MrBeast: If You Want To Be Liked, Don't Help People & I Lost Tens Of Millions On Beast Games!

Here are the top 10 key takeaways from MrBeast's conversation with Steven Bartlett on "The Diary of a CEO" podcast, offering a rare glimpse into the mind of YouTube's biggest creator.

1. Obsession as a superpower

Jimmy (MrBeast) describes his ability to obsess over one thing more than anyone else as his greatest superpower. He can think about something for 16 hours a day, 7 days straight, and finds it easier than constantly shifting focus. This intense level of concentration allows him to solve problems that others can't.

His extreme focus manifested early in life. He recalls an 18-hour Skype call with friends analyzing why certain videos performed well, hanging up briefly to sleep, then immediately resuming the next day. This obsessive approach extends beyond content creation to all his business ventures, including his chocolate company Feastables, where he's poured thousands of hours into perfecting every detail.

2. The purple cow effect

Jimmy explains his success through what he calls "the purple cow effect." He notes that to go viral, you must do something never done before. Just as people would notice and remember a purple cow but ignore a regular one, viewers scroll past ordinary content but stop for the truly unique.

The most successful ideas are those that make viewers think, "I've never seen that before" or "No way they did this." These novel concepts are usually difficult to execute, which is why they haven't been done. Jimmy intentionally runs toward hard, complex problems that others avoid, because solving them creates the distinctive content that captures attention and generates exponential viewership.

3. Ethical sourcing as brand differentiation

When Jimmy learned about child labor in West Africa's cocoa industry, he was shocked to discover that 46% of labor on cocoa farms is performed by children. Most major chocolate companies accepted this as normal, but Jimmy refused to follow that model with Feastables, committing instead to ethical sourcing.

His goal is to grow Feastables to a billion dollars in revenue while staying profitable and ethically sourced. This would prove to the industry that ethical chocolate can be successful at scale. Jimmy hopes to eventually get over a million children out of child labor through his business practices and by influencing industry standards.

4. Success through discomfort

Jimmy attributes much of his success to his willingness to be consistently uncomfortable. He believes that if his mental health were a priority, he wouldn't be as successful as he is. The ability to push through unhappiness and do things he doesn't want to do year after year gives him a competitive advantage.

There's a reason no one makes videos like him - because no one wants to live the life he lives. Once people make a couple million dollars, they typically prioritize their comfort and sanity. Jimmy chooses to continue pushing himself through uncomfortable situations, extensive travel, and grueling schedules because that's what separates him from competitors.

5. A-players build each other up

Jimmy emphasizes the importance of surrounding yourself with other high performers. He notes that great people love working with other great people, and being around successful entrepreneurs brings out a different side of him than being around people with low ambition.

The worst trait in team members, according to Jimmy, is mediocrity. This creates a difficult situation because these people aren't bad enough to fire but not good enough to elevate the team. He's found that A-players build off each other's energy and drive, while even a few underperformers can drag down the overall culture and cause top talent to leave.

6. Risk tolerance and reinvestment

Throughout his career, Jimmy has shown extraordinary risk tolerance by continuously reinvesting all his earnings back into his business. Even when his channel started making significant money, he would pour everything into creating bigger videos rather than saving or spending on himself.

This approach caused tension with his mother, who worried about his financial security after experiencing bankruptcy herself. She once secretly put aside $5,000 for him, which he was excited to find because it meant he could spend more on videos. His willingness to take financial risks and delay gratification has been a key factor in his growth.

7. The price of fame

Jimmy discusses the mental toll of receiving unprecedented levels of feedback and criticism. He estimates he's read over 5,000 messages telling him to kill himself during his career. With 200 million views per video, even if 99% of viewers love his content, the 1% who don't still represent 2 million people.

To manage this, Jimmy developed internal guidelines based on his own moral compass rather than public opinion. He realized that trying to please everyone is impossible and would leave him without a backbone. This mindset shift helped him handle criticism by evaluating whether he believes his actions are right, then moving forward regardless of internet sentiment.

8. Health challenges as a constant obstacle

Jimmy has been dealing with Crohn's disease since age 15, which causes his immune system to attack his digestive tract. The condition led him to lose 50 pounds and requires medication that suppresses his immune system, making him frequently ill. He's had COVID six times and was hospitalized with the flu during the podcast recording trip.

Despite these health challenges, Jimmy maintains his rigorous work schedule. He describes filming with 200 people waiting on him, not knowing if he'll have a flare-up, and having to "down some caffeine and crank it out." His health issues add another layer of difficulty to his already demanding lifestyle, which he describes as "living life on hard mode."

9. Beast Games' unprecedented scale

Beast Games, Jimmy's competition show with Amazon, broke numerous records including largest sets, most world records, largest cash prize, most winners, most contestants, and most cameras in history. The production required custom infrastructure that had never been built before, including breaking a world record for most miles of camera cables.

Despite its success, Jimmy revealed he lost tens of millions of dollars making the show. The first episode alone cost over $15 million for the towers, while episode two's city set cost $14 million. Though financially questionable, Jimmy was focused on making the first season exceptional to prove that YouTube creators could succeed on streaming platforms and open doors for others.

10. The struggle between work and personal fulfillment

Throughout the conversation, Jimmy acknowledges the tension between his work commitments and personal life. When asked if he's happy, he responds that so far this year, he's been "more unhappy than happy" due to the constant demands of filming, traveling, and managing multiple businesses.

Jimmy has considered quitting YouTube "all the time" but never seriously would. He has found that his fiancée understands and supports his work-focused lifestyle, calling their relationship "frictionless." When it comes to having children, he wants to wait until he can be truly present as a father, recognizing that his current schedule would make that impossible.