A couple nights ago, I stumbled across MrBeast’s leaked production guide. You know MrBeast, right? The guy with 100+ million YouTube subscribers who gives away islands for fun?
I couldn’t put it down. By 1 AM, I had a notebook full of scribbles and a head buzzing with ideas.
I saw lots of tweets that dismissed the guide. “He’s crazy.” “There isn’t anything so deep about going viral on YouTube here.”
But, I think they are missing something. This isn’t just about YouTube.
It’s a guide about building an attention factory. Full guide to download here.
Today, I’ll give you my unfiltered analysis and reactions to the document below (and some takeaways for any founder, creator etc):
They treat attention like a science
MrBeast’s team analyzes viewer retention second-by-second. They know exactly when people lose interest and plan “re-engagements” every 3 minutes. Something I never thought about.
In one video, they lost 21 million viewers in the first minute. And they celebrated. Why? Because 39 million stayed - way above average.
It got me thinking: What if we treated customer engagement with this level of precision? What’s the equivalent of a “re-engagement” in your product? Where does that happen and how can you “wow” them in those moments?
They engineer “wow” moments. “It’s arguably from a data standpoint illogical and a waste of time but the impression it leaves on the viewer is invaluable for us.”
We all should be doing “re-engagement” audits to make invaluable content and product.
2. They’ve industrialized creativity
Remember when we thought creativity was all about inspiration striking? The lightbulb above your head needs to strike at the right time. Well, MrBeast’s team laughs at that idea.
They produce multiple videos every single day. They turned creativity into an assembly line.
“If you only ever work on one video during a day, you failed as a MrBeast employee that day.”
I do agree with him that you can be creative everyday and manufacture that into your company.
Recently, I realized I write 10x better in the AM basically right after my first coffee. Inspiration just strikes then. If I try to write the same post or create the same wireframe at 6p, I’ll be up all night.
Imagine if we could make innovation predictable in our startups. Game-changer, right?
If MrBeast could do it, so can we.
3. They turn constraints into superpowers
The Mr.Beast team were once going to give out a $20,000 cash prize but last minute replaced it with a year’s supply of Doritos. It saved $18,175 and probably made the video more memorable.
Since then, they adopted a new mantra: “Creativity Saves Money”
I like to think about it as constraint fuels creativity. That makes more sense to me.
What if we stopped seeing budget cuts as limitations and started seeing them as creative briefs?
Challenge our teams to come up with more creative, crazy ideas like this.
A year supply of doritos is way more viral than giving away $20,000
4. They’re masters of knowledge arbitrage
The MrBeast team does some crazy stunts.
Need to make the world’s largest cake? Obviously. Their first call is to the person who made the previous record-holding cake.
“Consultants are literally cheat codes.”
I almost spit out my coffee when I read this one. I’m not going to lie.
When I think of consultants, I think of McKinsey, so I don’t know if all consultants are cheat codes. But I get the essence of what he is saying. Find someone who’s done the thing you’ve been trying to do, and get them to teach you or do the thing you need help with.
Mr Beast doesn’t want to reinvent the wheel. They’re buying the blueprint and innovating from there.
How much time and money could we save if we applied this to our businesses?
5. They obsess over “critical components”
For every video, they identify the make-or-break elements and protect them at all costs.
“WITHOUT WHAT YOU’RE WORKING ON WE DO NOT HAVE A VIDEO!”
It’s like having a SWAT team for your most important project elements.
What are the critical components of your business? Are you guarding them like MrBeast guards his?
6. They curate their “information diet”
The team consumes content strategically to fuel creativity.
It made me rethink my own content consumption. Am I feeding my brain the right inputs to drive innovation? Am I asking my team to feed themselves with creative content that’ll drive the business forward? I’m definitely not right now. Worth thinking about.
7. They’ve gamified improvement
Each video competes against the last 10. Anything below top 3 is a flop.
It’s not just about high standards. They’ve made improvement a mathematical certainty.
Imagine if we could design our KPIs to make “average” performance impossible. Where else in the business can you be more data-driven like this?
8. MrBeast is not just for kids, he is mainstream but opportunity is there
MrBeast is mainstream attention and now is figuring out how to monetize it.
“Our content is consumed by everyone at this point. Kids watch the videos with their mom, even though our female viewership is only 30%. That’s still 9 figure views a month from women, and it’s worldwide.”
I still think that if you want to be the MrBeast for your category, there is still opportunity.
He can’t be everything to everyone.
9. This was written so simply a child would understand it
I loved how simple this whole guide was written. It was littered with "hahas" and I felt like I was inside the mind of MrBeast. Maybe he took it to the extreme.
Take this quote from the guide: "haha I love this! We are silly and have fun, but we also get stuff done!"
This was my reminder to be more casual. Not every business document needs to read like a legal brief. There's power in conversational tone, even (especially) in professional settings.
Complex ideas become digestible. No jargon, no fluff.
Readers stay hooked. It's hard to zone out when it feels like a conversation.
Key points stick. You're more likely to remember and apply what you've read.
My biggest takeaway from the whole guide.
MrBeast is prototyping the future of business in the attention economy.
The question isn’t “How can I get more views?” It’s “How can I build an attention factory?” And that means using data to create attention.
I don’t know about you, but it definitely gets you thinking.
If you can be MrBeast for XYZ, you’ll be A-OK.
Next up, bookmarks I saved this week worth reading
Greg's bookmarks is brought to you by DesignScientist.com your creative and copy partner. Book a call before they raise prices. Pretty cool to see them working with brands and using design to become more known and profitable. They do infographics, ad creative, landing pages, websites etc.
I spoke to "the internet's creative director" who is behind building cult brands like Red Bull to Ciroc about the key to TikTok shop and building brands.
Today's newsletter is brought to you by LCA. If your company wants to bring your company to the future, hire us. We get hired by Warner to Fortnite to Shopify to dream up what new products they
You know those little digital things on websites that get people do stuff? The ones that say "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart"?
You know those little digital things on websites that get people do stuff? The ones that say "Buy Now" or "Add to Cart"?
Greg's Letter is brought to you by LCA. I don't talk about LCA often, but its the design/innovation agency behind the world's biggest brands. We turn "what if" into "holy
If you're like most people, you fall into one of two traps: 1) Shiny Object Syndrome: you're constantly chasing the next “big thing” and never stick with anything long enough to see results. Or
The all-in-one platform to plan, build, run, and improve software BetaList BetaList Weekly Atono The all-in-one platform to plan, build, run, and improve software Heap App The smart way to collect
join me: The Industrial AI Arms Race Hi there, Benjamin here, Senior Lead Analyst at CB Insights. Tomorrow, I'm breaking down how the biggest names in industrial automation are using AI to
Tomasz Tunguz Venture Capitalist If you were forwarded this newsletter, and you'd like to receive it in the future, subscribe here. The Price of Distinctiveness You have to pay a price for your
Discover how AI is replacing outdated supplier searches and making sourcing faster, cheaper, and smarter. Hey Friend , Just a year ago, AI and product sourcing didn't belong in the same
+ inside the 'toxic' office culture at 11x; Klarna is Europe's top founder factory View in browser Sponsored by Vanta Author-Jonny by Jonathan Sinclair Good morning there, Vertice, a London
A parable about responsibility in the AI age Platformer Platformer These founders realized their bot was unsafe — and actually shut it down A parable about responsibility in the AI age By Casey Newton
