The MrBeast Guide

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):

1. 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.

“You. Can’t. Get. Inspired. By. Things. You. Don’t. Know. Exist.”

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

#1

floguo @floguo closed mouths don’t get fed. they also can’t yap or laugh. perhaps there is a great peace in quiet, but there is so much to experience by virtue of trying https://twitter.com/tommytrxnh/status/1836390596165931492 tommy @tommytrxnh one must yap to be heard 9:14 AM • Sep 18, 2024 1 Retweets 18 Likes

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Reminder, open your mouth.

#2

Courtland Allen @csallen Half the founders I know are trying to become influencers. Meanwhile the biggest influencers are trying to become founders. 7:25 PM • Sep 18, 2024 1 Retweets 144 Likes Read 32 replies

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Facts. Every successful YouTuber will become an entrepreneur eventually.

#3

Jacob Andreou @jacobandreou Our ability to appreciate new model advancements will only get worse. 4:28 PM • Sep 13, 2024 1 Retweets 18 Likes Read 3 replies

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I feel nothing when new models come out right now even though each GPT update is changing the world. Anyone else?

#4

scott belsky @scottbelsky observed: a labor of love tends to pay off, just not how and when you expect. your curiosity must outlast your expectations. 9:5 AM • Sep 18, 2024 42 Retweets 242 Likes Read 4 replies

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So true. As much as we'd love for a labor of love to pay off instantly, it often doesn't have the same schedule as you.

Thanks for reading Greg's Bookmarks.

Next up new startup ideas podcasts worth listening to.

New Startup Ideas Podcast (SIP) episodes🧃 I spoke with Jonathan Courtney about silicon valley's dirty word "funnels"! It was a mini-masterclass on funnels. Enjoy. ​Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube ​ 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. ​Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube​ ​

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Thank you for reading Greg's Letter. I hope you found it valuable.

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Until next week.

Be well,

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