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How to succeed in MrBeast production (Leaked PDF)

simonwillison.net

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

#661

Post by bmoxb »

lnsru wrote: post #534
gleventhal wrote: post #359

I don't have the energy for an intellectual debate, but personally, I have the sense that Youtube is net bad for the world and the monetization of Youtube has incentivized and amplified mediocrity, stupidity, and social decay. I don't follow or watch Mr Beast videos, but from what I've seen, they are largely driven by a money fetish and as far as "creativity", it feels on par with the more boring "What would you rath…

I am with you. YouTube does not offer math lectures about volume calculation. It advertises some fast food alike junk about insane things. And the 8 years old boys watch cartoons about chopped heads and how the dog plays with these heads. Afterwards I was happy, that I am luddite and YouTube is blocked at home and kids don’t have smartphones.

It absolutely does offer more maths lectures than you could ever conceivably watch.

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

#662

Post by theshrike79 »

trustno2 wrote: post #586

I hate the actual content he produces - the first time I watched it, I kept thinking it's a trailer because of all the cuts and I wondered, where is the actual video, when I realized no, I am watching the actual video - but I have to commend the grind. He is trully obsessive about getting the most views, almost soullessly designing the perfect viral content, caring about every second. He literally starts with the thu…

Average Americans (his main audience) always visit "Europe" or "Africa", never mentioning a specific country.

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

#663

Post by lm28469 »

phito wrote: post #593
trustno2 wrote: post #586

I hate the actual content he produces - the first time I watched it, I kept thinking it's a trailer because of all the cuts and I wondered, where is the actual video, when I realized no, I am watching the actual video - but I have to commend the grind. He is trully obsessive about getting the most views, almost soullessly designing the perfect viral content, caring about every second. He literally starts with the thu…

It's just fast food content.

There is a reason it's called "content", "content" for the mere "container" we've become

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

#664

Post by refurb »

oulipo wrote: post #638
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…

A lot of people here (and in tech in general) are conflating "being efficient" with "having success"... that's clearly because people in tech generally value efficiency but we have to take a step back collectively and understand that "being efficient at producing addictive video for teens to sell ads for shit they don't need" is BAD, not a "success"

> but we have to take a step back collectively and understand that "being efficient at producing addictive video for teens to sell ads for shit they don't need" is BAD, not a "success"

That’s seems like a judgement call and a personal one at that. It certainly isn’t a universal value among humanity.

Which is fine, but a 500+ comment HN post where people argue over personal values doesn’t make for interesting reading.

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

#665

Post by lupusreal »

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…

Literally nobody is denying that MrBeast is successful so what is the point of saying that nobody can deny it?

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

#666

Post by lijok »

gleventhal wrote: post #359

I don't have the energy for an intellectual debate, but personally, I have the sense that Youtube is net bad for the world and the monetization of Youtube has incentivized and amplified mediocrity, stupidity, and social decay. I don't follow or watch Mr Beast videos, but from what I've seen, they are largely driven by a money fetish and as far as "creativity", it feels on par with the more boring "What would you rath…

> I have the sense that Youtube is net bad for the world

Overwhelming majority of things designed to exploit human imperfections for personal gain are a net bad. Youtube has become one of those things.

Unfortunate, 'cause that's where the money is.

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

#667

Post by refurb »

greesil wrote: post #142
simonw wrote: post #92

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I’m with you on the management vibes - it doesn’t sound like a culture that I’d enjoy. That’s one of the things I find so interesting about this document: it does feel very honest and unfiltered, and as such it appears to be quite an accurate insight into their culture. And that’s a culture that works if you want to create massive successful viral YouTube videos targeting their audience. How much has that specific ch…

At face value, this is not a culture that would reward risk taking. It's very operations focused. Get x done on day y or you're fired. Maybe they do value risk taking on the creative side?

An example of risk taking in operations is right there in the pdf - “no doesn’t mean no”

They give the example of picking a filming location you aren’t likely to get permission to film in but would produce outstanding content.

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

#668

Post by deelowe »

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.

Having recently switched jobs, I was again reminded of just how terrible most interviewers are. The more senior the interviewer, the more terrible.

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

#669

Post by bnralt »

oulipo wrote: post #635
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.

Exactly!! we need to stop conflating "efficiency" with "success" Being efficient at destroying the planet is NOT success If anything we need to go slower and gentler (environmentally, socially, economically), not "faster"

> If anything we need to go slower and gentler (environmentally, socially, economically), not "faster"

Do you think we should move slower when it comes to saving the planet? From what I can tell your main issue is with the goal, not with efficiency itself.

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

#670

Post by t_mann »

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.

Can you point to the parts of the document, or other resources about Mr. Beast, that warrant a comparison with tobacco companies?
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