Top3 Takeaways from the Leaked MrBeast Doc [WRAP 148]

Quick thing before we get started. I hope you were able to catch the live workshop I did with John Meese earlier this week. If not, if you want to watch it again — click here to watch (or read, or listen) to the Wisdom to Wealth replay.

I’m convinced that his inside-out growth strategy is the new best practice for building a profitable online education business, even though it’s the opposite of the “death by a thousand ebooks” approach that’s been commonplace for the last decade or so.

I asked John to do a follow-up workshop next week, and he said yes! So if you want to go deeper and see how he helps experts earn $10,000/month in group coaching in just 90 minutes per week.

Would you like to join that?

There's no registration form, just a private Zoom meeting. All you have to do is forward this email to hey@johnmeese.com so he knows to include you on the invite.

p.s. you also may have accidentally received an email ~ 10 hours ago with the subject line Become a Full-Stack Creator 💻 — that happened because I clicked the wrong button setting up an automation. My bad, you won't receive any more from that series!

💡 One Big Idea: The Leaked MrBeast Doc

MrBeast is the most followed YouTuber in the world with over 316 million subscribers. He’s best known for extreme stunts and challenges, often with elaborate sets and at times with hundreds of contestants (the Squid Games video is a good example).

His production company has over 200 employees and is growing fast — so fast that Jimmy (MrBeast’s real name), felt it necessary to write a 10,000 word, 36 page “employee handbook”.

I read it so you don’t have to, and here are my 3 top takeaways from the doc.

But if you want to read it, here is a copy with my notes and highlights.

Make everything more interesting

Sitting in your yard for 24 hours is boring. But sitting in ketchup for 24 hours? That’s way more interesting and doesn’t take any extra effort (besides getting all the ketchup in the tub. And don’t say “I spent 24 hours in a tub of ketchup” — say “I survived 24 hours…” See the difference?

I'm not gonna be sitting in ketchup anytime soon, but the point is taken. How can you make something more interesting with little-to-no effort? And what words can you add to do the same? Put in the extra mental work so the active creator work is amplified with the same amount of effort.

It’s your fault

If you have people you’re working with, and especially people working for you (whether as an employee or contractor) — keep checking in to make sure everything is on track. Especially contractors/freelancers, because you’re not their only gig. Be the squeaky wheel, ask for updates, and more. Because if it’s go time on the launch, production, or whatever — and the job isn’t done… that’s your fault, not the contractors.

Make good content

And it doesn’t have to be a spectacle like Mr Beast, but here’s his example:

Literally anything can be good content. Take a baby doll, for example. You can see how far people can throw it with their off hand. With the right sound effects, that can be funny! Or how fast someone can put 1,000 dolls in a giant crib. Or how many baby dolls it takes to break a 2×4 in half. Even something as simple as a baby doll has infinite ways to create funny, interesting content.

Stick with me here. This is like the ketchup example. We’re not tossing baby dolls around here (well my 5 year son old might). BUT! What are you working on that could be looked at differently? Repositioned, updated, bundled, unbundled, promoted, or talked about in a new way? It’s worth thinking about.

There’s a lot in the doc. I’m taking my second read through on my highlights this weekend. Keep an eye on the doc and I’ll be adding more notes and annotations that you’ll be able to see. But these were my top 3 takeaways that have stuck with me after a few days of reading and thinking about it.

👀 Video to Watch: New Channel Trailer!

It's time yall — I'm leaning all the way back in to the power of pen and paper productivity on my YouTube channel. I'm excited to show you how traditional tools can outperform digital apps, reducing distractions and increasing focus. Check out the official trailer and share your thoughts in the comments!

Honestly, this is the first time I've had a legit channel trailer 😆 In the past I've just had a popular video up for new subscribers, but this feels much better to introduce people to the channel.

Next week I'm going to talk more about why I decided to stop trying to pivot the channel away from what it was really good at and what people are interested in (at least YouTube viewers are). Bullet Journal, time blocking, notecards, and other cool analog tools. I'm excited to share more with you.

🧵 Thread I Read: Greg's Notes on MrBeast

My friend Greg Isenberg took much more copious notes on every page of the MrBeast doc. If you like my 3 takeaways, he has a takeaway for all 36 pages (most are short). The other one he has that I didn't get to was "higher forms of communication" — read it here.

Sponsor Shoutout: Mighty Networks

2024 has been a year of community building for me, and the best community platform I've found is Mighty Networks. I run the Father Fire community on Mighty, and also am a part of the Daily Stoic and Bullet Journal communities, all build on Mighty!

It has all the features you would expect from a community platform, like spaces for posts, chats, and the ability to go live. But my favorite little feature are the AI-driven polls and questions.

If you're a person building community with others over a common vision or goal (like living a great life) — then check out Mighty Networks and see what they can do to support your mission.

Check out everything that makes Mighty great by signing up for a free trial here. You can also listen to my friend Gina's podcast People Magic — it's like a step by step guide for building a successful community.

Have a great weekend,

Matt Ragland

p.s. if you have a (literal) minute to share feedback, click here.