A Lesson on Obsession: Robert Caro and Mr. Beast

Over the past few days, I encountered two very different creators. First, I visited the Robert Caro exhibit at the New York Historical Society. Then, I read “HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION,” a remarkable little document by top YouTuber James “Jimmy” Donaldson aka “Mr. Beast.” I don’t watch Mr. Beast’s content but I inhaled much of those 36 pages, skipping only the YouTube minutiae. The document lays out goals, expectations, principles, and lessons for new team members of Donaldson’s production company. I suspect he leaked it to inspire young ambitious outliers to apply and if you run a team with ambitious goals — hedge fund, startup, anything creative — I highly recommend you analyze the booklet for its clarity and structure (also, The Goal is the one book he recommends). At first glance, Caro and Donaldson couldn’t seem more different: thousand-page biographies vs. a YouTube channel whose most popular video is “$456,000 Squid Game In Real Life!” However, both owe their success t

Over the past few days, I encountered two very different creators. First, I visited the Robert Caro exhibit at the New York Historical Society. Then, I read “HOW TO SUCCEED IN MRBEAST PRODUCTION,” a remarkable little document by top YouTuber James “Jimmy” Donaldson aka “Mr. Beast.” I don’t watch Mr. Beast’s content but I inhaled much of those 36 pages, skipping only the YouTube minutiae. The document lays out goals, expectations, principles, and lessons for new team members of Donaldson’s production company. I suspect he leaked it to inspire young ambitious outliers to apply and if you run a t