A Day with Matty Benedetto: The Mind Behind Unnecessary Inventions

On the dance floor at the Webby Honors in 2023, an extremely smart man in an unpretentious paisley suit approached me with a gigantic grin and said, "I love your content." It's always nice hearing that someone likes your work, but I'd never heard it from someone with a web presence quite like his. It was Matty Benedetto of Unnecessary Inventions, a creator who has amassed millions of followers across nearly every social network by designing and showcasing all kinds of weird, quirky, and confusing gadgets to improve our daily lives.

Meeting Matty Benedetto

As I said thank you and tried not to blush, I shouted to Matty that I was attempting to launch a video series about creators and "maybe we could link up." Over a year later, I found myself in the heart of Burlington, Vermont, where Matty lives and works, ready to learn how his videos come together.

When I walked into Matty's sprawling studio, I was struck by the sheer amount of unique items. There was a wall of 3D printers, a collection of Supreme collector items, shelves of camera equipment and hard drives, and of course, many Unnecessary Inventions.

The Genius Behind Unnecessary Inventions

These inventions are what Matty describes as unique solutions to first-world problems. They range from a pair of glasses with built-in wipes that soak up tears to a funnel that catches falling ingredients from a burrito and neatly sorts them into a taco below. These amusing creations have kept people coming back to Matty's videos for the past five years and helped him build a successful business as a creator.

Exploring Matty's Creative Process

In this first episode of my new video series that profiles internet creators, I spend an entire day with Matty to figure out how he creates his inventions and how he makes a living from posting about them. As a fan of YouTube, I have always wondered how individual people can turn the making of silly videos into a full-time job.

Check out the video above to learn more about Matty's process, and let me know who you want me to profile next!