Matt Dajer
Yes Theory co-founder and former on-camera host who now writes a Substack newsletter, How To Human, under the name Matt Dahlia.
Lifestyle · Substack · Updated Oct 25, 2026
Matt Dajer is a Yes Theory co-founder and former host known for the channel’s Seek Discomfort challenges, who now publishes as Matt Dahlia. He helped start the group in Montreal in 2015 with a 30 things in 30 days project, stepped away from hosting in February 2021, announced his exit in an October 2023 video, and, per Yes Theory’s newsletter, officially left after his memoir, Talk To Strangers: The Yes Theory Story, came out on December 3, 2023. As of October 2026 he is a full-time writer based in Barcelona, sending a short lesson every two weeks through his Substack, How To Human. Yes Theory itself carries on without him, with about 10.2 million subscribers on YouTube.
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Questions people ask
Who is Matt Dajer?
Matt Dajer is one of the co-founders of Yes Theory, the YouTube group built on the idea of seeking discomfort, and he now writes under the name Matt Dahlia. McGill News profiled him in October 2018 as a McGill graduate (BA 2014) and Yes Theory co-founder who also wrote the team’s monthly newsletter, then sent to 100,000 subscribers; he told the magazine, “Our mantra now is to seek discomfort.” Yes Theory’s merch store calls him one of the group’s four original founders. His own About page lists Yes Theory, Seek Discomfort and Fan of a Fan as businesses he co-founded in his twenties.
Did Matt leave Yes Theory? Is Matt Dajer still in Yes Theory?
Yes, Matt Dajer left Yes Theory, and as of October 2026 he is no longer part of it. He left in two steps. On February 25, 2021, Yes Theory posted I’m Leaving YouTube, whose description says that after five and a half years as a host he had decided to step away from the channel. Then on October 30, 2023 the channel posted a new chapter (Matt Leaving Yes Theory). Yes Theory’s own community newsletter wrote on March 13, 2024 that he released his book in December, and “then he officially said goodbye to Yes Theory.”
What happened to Matt Dajer? Why did Matt leave Yes Theory?
Matt Dajer left Yes Theory to step back from the businesses and travel, in his own telling. His Substack About page says that in 2023 he published his first book and “left those businesses to go on my Eat, Pray, Love journey,” adding that yes, he went to Bali. His memoir’s publisher page says the book covers what it meant to say goodbye when things were going well. He talked it through on Nathaniel Drew’s podcast No Backup Plan in an episode titled How Quitting YouTube Changed His Life: Matt on Leaving Yes Theory. We found no report in a major outlet of a dispute behind his exit, and he has not described one.
Where is Matt Dajer now? What is he doing in 2026?
As of October 2026, Matt Dajer lives in Barcelona and writes full time on Substack as Matt Dahlia, per his About page. His newsletter, How To Human, sends a short lesson from his life every two weeks, and he runs a community called Matt’s Friend Club. On April 20, 2026 he posted his first video since leaving Yes Theory, the start of a do-it-yourself series about helping Junglekeepers, a group protecting the western Amazon rainforest. On June 1, 2026 he wrote that he had come back to Instagram as @mattdahlia after deleting the account, then at about 270,000 followers, on January 1, 2020. His most recent post in the archive is from October 1, 2026.
Why did Matt Dajer change his name to Matt Dahlia?
Matt Dajer has not explained the change to Matt Dahlia in anything we could source. What is public: he was credited as Matt Dajer during his Yes Theory years, including by McGill News in 2018 and Famous Birthdays, and since at least his December 2023 book he has published as Matt Dahlia, the name on Talk To Strangers, his Substack and his Instagram. If he explains it on the record, this entry will add it.
What is Matt Dajer’s book?
Matt Dajer’s book is Talk To Strangers: The Yes Theory Story, a memoir he wrote as Matt Dahlia with Derin Emre, released on December 3, 2023. The Seek Discomfort store lists it at 216 pages, published by Yes Theory LLC, and describes it as the story of a small group of friends who suddenly had millions of strangers watching. Per its Goodreads listing, it starts with Matt as a recent graduate with a failing business, meeting Thomas and filming 30 new things in 30 days in a one-bedroom apartment. The description of his February 2021 goodbye video already mentioned the book, and Yes Theory’s newsletter says he spent three years fully dedicated to it.
Where is Matt Dajer from?
Matt Dajer was born in New York City and raised in Paris, per Famous Birthdays. In a September 2026 newsletter he wrote that he captained a basketball team in Paris at 13 and that his family moved to the US when he was 14. He studied history at McGill University in Montreal, graduating in 2014, which is where Yes Theory began, and as of October 2026 he is based in Barcelona.
How old is Matt Dajer? What is his real name?
Matt Dajer is 34, born March 28, 1992, per Famous Birthdays. He was known as Matt Dajer on Yes Theory and now publishes as Matt Dahlia; he has not said which of the two is his legal name, so we list both as he has used them.
Is Matt Dajer married? Does he have a wife?
As of October 2026, Matt Dajer has not announced a marriage on his Substack, his channels or in any accepted outlet we could find, so we do not list a wife. If he announces one, this entry will add it.
Where can I watch Matt Dajer?
Matt Dajer’s years as a host, from 2015 to February 2021, are on Yes Theory’s YouTube channel, along with his October 2023 farewell, a new chapter. His current writing is on his Substack, How To Human, and he posts as Matt Dahlia on Instagram and YouTube. His book, Talk To Strangers, is sold through the Seek Discomfort store.
What is Matt Dajer’s net worth?
Matt Dajer does not publish a number and neither do we.
Who is Matt Dajer’s girlfriend? Does he have a brother?
Not something we cover.
Who represents Matt Dajer?
As of October 2026, no agent or manager is named publicly for Matt Dajer; his Substack About page lists no representation, and Yes Theory’s partnership contact covers the channel he has left. Ames Create does not represent him; we cover him because people keep asking what happened to Matt from Yes Theory, and most of the answer is in his own words. If that changes, this entry will say so.
Our read
Ames Create does not work with Matt Dajer. This is our view, from a team that works on creator brands for a living.
The format. On Yes Theory he was the planner and the narrator: a dare, a stranger, a camera, and Matt explaining why the uncomfortable choice was worth it. Off the channel the format shrank to fit one person. How To Human is a one-minute letter every two weeks, written like a note to a friend, about the lesson he took from something in his own life.
Why it travels. His story carries its own hook: a founder who walked away from a channel of about 10.2 million subscribers while it was working. Posts with plain titles about leaving, what 35-year-olds know or quitting Instagram speak to the same twenty-somethings who grew up on Yes Theory and are now asking the questions he asks.
Brand fit. Books, slow travel, journaling and wellbeing products that suit a reflective, mostly text audience, and causes, as his Junglekeepers project shows. Loud product launches and quick-hit ads would cut against the reason people read him.
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Sources: Matt Dahlia’s Substack About page and posts of April 20, 2026, June 1, 2026 and September 14, 2026; his Instagram and YouTube; Yes Theory’s YouTube, videos I’m Leaving YouTube and a new chapter; the Yes Theory community newsletter, March 2024; Talk To Strangers on Seek Discomfort and Goodreads; McGill News, October 2018; No Backup Plan episode; Famous Birthdays. Subscriber count read from YouTube, October 2026.
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