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

511–520 of 1001 posts

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

#511

Post by Fmrbeast »

wrsh07 wrote: post #374
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

Ignoring the ethics of Mr Beast, he is producing real videos at an incredibly high volume and they consistently do numbers. None of those videos is easy to make. Sure, it's maybe not great to be so impressed by logistics or supply chain of a tobacco company, but from a business and systems view some of it is interesting

His shady way is clearly part of his business otherwise he would be successful without ripping of people.

This is ridiculous analysing his performance while ignoring his ethics especially when it's part of his income if not a fundamental strategy

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

#512

Post by barrell »

ocean_moist wrote: post #286
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

>Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. The difference is the game he's playing (youtube) is similar to the game we're playing (startups) so the success is tantamount. The game tobacco companies play is also very different, so the tobacco companies success will teach you very little about being successful in startups.

Personally the game I’m playing (building an effective edtech company) is probably less similar to the game he is playing (running illegal lotteries targeted at children) than the game Tabacco companies play (lean heavily on branding, marketing, and trying to control the academic narrative).

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

#513

Post by gonzo41 »

geerlingguy wrote: post #298

It's interesting to see the discussion from two different angles—there's a lot of support for the type of A/B/C delineation in parts of this thread, and some people who decry it in other parts. I was on the set for one of the productions, and I'll just say at the time I thought the experience was a one-off for one of the bigger productions they've put on. Since reading other people's stories, it seems more a case whe…

The no doesn't mean no section was about contractors and dealing with other people. It was a way of conveying that if you ask for something and get an outright refusal, then it's ok to ask again and pivot on details to try and find a fit. MrBeasts company drove a train into a big pit (one of the few videos I watched). That call, would have started with, I'd like to buy a train and a big pit. It probably started as a flat out refusal before he turned up with money.

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

#514

Post by FrozenSynapse »

grecy wrote: post #145
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 think it's important not to micromanage to the extent he is--it's necessary, maybe, for his business I think it's pretty clear he has figured out how to "master" YouTube better than anyone else ever has by a very wide margin. So if he doesn't micromanage, how can he teach people how to do something that nobody else has ever figured out how to do? It's not like people will show up and be good at what he wants. The…

> I think it's pretty clear he has figured out how to "master" YouTube better than anyone else ever has by a very wide margin.

content for dumb kids

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

#515

Post by barrell »

nine_k wrote: post #503
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

Imagine that our bitter enemies invented a superior logistics tool, known as the wheel. Should we even consider adopting it, given its clearly ethically unacceptable origins? If you think that this is an entirely artificial example, consider the fact that the same man designed the V-2 rockets which were hitting London during WWII, and the Saturn-5 rockets which brought astronauts to Moon: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w…

Imagine that our bitter ememies invented a superior logistics tool, known as the wheel. They also invented airplanes and the concept of blitzkrieg. Should we attribute their success to the wheel, and study how it was designed, since they clearly had a mighty army?

I think the idea being debated here is that it’s impossible to know whether the business practices would work without the lack of ethics. It might not be a good case study or a direction you want people going in as it might put them in some of the ethically compromising positions, or even worse require people to put themselves in those positions to work

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

#516

Post by vincnetas »

ahmedfromtunis wrote: post #212
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

I'd love to see that document and I'm sure there's a lot to learn from it and a lot of knowledge to use for the good of humanity. The fact that a shady business used some tactics to advance its cause doesn't automatically condemns the means.

You could also like to read some documents from Karl Bischoff (the architect of Auschwitz)

https://www.yadvashem.org/yv/en/exhibitions/through-the-lens...

And also Vrba–Wetzler report

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vrba–Wetzler_report

I don't want someone to think that i'm blaming someone for reading stuff. I just think and see that sometimes for people it is very easy to forget or miss bad things (harm to society) when their salary (or income) depends on ignoring this.

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

#517

Post by [deleted] »

nine_k wrote: post #503
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

Imagine that our bitter enemies invented a superior logistics tool, known as the wheel. Should we even consider adopting it, given its clearly ethically unacceptable origins? If you think that this is an entirely artificial example, consider the fact that the same man designed the V-2 rockets which were hitting London during WWII, and the Saturn-5 rockets which brought astronauts to Moon: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w…

[deleted]

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

#518

Post by pinkmuffinere »

Despite whatever we think of Mr Beast, these instructions have helped build something impressive. The principles are interesting, and could be applied to build other impressive things. I like that. Elements that particularly stand out to me:

1. Taking direct ownership

2. Doing things that are effective, even though they're socially uncomfortable

3. Working towards the goal, to the detriment of other things which sound good but are not the goal

4. The way they fight to keep retention to incremental checkpoints. I don't know if this has any applications for Engineering, but certainly for marketing and communication it does.

5. The claimed method of constantly evaluating his employees _really_ appeals to me

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

#519

Post by JCharante »

gleventhal wrote: post #360
nrp wrote: post #150

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s one of the most interesting parts of this document. Many people will read it and think “I would never work at a place like that,” and many others would think “that’s exactly the environment I want to work in!” More startups should be this transparent about their stated/desired culture (even if unintentionally).

It clearly biased for young people or those without a family with something to prove, the perfect type of employee to exploit and vampirize.

It’s not about exploiting. Getting work done isn’t inherently a bad thing.

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

#520

Post by voltaireodactyl »

nine_k wrote: post #503
latexr wrote: post #200

> Lot of people critiquing this, but you can't deny the success. You could say that about literally any shady business. Imagine seeing a PDF proving tobacco leaders knew for decades that it caused cancer and saying what you did. Being monetarily successful does not mean you’re good or shouldn’t be criticised.

Imagine that our bitter enemies invented a superior logistics tool, known as the wheel. Should we even consider adopting it, given its clearly ethically unacceptable origins? If you think that this is an entirely artificial example, consider the fact that the same man designed the V-2 rockets which were hitting London during WWII, and the Saturn-5 rockets which brought astronauts to Moon: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/w…

Also notable: the first was accomplished under a fascist government intent on violent world domination, and the latter was completed under a (arguably less fascist, depending on exact time frame) different government, specifically because in the meantime there was a large scale critique of the people running the aforementioned initial government by (roughly) the rest of the world.

So I believe your point leads to the conclusion that critiques at this time of the ruling authorities within this company might lead to a reorganization of control, such as might best position any further advancements to benefit a wider population in more pro social ways.

(von Braun being a clear “A-Player”, not a CEO, given the terminology at hand)

Post reply on HN