A leaked internal onboarding PDF document for MrBeast’s employees reveals how the creator manages his many content teams and makes massively successful YouTube videos.
The document was released on social media on September 14 by a startup company founder and quickly spread across the internet as people raced to learn all about how MrBeast makes his content.
There is some well-known advice in the 37-page document, like how important the first minute of a video is for audience retention and the content’s overall success, alongside some nuanced breakdowns of YouTube analytics and management insights.
The PDF only has a few sections and is written informally by MrBeast as a “braindump” and not a rulebook for his employees to follow.
The creator outlines the type of people that he wants working for his company, “A Players,” before diving into four chapters: What makes a YouTube video viral, Creating Content, Creative, and Your Career.
The first section goes over metrics that MrBeast cares about: Click Through Rate, Average View Duration, and Average View Percentage. He also speaks on what separates his content from others on the platform.
“Anytime we do something that no other creator can do, that separates us in their mind and makes our videos more special to them. It changes how they see us and it does make them watch more videos and engage more with the brand. You can’t track the ‘wow factor,’ but I can describe it,” he said.
The creator also reveals that his titles, and how they can be showcased via a creative thumbnail, also follow a similar guideline of leaning into virality.
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“‘I Spent 50 Hours In My Front Yard’ is lame and you wouldn’t click it. But you would hypothetically click ‘I Spent 50 Hours In Ketchup.’ Both are relatively similar in time/effort, but the ketchup one is easily 100x more viral. An image of someone sitting in ketchup in a bathtub is exponentially more interesting than someone sitting in their front yard,” he said.
The second section goes over the process of creating the content that goes on MrBeast’s channels, from the initial idea to location scouting and shooting. This section includes more general guidelines and tenants like “Video Everything,” “Always have a backup day,” and “Use Consultants.”
“When dealing with people outside MrBeast Productions, never take a No at face value. If we need a store to buy everything inside of and you call the local Dollar Tree and the person that answers says ‘No, you can’t film here,’ that literally doesn’t mean sh*t,” Mr Beast said under the “No Does Not Mean No” section.
I know MrBeast kinda got canceled for this document, but it's an amazing read and insight into why he is so successful.MUST READ for anyone creating content, on any platform. pic.twitter.com/pSM75mgo3V
— Pat Walls (@thepatwalls) September 14, 2024
The final section that fellow creators can read to improve their understanding of MrBeast’s rise is Chapter 3, where he explains what makes a good video idea and the goal of his content.
“I just want to do what makes me happy and ultimately the viewers happy… But this is the one thing I will never compromise on, I have zero issues throwing away a multi-million dollar video if I don’t think it’s up to my standards and is good for the audience. We must always be improving and innovating,” he said.
The creator also offers up other tenants like “No dull moments in videos” and “Run your content by as many people as possible for inspiration on how you could make it even better.”
This document leak comes amid a difficult time for the MrBeast brand, as he has been caught up in multiple scandals. That hasn’t stopped him from making big announcements, however, as he launched Lunchly in partnership with Logan Paul and KSI via an Instagram livestream on September 16.