Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

simonwillison.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

261–270 of 1001 posts

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#261

Post by DaoVeles »

shalmanese wrote: post #217

One distressing trend I've noticed becoming ubiquitous on HN is that any writing that is confronting to a consensus worldview becomes flooded with highly upvoted comments that are, in essence, excuses for why it's not necessary in this instance to re-examine your priors. He's making low value content/the culture of the company is horrible/he's a fraud/it's more luck than skill. The actual critiques are personalized t…

Absolutely, some days I could be convinced that people would fight back with me saying "water is wet".

When you see those really great things here it does restore some faith in the place but they are getting further apart all the time. A real shame.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#262

Post by lostdog »

xrd wrote: post #81

I have kids and I'm really bothered by MrBeast. I had to buy goddamn chocolate bars at Walmart because of him. I acknowledge he is creative and driven but the content is such crap, with a few exceptions that my kids point out. But, what's the alternative? For example, I love 3brown1blue videos. But, it is too advanced even for my eleven year old. Mark Rober videos are great, and my kids love them, but he's even insid…

Tell your kids they have to perform a challenge worthy of getting the chocolate bars.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#263

Post by shombaboor »

dcchambers wrote: post #210
bondarchuk wrote: post #120

Some dramatic takes in this thread. Is watching a mr Beast video really that much worse than watching Friends or Spongebob or Game of Thrones?

At least your two examples try to tell a story. They have some artistic integrity. Mr. Beast has one goal: Eyes on content. For a long as possible. There is no artistic vision - every decision is made in the name of profit, attention, and addiction.

yeah i thought that was interesting, as if to say, if we made a pet torture video that has the most views ever, that's what's important. Also how wedded it is to youtube. understanding how youtube works is more important that making funny or engaging content. it's a reverse of 'if you build it they will come' when it comes to excellence.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#264

Post by peterweyand38 »

shalmanese wrote: post #217

One distressing trend I've noticed becoming ubiquitous on HN is that any writing that is confronting to a consensus worldview becomes flooded with highly upvoted comments that are, in essence, excuses for why it's not necessary in this instance to re-examine your priors. He's making low value content/the culture of the company is horrible/he's a fraud/it's more luck than skill. The actual critiques are personalized t…

[flagged]

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#265

Post by BryanLegend »

krrrh wrote: post #73
Zanni wrote: post #40

Surprising reference to The Goal [1], which Mr. Beast "used to make everyone read ..." and still recommends. The Goal is a business novel about optimizing manufacturing processes for throughput and responsiveness rather than "efficiency" and is filled with counter-intuitive insights. Presenting it as a novel means you get to see characters grapple with these insights and fail to commit before truly understanding them…

This sounds intriguing. Of note for anyone with an audible membership: The Goal is in the free library.

It's also included in Spotify Premium for free.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#266

Post by DaoVeles »

threeseed wrote: post #188
ocean_moist wrote: post #77

Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. I think a lot of the advice is applicable to startups. 1. KPIs, for Beast they are CTR, AVD, AVP, will look different if you are a startup. I am willing to bet he knows his metrics better than >95% of startup founders. Because he is literally hacking/being judged by an algorithm, his KPIs will matter more and can be closely dissected. Startups aren't that…

I always love the "just hire A-players" line. As though startups are trying to hire mediocre people instead of having no choice. And that 95% of startups don't know their metrics. Pretty sure almost all do but again don't have the skills or resources to meaningfully move them.

It does come from a point of privileged. Steve jobs said "A players hire A+ players. A+ players hire A++ players". That was because he saw A players hiring B players. B Players will hire C players - and so on.

That is all well and good when you are the golden goose that is Apple. Most people just do not get the opportunity to hire like that.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#267

Post by greenthrow »

The amount of bootlicking content in here is ridiculous. Nothing in this is special or has much to do with MrBeast's success. In fact, it has a lot more to do with damaging the brand which has happened recently. Thinking you will find success even remotely like MrBeast's by following the contents of this document is hilariously naive.

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#268

Post by MuffinFlavored »

shalmanese wrote: post #217

One distressing trend I've noticed becoming ubiquitous on HN is that any writing that is confronting to a consensus worldview becomes flooded with highly upvoted comments that are, in essence, excuses for why it's not necessary in this instance to re-examine your priors. He's making low value content/the culture of the company is horrible/he's a fraud/it's more luck than skill. The actual critiques are personalized t…

> excuses for why it's not necessary in this instance to re-examine your priors.

Not being funny, how often is this the answer:

I didn't have one prior, I'm being told what to think by "smart people" online and I make my identity alignment with them. I'm empty and can't think of anything on my own, so when I read something, I add it to a memory bank to bring up later in life in conversation with others to come across as "knowing a little bit about everything"

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#269

Post by calmbonsai »

shalmanese wrote: post #217

One distressing trend I've noticed becoming ubiquitous on HN is that any writing that is confronting to a consensus worldview becomes flooded with highly upvoted comments that are, in essence, excuses for why it's not necessary in this instance to re-examine your priors. He's making low value content/the culture of the company is horrible/he's a fraud/it's more luck than skill. The actual critiques are personalized t…

Um well, Mr. Beast IS a fraud (do a casual search), the content is crass, exploitative, and it's perfectly reasonable to critique a person when they have a personalized brand.

This is no different than what's done in ANY entertainment media contract negotiation that takes place with "on-air talent".

Re: How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

#270

Post by ocean_moist »

threeseed wrote: post #188
ocean_moist wrote: post #77

Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. I think a lot of the advice is applicable to startups. 1. KPIs, for Beast they are CTR, AVD, AVP, will look different if you are a startup. I am willing to bet he knows his metrics better than >95% of startup founders. Because he is literally hacking/being judged by an algorithm, his KPIs will matter more and can be closely dissected. Startups aren't that…

I always love the "just hire A-players" line. As though startups are trying to hire mediocre people instead of having no choice. And that 95% of startups don't know their metrics. Pretty sure almost all do but again don't have the skills or resources to meaningfully move them.

>I always love the "just hire A-players" line. As though startups are trying to hire mediocre people instead of having no choice.

If a startup can't attract talent (a sign of bad traction), that startup probably is not that good and more people won't solve the underlying problem. You would also be surprised how many startups outsource dev/marketing/etc. in their initial stages.

If you can't convince smart people to work for you and that your idea is good, good luck trying to convince customers of the same.

>And that 95% of startups don't know their metrics. Pretty sure almost all do but again don't have the skills or resources to meaningfully move them.

I said most don't know them as well as Mr. Beast. Read "Chapter 1: What makes a Youtube video viral?". Most founders have not put the same amount of time into seeing how to track, measure, and impact metrics. He identified key KPIs and then experimented with changes until he found what worked. His whole north star to, minute by minute, structure each video, is informed by the KPIs. His whole strategy is built upon metrics by metrics.

He clearly is obsessed with them to a degree few are. Some startups don't even know how much money they make, how much money they lose, etc.

Post reply on HN