From late-night tweets to millions: How one dad's sports page changed everything
A dadʼs late-night social media hobby turned into a life-changing business venture bringing unexpected wealth. His journey shows how simple ideas can lead to major success in the digital world
Back in 2013 Ryan T. Williams found himself up late with his newborn daughter browsing sports-related posts on X (formerly Twitter); this late-night scrolling would change his life forever.
During those sleep-deprived nights he had a simple idea: posting old sports headlines as if they were happening today. His account Slow Sports News gained 50k followers in just 4 months which was pretty cool for someone whoʼd failed business studies at school
I never set out to make money‚ it was a hobby
The early-2010s saw social-media becoming a big deal with companies like Social Chain and LadBible starting up. Williams kept his IT job at first but his side-project started bringing in cash when betting companies noticed his growing following: they paid around £400 per promotional deal
His next project — a parody account called Deluded Brendan got huge fast bringing in roughly £3000 monthly. Working with two new business partners they combined their followers (about 2m total) and created “Its Gone Viral“ which shared funny videos of pets kids and random accidents
The business grew fast but his personal life took some hits — Williams became obsessed with work. “When the business was at its biggest our marriage was at its lowest“ he admits. Once on a family holiday he tried hiding in the kids room to check work emails on an iPad: his wife wasnt happy
- First-class family trips
- Mortgage-free living
- Helping family members
- Creating memories with kids
After a seven-figure exit deal in late-22 Williams chose a modest lifestyle over flashy cars. Now he works on online-safety courses for parents and wrote a book with his wife about their journey. “I made millions but entrepreneurs never stop“ he says focusing on making a difference
