-Buzzfeed employees, Shane Madej and Ryan Bergara. The trio credited their departure to their desire to found a company with more "creative opportunities" and the ability to have "actual ownership of the content" made.[18][19] The channel reached over 300,000 subscribers within the first month of launching in January 2020.[20]
Lim, Bergara, and Madej served as co-CEOs until 2023, when both Bergara and Madej stepped down to focus on the creation of content.[21][22] The channel features a variety of comedy, paranormal, gaming, cooking, and educational shows – typically hosted by Madej and Bergara. The Watcher main channel has over 400 million views and 2.9 million subscribers.[23][24] The company launched their own subscription-based streaming service, WatcherTV, in April 2024.[25]
In 2024, Lim launched a spiritual successor to Worth It with Ilnyckyj and Bianchi named Travel Season. It premiered on the WatcherTV.[26] In May 2025, the YouTube channel 'Andrew, Steven, and Adam' was launched with Lim, Ilnyckyj and Bianchi, focusing on food reviews and behind on the scenes on the food's production. The channel is a subsidiary of Watcher Entertainment and amassed over 100,000 subscribers in the first four days of being announced. Travel Season continues to premiere on WatcherTV, however is later posted onto this channel.
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Personal life
Lim is married to Tammy Cho, CEO of Hate Is A Virus, a non-profit aiming to dismantle hate and racism. The two have openly spoken about their own experiences of racism as Asian-Americans, in hopes to raise awareness.[27] Lim is an active advocate for diverse representation and amplifying AAPI voices in media.[8][28]
“In the end, I realized that representation is not just about talking about your identity and making sure [people] understand who you are,” Lim said. “It’s not like … you’re pounding it down people’s throats. It’s about being a human being and being present in people’s lives. Me being an Asian American host for a food show that’s [mainly] a food show can have just as much impact as me talking about my identity.”[29]
Awards and nominations
References
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