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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)

#761

Post by anamexis »

whiterknight wrote: post #755
codedokode wrote: post #753

Interesting, I only learned about this Youtuber recently, maybe 2 months ago or so despite him having so many views. Youtube seems to be good at not showing you what you don't search for. What his videos are lacking in my opinion is the quality of scenario and planning. They build an expensive set, give away a large prize but the challenges are either too simple or not very creative. Too little challenges, too little…

Billions of views and total YouTube dominance disagree with you.

No, they're not exclusive at all. As the guide itself says:

> Your goal here is to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible. That’s the number one goal of this production company. It’s not to make the best produced videos. Not to make the funniest videos. Not to make the best looking videos. Not the highest quality videos.. It’s to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible.

You can get billions of views and total YouTube dominance without making particularly engaging content, and I think that's the interesting point here.

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

#762

Post by mettamage »

whiterknight wrote: post #755
codedokode wrote: post #753

Interesting, I only learned about this Youtuber recently, maybe 2 months ago or so despite him having so many views. Youtube seems to be good at not showing you what you don't search for. What his videos are lacking in my opinion is the quality of scenario and planning. They build an expensive set, give away a large prize but the challenges are either too simple or not very creative. Too little challenges, too little…

Billions of views and total YouTube dominance disagree with you.

I feel it’s more that the average person likes to watch something simple sometimes, myself included

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

#763

Post by jonplackett »

vitorbaptistaa wrote: post #751

Would anyone be kind enough to download the PDF and upload it somewhere for us, Brazilians without VPNs? :)

Not really sure why it's linked to X anyway. The X post is just a link to google docs.

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YaG9xpu-WQKBPUi8yQ4HaDYQLUS...

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

#764

Post by corry »

MrBeast - an OG Founder Mode guy?

I'll leave it to you all to debate the ethics of MrBeast's videos, YouTube, and the questionable value of these videos.

Meanwhile, the most fascinating part of this is a glimpse into a new kind of media company, where he instituted a particular process and approach and scaled it up outside of the initial set of producers.

You get the sense he's flying by the seat of his pants into a whole new world, and he's creating the org and the processes on the fly based on what's been successful so far.

The energy, drive and enthusiasm required to create a new model of not only "product" (even one that solely exists to please the algorithm) and company is fascinating.

There are more parallels to startup founders than one might admit.

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

#765

Post by OJFord »

slt2021 wrote: post #456
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…

MrBeast has given up his life for his youtube channel (he writes exactly this in the doc) - and he is looking for other people willing to give up theirs for his channel

That's like me saying I've given up my life to have the job that I have currently and live where I do. Or you've given up your life for however you spend it.

It just about makes some sort of sense in the context of something like giving up a professional career in a developed country and moving to a remote African village to do aid work, but giving up your life to make a tonne of money creating viral YouTube videos is an absurd description.

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

#766

Post by kogus »

bayindirh wrote: post #698
doix wrote: post #689

There are lot of comments here disliking MrBeast and what not, but some of the advice can definitely apply to all organizations. > Your goal here is to make the best YOUTUBE videos possible. That’s the number one goal of this production company. It’s not to make the best produced videos. Not to make the funniest videos. Not to make the best looking videos. Not the highest quality videos.. It’s to make the best YOUTUB…

> Replace "youtube videos" with whatever the company is trying to achieve. Some counterpoints: - Xerox knowingly didn't fix the problematic gear trains to guarantee periodic part changes, prioritizing money over "best copier possible". - Ford didn't fix Pinto's fuel tank, prioritizing cost minimization over "best possible car in its class". - Microsoft is did tons of shady things in its OS development history to prio…

You are not wrong, but I'd suggest that in those cases the company prioritized short and medium term profit over the long term success of the company. Each of the situations you list ended up costing those companies dearly (except maybe Dyson?), and today they serve as cautionary tales. So I think the original point of "keeping the main thing the main thing" stands.

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

#767

Post by _zamorano_ »

earnesti wrote: post #596
slt2021 wrote: post #456

Earlier quoted context omitted.

MrBeast has given up his life for his youtube channel (he writes exactly this in the doc) - and he is looking for other people willing to give up theirs for his channel

He is fricking 26 years old. He hasn't given his life for anything. At the moment he is, yes, but likely after some years he is retired on his yacht.

Some things leave a permanent mark on you. Try being a workaholic a few years and tell me later how easy is to disconnect, and rejoin with familiy and friends.

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

#768

Post by igornadj »

soniman wrote: post #738
tkgally wrote: post #335

It might be interesting to contrast MrBeast’s management approach with that of Marques Brownlee (MKBHD). He is also a successful YouTuber who leads a team that puts out videos on several channels. While his videos don’t have the huge production scale of MrBeast’s, they seem to be produced on short deadlines and must require close coordination among his team. If I were young and wanted to work in online media producti…

Brownlee is such a mystery to me. The #1 rule of Youtube is show energy, show enthusiasm. Brownlee is like if Urkel were given a sedative and told to review the latest iPhone

The #1 rule is clearly not show energy, show enthusiasm. It's the #1 rule for a subset of content, like MrBeast. The content world is a big place, and the silent majority has no interest in loud and obnoxious.

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

#769

Post by KeplerBoy »

corry wrote: post #764

MrBeast - an OG Founder Mode guy? I'll leave it to you all to debate the ethics of MrBeast's videos, YouTube, and the questionable value of these videos. Meanwhile, the most fascinating part of this is a glimpse into a new kind of media company, where he instituted a particular process and approach and scaled it up outside of the initial set of producers. You get the sense he's flying by the seat of his pants into a…

> There are more parallels to startup founders than one might admit.

It is a startup and he is a founder. There are no parallels, he is simply an example. His video production company is very similar to other entertainment companies catering to the same audience like roblox (studios) or mobile gaming startups in general.

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

#770

Post by latentcall »

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…

Yes agreed. Another commenter said YT is the most valuable educational tool in existence today. I think the real answer is a library.

YouTube is 99% junk and just because 1% of it is decent, that doesn’t make up for the 99%.

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