Simon WillisonSep 15, 2024

I'm always interested in exposure to management advice from unconventional sources... and there's a leaked PDF floating around called "HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION" which appears to be the onboarding document for new members of the MrBeast YouTube production company

It's 36 pages long, so I put together some of my own notes from reading it here: https://simonwillison.net/2024/Sep/15/how-to-succeed-in-mrbeast-production/

How to succeed in MrBeast production (leaked PDF)

Whether or not you enjoy MrBeast’s format of YouTube videos (here’s [a 2022 Rolling Stone profile](https://www.rollingstone.com/culture/culture-features/mrbeast-youtube-cover-story-interview-1334604/) if you’re unfamiliar), this leaked onboarding document for new members of his production company …

Show threadSimon Willison

One of my favourite documents in this genre remains "THE ELEVEN LAWS OF SHOWRUNNING", about how to run production of a TV show

It's unintentionally a fantastic guide to being an engineering manager, or startup founder, or indeed any role where you need a bunch of different creative people to understand and work together to bring about a creative vision:

https://simonwillison.net/2019/Feb/19/eleven-laws-showrunning/

The Eleven Laws of Showrunning

Fascinating essay on how to run a modern TV show by Javier Grillo-Marxuach. Being a showrunner basically involves running a 100+ person startup with a 7 digit budget, almost immovable …

Sep 15, 2024 at 3:01pmWeb
Show threadTim BraySep 15, 2024
@simon link seems broken?
Show threadSimon WillisonSep 15, 2024

@timbray the leaked MrBeast one or the Showrunner one?

The MrBeast one may well have been booted offline already - it's a leak but there are a whole load of copies floating around I think, search for "HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION pdf" and other copies may show up

Show threadDavid MachajSep 15, 2024

@simon @timbray
Was it hosted directly on Twitter? I was curious to look through it but it doesn’t load for me because I have Twitter blocked at the DNS level. Therefore I can’t tell if it’s my own blocking or if it was deleted.

(I chose to block Twitter via DNS so sometimes I miss out on interesting links and that is ok with me)

Show threadSimon WillisonSep 15, 2024
@david @timbray it's hosted in this Google Drive folder linked from a Tweet: https://drive.google.com/file/d/1YaG9xpu-WQKBPUi8yQ4HaDYQLUSa7Y3J/view
How-To-Succeed-At-MrBeast-Production.pdf

Google Docs
Show threadDavid MachajSep 15, 2024
@simon @timbray
Nice, that is still live 👍. Thank you for sharing.
Show threadAnand PhilipSep 15, 2024
@simon this is brilliant! thanks for sharing.
Show threadMiaSep 15, 2024
@simon that's excellent. Thanks for sharing!