HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION
HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION
Don't be a bottleneck. Don't be lazy.
“Anytime we do something that no other creator can do, that seperates us in their mind and makes our videos more special to them. It changes how they see us and it does make them watch more videos and engage more with the brand. You can’t track the “wow factor” but I can describe it. Anything that no other youtuber can do. And it’s important we never lose our wow.”
Link to the original document: HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION
Commentary
I’ve never watched a MrBeast YouTube video, but this tweet lives rent-free in my head. It’s hard advice but good advice1.
I’m sure MrBeast's videos are great, but they aren’t for me. I am, however, fascinated by anyone doing work/craft at the highest levels, and by all metrics, MrBeast is boat racing the competition. This paper provides an inside look at the internal workings of MrBeast (the company). I was pleasantly surprised to find there is nothing all that revolutionary about the interworkings. From my perspective, they are doing the simple yet hard things well and relentlessly pursuing improvement.
What I’m stealing
Check. In. Daily. Leave. No. Room. For. Error.
Prioritize things no one else can do
Consultants are cheat codes
Befriend people who have vastly different information diets
Don’t be lazy
Supplemental Resources
I also haven’t read a Robert Caro book except for Working, but I’m fascinated by his writing process. He’s maniacally obsessive in a way I am incapable of being, but I still borrow bits from him regularly. This Caro quote, in particular, sticks with me.
“Turn every page. Never assume anything. Turn every goddamned page.”
Shaan Puri is another fascinating follow. Again, not really my cup of tea, but his skill and creative output are undeniable. Plenty to be gleaned from Uncle Shaan. Link below to his take on the document.
Kyla Scanlon had a balanced take on the memo. I appreciate her ability to break things down through the Gen Z lens.
Dog ears, highlights, marginalia
Chapter 1: What makes a Youtube video viral?
Video viewers/readers are making assumptions about the content of the video based on the title and image. The first minute especially needs to match or exceed the expectations set by the title and thumbnail.
At the 3:00min mark, plant the most interesting and exciting content.
At the 6:00-minute mark, plant another re-engagement. It is something interesting but needs little explanation, and it pushes the narrative through the back half.
The back half of the content can be the good, not great, stuff. If viewers have made it this far, they are invested. Long explanations or unexpected happenings (things not going as planned) can live here.
How can the engagement sequence above be translated to writing?
What is the equivalent of the first 1 minute in a video in writing? Probably the opening sentence, three sentences, paragraph?
“Anytime we do something that no other creator can do, that seperates us in their mind and makes our videos more special to them. It changes how they see us and it does make them watch more videos and engage more with the brand. You can’t track the “wow factor” but I can describe it. Anything that no other youtuber can do. And it’s important we never lose our wow.”
Bottlenecks: The Goal - reading recommendation
“I want you to look them in the eyes and tell them they are the bottleneck and take it a step further and explain why they are the bottleneck so you both are on the same page.”
“Every single day you must check in on Tyler and make sure he is still on track to hit the target date. I want less excuses in this company. Take ownership and don’t give your project a chance to fail. Dumping your bottleneck on someone and then just walking away until it’s done is lazy and it gives room for error and I want you to have a mindset that God himself couldn’t stop you from making this video on time. Check. In. Daily. Leave. No. Room. For. Error.”
The same goes for working with contractors.
The Goal: 40th Anniversary Edition: A Process of Ongoing Improvement2
Video Everything
‘This is why we say video everything. Which is more important, that one person has a good mental grip of something or that their entire team of 10 people have a good mental grip on something? Obviously the team. And the easiest way to bring your team up to the same page is to freaken video everything and store it where they can constantly reference it. A lot of problems can be solved if we just video sets and ask for videos when ordering things. Especially because I personally am a visual guy and I always ask to see what things look like so even for me videos are valuable. Video Everything.’
How to Ask for Help
When asking for help with a decision from someone who is extremely busy include all the pertinent info you’ve gathered to make the decision yourself and provide option a,b.c etc. with pros and cons.
Creativity Saves Money
Use creativity to save money - a year’s supply of Doritos as a prize instead of 20k. The Doritos are funnier and far more entertaining than a cash prize that would be far more costly for a less impact. Example $20k cash prize vs $1,825 for a years supply of Doritos.
Higher form of communication
“The more complex what needs to be said is, the higher the form of the communication you should use.”
Communication hierarchy:
Face to face (highest)
Phone call
Text message
Email (lowest)
Nothing Comes Before your Prios
Prios - I like the lingo and for putting to use as a consistent prompt/question for 1:1 check-ins.
“When you’re being assigned tasks you should have what we call a prio list.”
If Ali says your prios are to:
1.) Get a lamborgini under $200k
2.) Get it wrapped in anime characters
3.) Make a custom steering wheel
Then nothing on this freakin planet is allowed to come between you and getting those prios done. If the other team asks for your help and you spend two days helping them and fall behind on getting your lamborghini secured, THAT’S YOUR FAULT. If the studio is burning down and you stop working to put out the fire and don’t get the lamborghini, THAT’S YOUR FAULT. (jokes haha) but seriously don’t let anything come before your prios. Consults are a gift from god, please take advantage of them. In every single freakin task assigned to you, always always always ask yourself first if you can find a consultant to help you. This is so important that I am demanding you repeat this three times in your head “I will always check for consultants when i’m assigned a task”
USE CONSULTANTS
Consultants are literally cheat codes. Need to make the world's largest slice of cake? Start off by calling the person who made the previous world’s largest slice of cake lol. He’s already done countless tests and can save you weeks worth of work. I really want to drill this point home because I’m a massive believer in consultants. Because I've spent almost a decade of my life hyper obsessing over youtube, I can show a brand new creator how to go from 100 subscribers to 10,000 in a month. On their own it would take them years to do it. Consults are a gift from god, please take advantage of them. In every single freakin task assigned to you, always always always ask yourself first if you can find a consultant to help you. This is so important that I am demanding you repeat this three times in your head “I will always check for consultants when i’m assigned a task”
UNDERSTAND CULTURE
What you consume on social media, when you watch youtube, tv, the games you play, etc. are what I like to call your information diet. Chris Tyson (our first subscriber and the guy in the videos) is a wonderful example of an information diet being used to perfection. The dude is funny as fuck. I’ve never met anyone in my entire life that can make people laugh like he can and I never understood why he was so good at it until I lived with him for a few years. The dude watches an obscene amount of cartoons and stupid shit. His eyeballs exist to inhail copious amounts of just goofy, dumb, and brain numbing content. And as a result he can quote almost any line from any episode of spongebob. He’s able to draw from so much stupid shit in his head as inspiration to make jokes and be quirky. As a result he is fucken hilarious. But let’s imagine a different Chris, let’s say instead of cartoons and stupid shit, his information diet was stocks and investing advice. And for 5 years that’s all he consumed. Do you think he’d be just as funny as he currently is? No. He in my opinion wouldn’t even be 20% as funny. If you’re a writer or director you really need to monitor and perfect your information diet. If your diet is not correct, you won’t have a good pulse on culture. I don’t want you to be a chris, in fact, I think that would probably do you harm. Talent needs to inhale cartoons so they can be funny, writers need to inhale inspiration. Let’s say there is a purple fruit in the middle of Australia that when eaten makes you 2 feet taller. If it truly did exist, you wouldn’t have known that until just right now. But now that you know of it, you can draw on it for inspiration for every piece of content you write going forward. That’s beautiful, it can now sit in the back of your mind waiting for that one video where it is needed. It might take 10 videos or even 100 but eventually you’ll be brainstorming a bit and think of the right one to use the fruit for. Apply this to everything on this fucken planet. You. Can’t. Get. Inspired. By. Things. You. Don’t. Know. Exist. So how do you learn more about what's out there in the world? How do you stay up to date on the latest memes? How do you know what’s going on with celebrities? What’s trending on youtube? What other creators are doing? What’s popping on tik tok? Your information diet. Consume things on a daily basis that help you write better content.
It’s okay for the boys to be childish
If talent wants to draw a dick on the white board in the video or do something stupid, let them. (assuming they know all the risks and arn’t missing context on why it’s not safe) People like when we are in our natural element of stupidity. Really do everything you can to empower the boys when filming and help them make content. Help them be idiots.
Don’t be Lazy
If you wrote a banger piece of content but it is a 50/50 chance of working, write another piece of content. Content is unlimited, don't be lazy. Run your content by as many people as possible for inspiration on how you could make it even better.
Hitting publish on this note is post 71 of 100 for anyone keeping track.
The Goal was also required reading for all Amazon executives at one point. It’s a highly readable, narrative-driven business book. I’ll dust it off and publish my notes on it one of these days. Highly recommend.