MrBeast Shares What It Really Takes To Become THE BEST On YouTube (Interview w/ MFM & Hasan Minhaj)

Obsession, Winning, Creativity, and Success. - August 25, 2022 (over 2 years ago) • 37:02

This My First Million podcast episode features a unique conversation between Shaan Puri, Sam Parr, MrBeast (Jimmy Donaldson), and Hasan Minhaj. MrBeast's unexpected presence at Shaan's creator camp, Camp MFM, sparks a discussion about their respective creative processes and career paths. The conversation flows organically, touching on topics like content creation, entrepreneurship, and the pursuit of success.

  • MrBeast's Work Ethic: MrBeast describes his intense work ethic, pushing himself to burnout and prioritizing winning over money. He explains his motivation for creating videos stems from the joy of helping people and entertaining his audience.

  • Early YouTube Career: MrBeast reflects on his early YouTube journey, recalling his first videos at age 11 and a pivotal moment when he chose YouTube over studying for a history test. He shares a story about a scheduled video where he predicted his future subscriber count, highlighting his early commitment to content creation.

  • Creative Process: MrBeast explains his approach to generating original ideas, emphasizing constant learning and seeking inspiration from diverse sources. He even employs people to teach him new things and expose him to unfamiliar concepts.

  • Running MrBeast's Company: Tariq, one of MrBeast's employees, joins the conversation to describe what it's like to work for MrBeast. The discussion centers on the exciting experiences and the lack of routine inherent in MrBeast's fast-paced, ever-evolving work environment.

  • Hasan Minhaj's Perspective: Hasan provides insights from his comedic background, contrasting his self-deprecating approach with MrBeast's confidence. He discusses his early career goals and the metrics he used to measure success.

  • Shaan Puri's Dilemma: Shaan shares his internal debate about focusing on content creation versus building businesses. He expresses admiration for MrBeast's dedication while questioning his own capacity for such intense obsession.

  • Sam Parr's Similar Question: Sam echoes Shaan's thoughts, contemplating the balance between creating content and actively building businesses.

  • Creators They Admire: The group discusses creators they admire, with Hasan mentioning Steven Spielberg and MrBeast highlighting Steve Jobs's impact on Pixar and Apple.

  • MrBeast's Focus: MrBeast reveals he primarily watched YouTube growing up and hasn't consumed much traditional media like movies or music. He explains his intense focus on YouTube as a driving force behind his success.

Transcript:

Start TimeSpeakerText
James Stephen Donaldson
The way I like to work is that I basically wake up, obsess over something, go to bed, and then wake up again to obsess. I do this every second of the day until I just have a mental breakdown and burn out. Then, I take a day off or maybe a day and a half off, and I like to go right back to it. So, I don't work certain days; I just go as hard as I can, using every ounce of my entire body until I just crash.
Shaan Puri
alright in this episode we are gonna talk about
Sam Parr
one second look we gotta let the guy mister beast actually do the intro
James Stephen Donaldson
Guys, in this, we're gonna teach you how to make a **$1,000,000**. If you don't have a **$1,000,000**, we're gonna show you how in this podcast.
Shaan Puri
Alright, that was way better than us. Yeah, that's right! Mr. Beast, the biggest YouTuber in the world, joined us on "My First Million," along with Hasan Minhaj, one of the biggest comedians in the world. We did a four-person pod in person. This is kind of amazing!
Sam Parr
So, look, check this out. I think Sean actually mentioned this on the podcast. About 3 to 4 weeks ago, he said he was going to create this thing called "Camp MFM." Basically, he rented a big old mansion in North Carolina. He DM'd like 20 different people, a bunch of different founders, and a bunch of interesting people. But then he also DM'd Mr. Beast and Hassan and told them to come.
James Stephen Donaldson
I didn't actually think they were gonna show up
Sam Parr
And so, we were just sitting here at night recording a podcast when they walked in and joined us. It was amazing.
Shaan Puri
Yeah, it was crazy seeing one of the biggest YouTubers in the world and one of the biggest comedians in the world. They kind of interviewed each other and talked about their creative process, what they're self-conscious of, what it's like to work for them, and how much they put into each thing that they do. It was pretty nuts.
Sam Parr
Yeah, it was... I mean, it was amazing. They made fun of me at first because I was nervous, and it was awesome.
Shaan Puri
it was a big deal it was awesome
Sam Parr
so check it out I think you're gonna dig it wait hold on we're rolling
James Stephen Donaldson
we're rolling alright we're live we'll do it if it's not recording you're just not getting it yeah
Hasan Minhaj
you're not getting it dude you're not getting jimmy
Sam Parr
alright we're live wait what were we saying
Hasan Minhaj
this is the most interesting crossover ever
James Stephen Donaldson
yes yeah why are the 4 of us sitting here
Hasan Minhaj
I have no idea
James Stephen Donaldson
let's put him on the spot
Shaan Puri
because he
James Stephen Donaldson
seems the most nervous
Shaan Puri
Yeah, me? No. He's like the "body language doctor." Yeah, but he means body language, good, right?
James Stephen Donaldson
why I'm nervous
Sam Parr
is because I'm wearing these shorgos
Shaan Puri
yeah bro
James Stephen Donaldson
you're in the shorgos we also got a live audience here why is why why is this
Hasan Minhaj
yeah yeah
Shaan Puri
there's 30 men in this house
James Stephen Donaldson
why why is there a sausage fest give us answers
Hasan Minhaj
this is the power of sean here
Sam Parr
Listen, here's the deal. The story was that you wanted to do this, and it happened in three weeks.
Shaan Puri
Yeah, I just hit up a bunch of people. Actually, you know what? The way it really came together was I just tweeted it out. Because if you do that, it's like a luck magnet; good things can happen. Over a hundred people signed up for it. I was scrolling through the names and I saw one that said "MrBeast." I was like, "But I... I was like, it's a Google form; anybody could write 'MrBeast.'" I was like, "Oh yeah, whatever, some jackass." Then he DMs me and goes, "This sounds fun," and we don't know each other.
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah I don't know him at all
Shaan Puri
And he's like, "I was like, oh shit, that was real. Oh shit, this is on. We're gonna do it now." And then I was like, "Where are we doing it?" And he was like, "Where does Mr. Beast live?" I said, "North Carolina." I was like, "Yeah, we're thinking about doing it near Duke." He's like, "Okay, I'll come, Ben." And then I got everybody else in that.
Hasan Minhaj
you follow him on on twitter
James Stephen Donaldson
But Ben from How to Take a World retweeted him, and I was like, "Who's this guy?" I tapped, and he just tweeted like 5 seconds ago, "I'm hosting an NBA camp for entrepreneurs." So I was like, "Oh, this looks cool."
Shaan Puri
and then
Hasan Minhaj
I just bought
Shaan Puri
that's how crazy life is
James Stephen Donaldson
I don't know who this is but I mean fastball sounds fun
Shaan Puri
And then he calls me last week. He's like, "I'm coming, but I don't know who you are, so what's your deal?"
James Stephen Donaldson
and here we are
Shaan Puri
but you do that you just walk around and call people
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah well I just like learning I mean that's how
Sam Parr
You just did! Did you hear how he got connected with Ben? No? Alright, so Ben over here, he is our producer. Okay? And he hosts this amazing podcast called "How to Take Over the World." I get... how did you find it?
Hasan Minhaj
bro
James Stephen Donaldson
this is gonna get so many levels of people
Shaan Puri
put them on to
James Stephen Donaldson
no one has any idea what we're even talking about before
Sam Parr
no they do because cliff who's sitting there
James Stephen Donaldson
He told me to listen to how to take over the world, so I listened to it. He retweeted his tweet about the camp, and here I am.
Sam Parr
you know
Shaan Puri
What's funny about life is that he's like, "Yeah, this is dog shit content." Because on YouTube, you had to be on. In the first 10 seconds, you needed to really grip people. He's like, "This is their podcast."
James Stephen Donaldson
I've already gone over 20 ways we could optimize this better in my head what are they
Shaan Puri
what would they be let's go 20 ways well that's what this podcast is a brainstorm so
James Stephen Donaldson
We've already switched topics like five times, and we didn't really hit them with a hard one at the start. It would have been better if, I don't know, you told some crazy story or something to hook them. Like the story or the intro hook for those who don't know. Then they're like, "Oh, now I know I should listen."
Shaan Puri
like alright watch the podcast for a second so do our 10 second intro
James Stephen Donaldson
Guys, in this, we're going to teach you how to make a **$1,000,000**. If you don't have a **$1,000,000**, we're going to show you in this podcast how to achieve that. Something like that, and now they're going to listen.
Shaan Puri
Alright, so here's what's interesting. We got me and Sam, mhmm. We got Hasan Minhaj, who's a famous comedian with a Netflix special.
Hasan Minhaj
we haven't announced it yet but yeah sure
Shaan Puri
**Breaking news!** We got Jimmy, aka Mr. Beast. **Craziest crossover!** Yeah, it's...
Hasan Minhaj
a wild you
Shaan Puri
guys just met tonight
Hasan Minhaj
we met like an hour ago yeah
Shaan Puri
alright give me first impressions what do you think of mrbeast he's a cool guy
Hasan Minhaj
yeah he seemed really cool
Shaan Puri
what did you think coming in
Hasan Minhaj
I just knew he was a big prank stunt. He's the voice of YouTube.
Shaan Puri
voice of a generation or he's how you thought he would be
Hasan Minhaj
Yeah, so I thought... I feel like his curiosity and enthusiasm, all that stuff, was really cool. I listened to him on Rogan; he was really fascinating.
Shaan Puri
and what about you what was your first impression
James Stephen Donaldson
I mean, it's kind of the same thing. You're just easy to talk to, which I think is very nice. We were talking for like an hour.
Hasan Minhaj
yo sean sean just turned this into indian matchmaking so fast
Shaan Puri
what did you say hold hands hold hands just hold hands look he's got
James Stephen Donaldson
that ring on his finger he's taken yeah
Shaan Puri
I'm taken buddy
James Stephen Donaldson
dude you said
Sam Parr
so he said something really interesting to me earlier we were just you and I were shooting the shit
James Stephen Donaldson
oh god what a sec
Sam Parr
And we're talking about business. I think you said Elon Musk is like... I don't know if you said "hero," but you're like, "I think he's like the pinnacle of entrepreneurship."
Hasan Minhaj
yeah sure
Sam Parr
And I was like, "Well, what do you think is going to be your SpaceX? What's going to be your big rocket thing?" You said, "Well, Elon had Zip2 when he was around my age." So, Zip2 was like his peer filing, his peer sharing service that he sold and made like $20 or $30 million. Then he took that and he did PayPal and whatever else he did. You said something like, "I think I can build like a $100 billion company, but if I'm being modest, I'll build at least a couple of $1 billion companies." But then you go, "But I don't really care about the money. I just love winning. I just want to win." And I was like, "Yes!"
James Stephen Donaldson
sounds about right
Sam Parr
I'm about this I like that
James Stephen Donaldson
I mean, money is cool, but you know, I live in my studio. I don't have a mansion, and I don't drive a Land Rover. So, it's like I like money because it allows me to hire more people and grow my business, but not so I can increase my lifestyle or whatever. Most people, when you say that, think you just want to buy expensive stuff. That's why I prefer to say, "I love winning," because it kind of encapsulates it a little bit more.
Sam Parr
do your employees do we we went
Shaan Puri
We went to his office today, or we went to his studio. He took us on a tour. "Cool, this is where we blow shit up," this guy's trapped, John.
James Stephen Donaldson
blew me off by
Sam Parr
the way
Shaan Puri
yeah yeah yeah you you yours
Hasan Minhaj
yours canada flight delays blew him off yeah yeah kidding kidding
Shaan Puri
But we walked through. He's like, "Alright, yeah, this boardroom, this is my office." So we go in and it's basically like, imagine a gaming chair. There's a computer that's standard next to it. It gets like two other objects in the room. Just take any guess.
Sam Parr
that he had
Hasan Minhaj
yeah a nalgene water bottle and
Sam Parr
a bench press a bench
Shaan Puri
Press directly next to the desk, and then the walls were just like a Steve Jobs quote, an Elon quote, a Steve Jobs quote. There's like a timeline: at this age, Steve Jobs was here. At this age, you're motivated by that stuff.
James Stephen Donaldson
Stay ahead of it. Also, some of those Elon quotes aren't even real. I love to just put fake Elon quotes out there to see if people read them and think, "Oh, that's inspiring," or realize they're just completely made up.
Shaan Puri
Well, they're not that insightful. One was just one right in front of your desk: "Work super hard, Elon Musk." Well, that's one.
James Stephen Donaldson
I have my assistant trying to find the dumbest things Elon has ever publicly said. I want to mix those with all the real quotes just to see if people believe him or not.
Hasan Minhaj
were you good at school
James Stephen Donaldson
no horrible really god awful
Hasan Minhaj
wow okay
James Stephen Donaldson
Yeah, that was like... I mean, I would act like I was studying, but you know, I was filming videos. Actually, my entire high school career, I never brought my backpack home or anything. I would just throw it under the bleachers, and then in the morning, I'd just grab it.
Hasan Minhaj
your first video was what you were like 12 right
James Stephen Donaldson
Yeah, oh actually, I started making videos around 11. Yeah, wow, holy shit! It's crazy because I see 11-year-olds now. They're like this tall and squeaky, and I'm like, "How was I making videos? This kid looks..."
Hasan Minhaj
is your first video still left
James Stephen Donaldson
No, because I got embarrassed. People had played my videos in class, so I deleted my channel. Then, I made a new one when I was 13.
Hasan Minhaj
but the 13 year old videos are still live
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah 13 year old videos are still
Shaan Puri
Live! Wow, okay. One, that's dope. That's like a message to myself in 5 years: "Colin is shot." Do you...?
James Stephen Donaldson
You know what he's talking about? The greatest thing I ever did in my life was when I was studying for a history test, like back a long time ago when I had about 8,000 subscribers. I was like, "Screw this!" I just closed my book, threw it on the floor, and recorded a video. I scheduled and uploaded a video for 6 months, saying, "Hire me in 6 months. I think I'll have 100,000 subscribers" or whatever, or no, "10,000 subscribers." I was like... and then I hit stop recording, then hit record, "Hire me in a year."
Sam Parr
and I schedule up because you
James Stephen Donaldson
Can upload videos to a future video a year out. It's like, you better have 100,000. I was like, "Hymie, in 5 years, bro, if you don't have a million subscribers, you're a fucking idiot." I just would talk to me 5 years from now. I was just talking about the channel, but I filmed it when I had 8,000 subscribers a long time ago. Then I did "Hymie, in 10 years," blah blah blah. So, 10 years hasn't come out yet, but "Hymie, in 5 years" came out. My prediction was I'd have a million subscribers.
Shaan Puri
so it
James Stephen Donaldson
Goes live on the channel like 2 years ago and I had like 40,000,000 subscribers. But in the video that goes live, it's like, "Here's the date, here's the time." I'm like a *fucking stupid teenage kid* and I'm like, "I hope you have at least a million subscribers and maybe you're doing this as a job. I don't know, I make like $10 a month right now. I hope you can make it a job in the next 5 years." And that went public, and I completely forgot I even did that. I just... I was like, "Oh shit!" I opened up YouTube and I saw it. Everyone thought it was... I thought it was one of the coolest things I ever did.
Hasan Minhaj
wow and you're like a little kid in it
Shaan Puri
yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
and so in like 3 more years hide me in 10 years goes up and I'm like
Sam Parr
do you remember what's in it
James Stephen Donaldson
I'm just like, I hope by now you should be out of college. Yeah, you're definitely out of college. I think that's how I started it. You should be doing YouTube full-time. There's just no world where you're not after 10 years. You're probably making a little bit of money. I just hope you are. Like, I hope you didn't...
Sam Parr
and how much were you at the time
James Stephen Donaldson
Like I was at 8,000 subscribers, making $10 a month. So my prediction in 10 years was, "I hope you're doing this as a job." When that goes up, I think that's gonna be crazy.
Shaan Puri
And when we were talking today, you spoke with a lot of certainty about where you're going and what you're doing. There's a very clear sense of direction. If everybody's got this knob that's set to doubt, your knob's set to 0 on doubt. That's my... I don't know.
James Stephen Donaldson
Is that accurate? Yeah, well, the thing is, we... I don't know, we probably spend like 20 to 30 times longer thinking of ideas than other people. We probably film like 10 times more than other people. We probably spend 100 times more for a video than other people. So it's like we put in the effort, but I don't know how to say it where it's not arrogant. I just believe in what we're doing, you know what I mean?
Shaan Puri
back then like how much do you think you believed when you when you recorded that video that that was actually gonna happen oh no
James Stephen Donaldson
I mean, those were just different times. I was in the middle of **bumf**uck nowhere, North Carolina, so it's like everyone, you know, constantly wanted to remind me, "You're not gonna be a YouTuber. Grow up, be realistic."
Hasan Minhaj
think it's amazing that you never left north carolina though
Shaan Puri
yeah you're still in bump fuck north carolina what are
Hasan Minhaj
you talking about yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
I'm trying to make it not bump fuck anymore but it's a work in progress
Shaan Puri
do you
Hasan Minhaj
still wrap it really hard
Shaan Puri
I mean I
James Stephen Donaldson
just I got a lot I mean some of these people over here work there I just got a lot of people and it's too much to move
Sam Parr
What was your metric instead of subscribers and views when you were younger? Because with business, it's like revenue or employees. You guys are both in business, but you're also in a more creative field. So, what was yours?
Hasan Minhaj
Yeah, when I was coming up, it was probably, "Can you do a set on late night? Can you do like a Conan set?" Oh man, yeah! Could you be on? I'll be a cast member of SNL. Those were the metrics, kind of those legacy media comedy institutions. "I'll be in a movie. I wanna be in a sitcom. I wanna be in a TV show."
Sam Parr
and what it feel like when you started actually like you know the daily show and then selling
Hasan Minhaj
It felt like a real check mark, like, "Wow, you've turned the corner, didn't you?"
Shaan Puri
tell me
Hasan Minhaj
that yeah
Sam Parr
that like right before that happened you were living in a basement
Hasan Minhaj
I was living in an attic, bro. And don't... yeah, yeah, attics are actually above sea level, but basements are below sometimes, you know? So, yeah, I was living in a kind of not a great situation, though.
Shaan Puri
how
Hasan Minhaj
I'm amazed at your confidence bro the level of the level of confidence like the
James Stephen Donaldson
in the video
Hasan Minhaj
Not just the sheer amount of confidence you have, because I still think maybe a downside of comedy is you have to have a very high level of self-deprecation and self-awareness to be like you.
Shaan Puri
wow but but you gave me a little hit you go enough
James Stephen Donaldson
ego on this man
Shaan Puri
bro you started an 8 k I'm at 17 k I'm at least gonna yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
okay but
Shaan Puri
He says something like, "Comedy is a low-status game." You start at a low status, and you just told me, is that a trade secret or can you...?
Hasan Minhaj
Just do that. You know, it's like there's high status and low status. Generally, if you're low status, they're going to empathize with you. You know what I mean? So...
Shaan Puri
like what's an example you get on stage you
Hasan Minhaj
Being like, "I got 70,000 views in front of a guy who gets like 50,000,000 views," right? But that was on stage. We're going to empathize more with you than we are with Mr. Beast in that scenario because you're like, "Oh man." You know, and if you're funny about it and confident, well, if you kind of own it, people are like, "Oh, like I..."
Shaan Puri
Even just now, we did an awkward icebreaker with the group. I was thinking about this because my prompt was to say your name and one thing that nobody in the room knows about you.
Hasan Minhaj
yeah
Shaan Puri
Which was basically like, you can't be like, "I'm Mr. Beast, I make a bunch of YouTube videos." You know, it's like you can't use your claim to fame; you gotta use something else, right? And everybody was saying something interesting. Then I think Sully was the first one who was just like, "I played one game of little league baseball in my life because I shit my pants and they wouldn't let me come back." That was really great.
Hasan Minhaj
yeah and that was low status by the
Shaan Puri
Way 100,000 people are going to listen to that one. But he did a low-status one where everybody else was saying a fun fact, like a cool fact about something. Totally, he went low. Somebody else was like, "You know, I remarried my ex-wife, which makes me either the biggest idiot in the world or I guess the biggest idiot in the world." Yes, yeah, do I still remember that?
James Stephen Donaldson
He's like, "Hey group, share something no one on the planet knows." No one. And then, 5 minutes later, "Alright podcast, here's what they said."
Shaan Puri
yeah yeah yeah
Hasan Minhaj
I mean, shitting your pants at little league is pretty... yeah, pretty low status. And then, yeah, being like, "Alright, I double backed and married my ex-wife again." Like, yeah.
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah like no one knows this jimmy
Sam Parr
were you confident as a as a kid in the career yeah
Hasan Minhaj
just as a kid
James Stephen Donaldson
no I had a fucking god off the acne when I was younger I still have a ton of acne scars so
Sam Parr
It's getting even worse. What are you not confident about? So, you're confident in your work and your ability to hit certain goals, whether it's a revenue target or not.
James Stephen Donaldson
Actually, it leads me in. Honestly, I'm still trying to get confident speaking in front of large groups of people, which made me want to ask you a question.
Hasan Minhaj
because you're
James Stephen Donaldson
Talking about stand-up... yeah, how... so let's say if I dedicated my life to trying to be a stand-up comic, how long do you think it would take for me to get good at it? I mean, what's the typical curve?
Hasan Minhaj
For you, everybody says it takes 10 years to get good, but I just think it all depends on your natural capacity and inclination for it.
Shaan Puri
mhmm
Hasan Minhaj
Like, there are some people I've seen when they're open micers. They're amazing! You know, they just have great stage presence and great stories. They're amazing on stage. So, those people, like that comic that I met, where I'm like, the first time I saw them, they...
Sam Parr
were amazing
Hasan Minhaj
Jerrod Carmichael was incredible. He was just incredible. He was so comfortable. We would do open mics, and while everybody was turning left, he was just turning right. His vulnerability and stage presence were remarkable. People would do their sets, and he would do things like, in a Conan showcase, where everyone would present their polished material—like, "Hey, what's up? I'm hustling, and you know, dating's hard." He would just get up and, off the dome, kind of do a brand new set that night. You could tell. You could tell you were like, "Oh, this is kind of crazy."
Sam Parr
so how long do you think it would take him to get good
Hasan Minhaj
I don't... I mean, it's like the question he just asked: "How long would it take me to be as good as Ariana Grande at singing?" You're like, "How would I even...?" It's not a hack. Like, dude, if you asked an MMA fighter, "How long would it take me to get as good as you?" It's... oh, thank you. See, that's a... you put them in low status. You offered the two waters to me, and now I feel weird. Now I gotta put down this side... no, I gotta...
Shaan Puri
put down this side oh that's scary
Hasan Minhaj
no dude low status
Shaan Puri
I spent my whole life trying to be high status no no you guys you got water now in parts
Hasan Minhaj
to go
Shaan Puri
that sounds in the future yeah yeah
Hasan Minhaj
yeah yeah
Shaan Puri
I have
Hasan Minhaj
to I have to I have to give mister beast his water
Shaan Puri
you know what I mean
James Stephen Donaldson
jimmy what
Sam Parr
are you what
Shaan Puri
are you
Hasan Minhaj
you legacy media hack
Shaan Puri
and I just thought
Hasan Minhaj
I gotta pour the water for him and the yeah yeah yeah just fuck
Shaan Puri
out of here
Sam Parr
Is your company run like a normal company at all? And what would your employees say about working with you?
James Stephen Donaldson
I mean trig do you want to just come to that
Hasan Minhaj
damn I
Sam Parr
don't know
Shaan Puri
yeah
Hasan Minhaj
trig do you want to just come
Shaan Puri
to that
Hasan Minhaj
damn I don't know
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah have you had like how
Sam Parr
did you learn how to run a company do you ever had did you have to
James Stephen Donaldson
Hire someone. That's what's hard because, like, yeah, sure, he wants to come on in. There are a couple of questions.
Hasan Minhaj
take over
Sam Parr
yeah you take over
James Stephen Donaldson
so the question was like what's it like working with him oh it's great I mean it's always different no it really is
Shaan Puri
more here's
James Stephen Donaldson
the thing here's
Shaan Puri
the thing no it really is more more here's the thing here's the thing here's the thing here's the thing here's the thing here's the thing
James Stephen Donaldson
here's the thing
Shaan Puri
here's the thing here's the thing fired I'm fired I'm already fired I'm already fired
Sam Parr
I'm already fired the house is to re
Shaan Puri
answer that
Hasan Minhaj
but not well but listen is fired tell us
James Stephen Donaldson
he pays the bills
Shaan Puri
go ahead
James Stephen Donaldson
ask a ask
Shaan Puri
let me ask you a better question
Sam Parr
yes
Shaan Puri
Alright, so the better question is: what's the extreme, either the extreme good part or the extreme bad part about working with them? We know it's overall extreme.
James Stephen Donaldson
Actually, I will say that right now, the extremely good part is the experiences. I've had experiences that I never could have imagined in my entire life, like traveling and doing the coolest stunts we've ever done. The worst part is, I guess, not knowing what's next in terms of routine. He knows this best too; we all kind of go through it if you work at MrBeast. But that comes with it, you know what I mean? And that's something that you kind of have to accept. But yeah.
Hasan Minhaj
I think that's my answer
Shaan Puri
that's alright
Sam Parr
well and the reason I was asking was because
James Stephen Donaldson
you am I your favorite boss I'm a great person so far a 100% yes
Shaan Puri
shit about it
James Stephen Donaldson
well no
Shaan Puri
I was I was
Sam Parr
Asking because my employees sometimes complain that I can be too aggressive, changing things too much. But you seem more aggressive than I am. Yeah, and for a certain type of person, they like that. But for you to achieve your goals, you're going to have to have a lot of people. Then, every once in a while, you'll need to focus on process, infrastructure, and planning.
Shaan Puri
are you a perfectionist
James Stephen Donaldson
Well, of course, yeah. I just like to make the greatest YouTube videos possible, and that's literally all I want. So, yeah, I mean, if it's not the greatest video, I just want to upload it. After you scrap a few videos, everyone kind of starts to figure it out.
Hasan Minhaj
Does it scare you that you can't stop? Do you ever feel like, "Damn, I'm just throwing all these coals on"?
Shaan Puri
the
Hasan Minhaj
on the embers of the the algorithm
James Stephen Donaldson
I like to use a better analogy. It's like a treadmill where I'm at 12, like full speed, and I've been going at it for a couple of years. No, it doesn't scare me. So, like I was telling him, the way I like to work is that I wake up, obsess over something, go to bed, wake up, obsess, go to bed... every second of the day until I just have a mental breakdown and burn out. Then, I like to take a day off or maybe a day and a half off, and I go right back to it. I don't work certain days; I just go as hard as I can, every ounce of my entire body, until I just crash. Somehow, that's sustainable.
Hasan Minhaj
what time what time do you sleep
James Stephen Donaldson
right now usually around 3 am
Hasan Minhaj
wow and then what and then and then you get up at like
James Stephen Donaldson
whenever the whenever rohan or one of them knock home
Hasan Minhaj
tarique will wake you up and just be like
James Stephen Donaldson
Well, yeah, people will roll me out of bed. They're like, "You need to go watch this video so we can submit it," or "I need help with the thumbnail," or "You gotta go film." It's like, I don't know, I'm kind of... they tell me what to do. I don't think they're...
Sam Parr
Gonna let you be shocked at the numbers. So, like, you're the... I don't... I'll let you reveal any numbers, but you have some big numbers for revenue for your other businesses. Yeah, and you have to have infrastructure for that. And so, that's why I was wondering. I was like, because you... you are like this.
James Stephen Donaldson
oh gotcha yeah so like
Sam Parr
On the stereotype, you're like this crazy, creative person who's disorganized, and that's perfect. Yeah, but to sell that much candy and/or burgers, you gotta be organized.
James Stephen Donaldson
Yeah, so those are all separate entities. For our snack brand, we hired Jim, who helped build RXBAR, and we built a team around him. So that's a whole independent company that doesn't even work out of our studio. The same thing goes for Peace Burger. That's the beauty; I like to just find people who are the best in the goddamn world at their job and then just empower them and give them money.
Sam Parr
so how many people work at the studio
James Stephen Donaldson
in the studio like 60 because we don't have enough space to fit everyone so that's why we're trying
Sam Parr
To build more, but building things just takes forever. Do people like working for you, you think? Well, the reason I'm asking is that I'm curious about these creative types.
James Stephen Donaldson
fans man
Sam Parr
Because the goal is to make one of us a big deal, everyone is working for that. Whereas a lot of other companies, it's like, no, there's like this...
Hasan Minhaj
It's not necessarily that either. There are also certain projects where I'd be like, "I'd love to learn from you." So, there have been shows and movies that I've done, like *The Morning Show*. I've never done a sexy one-hour drama. I want to learn from Reese Witherspoon. I want to learn from Jennifer Aniston. I want to learn from the show creators. How do you do that? How do you shoot that? What's that lens? What are you doing?
Shaan Puri
is that a 50 is that a 75 how do
Hasan Minhaj
You do that tracking shot. Why did you do that tracking shot? Let me see the script. Let me see the future script. There are all these things where I'm like, I just want to absorb. I just want to see how you do the whole thing.
James Stephen Donaldson
you know
Hasan Minhaj
What I mean is that it's an additive, positive value for me because most people don't have access to that, you know? Yeah, I mean...
James Stephen Donaldson
it's simple tariq gotta meet his idol today
Hasan Minhaj
oh man bro tariq tariq you gotta set the bar
Shaan Puri
Yeah, we had told them that you were coming today to the thing. The look of disappointment when they saw I was the only ground guy there was palpable. They were like, "That ain't hustling." They're like, "Yo, hustles changed. Budget hustling? Yeah, that ain't hustle." They're like, "Yo, hustle's changed." And I'm trying to be funny on top of it, and they're like, "What the...?"
Sam Parr
fuck cameron really does add ted biden bro
Hasan Minhaj
don't do that bro don't do that don't do that
Shaan Puri
When we were at your office, you mentioned that you have a big admiration for figures like Elon Musk and Steve Jobs. That's why you enjoy the "How to Take Over the World" podcast; you like learning from them. What's a story that you heard that really stuck with you? Something you remembered and referenced that kind of changed the way you were thinking?
James Stephen Donaldson
From those two in particular, I think the biggest thing is that Steve became a billionaire from Pixar, you know, not even Apple. So, the fact that he could go to this not even hardware company, but a more creative storytelling company, and just kick ass to create films like *Toy Story* and all these other bangers, and just build that company up to whatever it was—then Disney bought it for $7,000,000,000. Meanwhile, Apple was just falling to the ground and about to go out of business. They were buying back with Next, and all of a sudden, they rebounded. Basically, the way they did it was by getting rid of 90% of products and just focusing on like 4 or 5. I mean, it just shows the power that one individual had. Even though both companies had, I don't know about Pixar, but Apple had thousands of employees, and Pixar probably had at least 100. Despite all of that, one man can make that much of a difference. The power of having good vision and just not relenting is invaluable.
Shaan Puri
do you
Hasan Minhaj
think your biggest strength is probably your curiosity you're down to do anything
James Stephen Donaldson
Well, I think what you have to do is always be learning. That's how you can... like, with our ideas, right? Because we like to do original ideas that no one's ever done before. I might have told Jude this when we were talking on the phone. The thing is, if there's a hypothetical fruit in Japan that, if you eat it, makes it so you can jump 30 feet taller, right? If that exists in this world right now and you didn't know it existed, you couldn't come up with something around that. It's very hyper-specific, but there are like a million things like that in the world. If you don't know about it or you're not intaking the inspiration, you can't really come up with something. If I were to try to get into stand-up, that's how I would try to do something different. I would try to take in...
Sam Parr
a bunch of different information and
James Stephen Donaldson
see what spawns in my head so I try to always be learning
Hasan Minhaj
Would the Mr. Beast version of stand-up be like, "I'm gonna do the longest set ever"? I'm gonna do the longest comedy set ever. Would that have to be the Mr. Beast twist on it?
James Stephen Donaldson
I would have to find something different because obviously whatever is currently out there... Yeah, because I have a bunch of people on my team who are stand-ups. It's been done a bunch of times, so we'd have to figure out something.
Hasan Minhaj
got it
James Stephen Donaldson
Different... which I would love to do one day, just because it seems fun. Streak talks to me about it all the time. But in general, you gotta always be intaking inspiration from different places, whether it be different podcasts, books, or different knowledge. I have people that I pay who just teach me things—just whatever. Like, what's that thing that I don't know?
Sam Parr
what what do you mean by that
James Stephen Donaldson
They'll just find things that they don't think I'm aware of or show me cool things and be like, "I don't think you know this is a thing. Here, read about it." And so that way, I'm always like...
Shaan Puri
take what's an example
Sam Parr
and how many how many of these people do you have this is awesome
James Stephen Donaldson
right now just like 2 or 3
Hasan Minhaj
yeah jimmy they they call those people those are teachers
Shaan Puri
yeah okay I mean
Sam Parr
he's like he's like
Hasan Minhaj
he's like they'll sit me down for about an hour at a time and what's what's wild is they'll focus on a subject
Shaan Puri
and it's like it's
Hasan Minhaj
what's going on right now
Shaan Puri
I never thought about that way
Hasan Minhaj
pay them couple hundred grand
Shaan Puri
that's why we keep them around that's why we keep
James Stephen Donaldson
them around no but it's like different topics
Hasan Minhaj
so gotcha gotcha gotcha yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
Like the last one was about just crazy online... like these little things where...
Shaan Puri
yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
They'll upload a file to Reddit, and then inside is an encrypted code. This code takes you to a website, which leads you to a book. There are also these little modules, trace puzzles, and I'm just seeing if that inspires me. I don't know, it's just random things like that.
Hasan Minhaj
I'm blocking my brain
James Stephen Donaldson
So, in the end, I'm trying to always expand my knowledge in my head with new things that I can draw inspiration from.
Hasan Minhaj
I was giving him props earlier when I said that so much of the people who kind of rev the algorithm are usually being divisive. They're saying something that's going to make you mad, right? Like, I have a joke where I make fun of MDs and DOs. DOs get really mad. You know, it's like that's a niche physician's joke, but people get upset.
Shaan Puri
right
Hasan Minhaj
But what I was saying was, what's so cool about what you do is that I think you've really tapped into **joy**, **spectacle**, and **wonder**. This is a counter to a lot of what we see, and it's very rare to see that really take off on the internet. So, what made you feel like, "I'm gonna do that," versus creating videos that might agitate people, per se?
James Stephen Donaldson
Yeah, well, I do think in general it is a little bit easier to piss people off and get attention, for sure. It's a lot harder to do good and get attention, so that's why I think a lot of people don't. For me, because we just had this ability to go viral, it's just kind of like there's a world where I make videos and I don't help people, and there's a world where I make videos and I do help people.
Shaan Puri
the world
James Stephen Donaldson
Where I do help people, it's just a little bit more fun. So that's why I do it. I don't, you know, PR-wise, I should have a better answer, but that's kind of the truth.
Hasan Minhaj
our software is the worst
Shaan Puri
Have you heard of HubSpot? Most CRMs are a cobbled-together mess, but HubSpot is easy to adopt and actually looks gorgeous.
James Stephen Donaldson
I think
Shaan Puri
I love our new CRM. Our software is the best: HubSpot. Grow better!
Sam Parr
what creators do you guys look up to
James Stephen Donaldson
oh I'm curious to see what you say
Hasan Minhaj
what creators do I look up to
Sam Parr
youtubers podcasters comedians
Shaan Puri
podcasters I
Hasan Minhaj
Was gonna say creators... yeah, it could be anybody. I think one of the first people that really inspired me was probably **Steven Spielberg**.
Sam Parr
really
Hasan Minhaj
Yeah, I mean, he's one of the greatest storytellers ever. What was the first movie that you saw where you were like, "Oh my God, I was blown away?" For me, it was *Jurassic Park* as a kid.
James Stephen Donaldson
I I only watched youtube growing up I've seen
Hasan Minhaj
that's it yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
I was
Shaan Puri
just made
James Stephen Donaldson
fun of all the time
Hasan Minhaj
what was the last movie that you watched
James Stephen Donaldson
well I watched the the spider man 301 because but I never saw the earlier ones
Hasan Minhaj
really yeah like you have no time for movies or no time for movies
James Stephen Donaldson
No, it's not that time. I just... I don't know. I need to go back and watch *Star Wars* and *Harry Potter* and all that stuff to get caught up on culture. But I was just like...
Hasan Minhaj
you did and so you didn't see squid game you just did the squid game remake
James Stephen Donaldson
squid game I watched it yeah that's when we did it
Hasan Minhaj
got it
James Stephen Donaldson
Like, I wouldn't count that as a movie. I watched a ton of anime, but yeah, movies... and weirdly enough, growing up, I didn't listen to music or watch movies. So, I was like, so out of culture. It was...
Hasan Minhaj
brutal wow
James Stephen Donaldson
there's this part of why I was an introvert
Shaan Puri
There's this Conor McGregor quote where they're like, you know, he was on BBC or something. They're like, "Oh, it's a bigger appearance, not just a niche UFC thing." Yeah, they're like, "What do you think about this team or this game?" He's like, "You know, the... yeah, that one you said, they're great." It was...
Sam Parr
like it was like arsenal or something yeah
Shaan Puri
He's like, "Arsenal," and they're like, "You don't know anything about Arsenal," right? He's like, "I don't watch the news. I don't watch, I don't follow the news. I don't watch sports. I don't do anything." He goes, "I have lost my mind to the game. I am obsessed with my game. I have lost my mind to it. I don't have time for anything else. I don't want to know about anything else." I was like, I only want to know about this game. When we were hanging out, I feel like you had that vibe where you were like, you said a couple of things. You were like, "I decided I was gonna be a YouTuber and I was gonna make great videos. It didn't matter if I died the most famous YouTuber of all time or 90 years old with 1,000 subscribers. I was gonna make great YouTube videos." Like, that's what I decided I was gonna do, and that's all I do. I wake up and I do that thing.
Hasan Minhaj
what was that first youtube video that you saw that like kind of filled you with that wonder where you're like wow
James Stephen Donaldson
Oh, well, this guy actually got hacked a very long time ago. He was a Call of Duty YouTuber, and they leaked his earnings. He had made around $100,000 a year for the last few years. I remember being 10 and thinking, "What the heck? They make that kind of money doing this?" I was just so mind-blown that they actually made money.
Shaan Puri
they make more than my mom yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
It was right there when I was like, "Okay, I'm doing this. I just don't care. I'm being a YouTuber or I'm going to fucking die trying." I just don't care. The second I saw that it was actually possible, that's when I was like, "That's it." It's funny also talking about obsession and stuff like this because it changes, right? Maybe it's different now because social media is a little bit cooler, but when I was younger, no one wanted to be a YouTuber. Most people when I was 13 or 14 didn't even have phones yet. It was kind of like a little bit of an older thing. Maybe it's just because of where I grew up. But it's funny because back then, people were like, "Get a life! Stop being a fucking nerd! You're too obsessive, you're a weirdo." And now it's like, "Oh bro, he was so obsessive. It's so great."
Hasan Minhaj
right it's seen as a positive quality yeah
James Stephen Donaldson
And it's so funny, like looking back on my life. I went from a **loser nerd** who was too obsessive and wouldn't go anywhere to, like, "Damn, that's really inspiring." It's like, "Damn, that was very hurtful back then, but that's inspiring now."
Shaan Puri
and so
James Stephen Donaldson
It's funny to see how it changes. I like to bring that up because if there are younger people or parents who have kids who are obsessed like this, that's typically what happens. Younger kids don't understand that it's different. So, you don't watch the newest *South Park* or the newest movie or whatever, and you don't talk about the same things. Then people are just like, "Oh, well, you know, it fucking sucks."
Sam Parr
you know what I mean
James Stephen Donaldson
how would
Hasan Minhaj
How would you deal with that? Because you have kids, and I have kids. If they say, "I want to be a Twitch streamer. I want to be a video gamer," you're like, "Let's go!"
Shaan Puri
I had the same realization. I was like, "Oh, so wait a minute. We spend the first 18 years of our life trying to fit in." That's how I felt in school. I was trying to fit in all the time. What do people do that's cool? How do I do that thing?
Hasan Minhaj
right
Shaan Puri
And then once I was in the adult world, it's like, "Oh shit." Now we spend our whole life trying to stand out. What was all that other stuff? Why was I so focused on fitting in if the rest of your life you're trying to stand out? I just realized, "Oh shit, standing out has been the game the whole time." The way you stand out is not by trying to figure it out. Just let whatever you're obsessed with ride, because you'll go on a path that nobody else is going to copy, and then you'll land in a good spot. So if my kid—my daughter's 2 right now—if she was into gaming or if she was trying to be a creator, all that stuff, I would be all in on it. I know that even if that's not her end game, following your obsession is the thing to do in life. You know, that will always work out. But you know, if you actually go down that path, what most people do is they hedge. They like this thing, but then they see this path that's more proven or shiny, or they don't know if it's going to work, so they only half try. Right? And then it's like that hedge is actually what gets you. It's not that this career path was that hard; it's that hedging is like... you know.
Hasan Minhaj
your major in college
Shaan Puri
Biology: the ultimate hedge. That was different. I just didn't know what went on. Well, what I think is actually, you could be doing the YouTube TikTok. I feel like you can look at his videos and be like, "Alright, I get it. I get why people like this."
Sam Parr
I get
Shaan Puri
Why this pops... probably pretty tempting to be like, "Could I go get 50,000,000 views? A 100,000,000 views? That seems nice."
Hasan Minhaj
No, no. To do what he's done... what he's done. I'm not allowed to say it. You said you spend a certain number of dollars on every video.
Shaan Puri
oh yeah I'll let you start it off but you
James Stephen Donaldson
can say yeah our average view is around $1,500,000
Hasan Minhaj
I mean that's
Shaan Puri
well he he does that
Hasan Minhaj
now but if
Shaan Puri
You go look at his archive, right? It's like, he took a plastic knife and tried to cut a plastic table, and it took him 48 hours to do. That's a $1.50 video, right? Like, that's not a $1,500,000 video. That's $1.5 million.
James Stephen Donaldson
zero dollars
Hasan Minhaj
It's a different thing. It's a different type of skill set and muscle. The types of videos he's producing, like stand-up, are different. If a musician was here, or if a DJ was here, it's not all the same just because it's on YouTube. We all do different types of media. This is a different type of media.
Shaan Puri
are you tempted to like you know dabble
Sam Parr
yeah we talked about this right I mean
Hasan Minhaj
I... the only thing that I would be reticent of is, what if I have to put this thing out and I don't believe in it? Or I'm just doing it just to do it?
Shaan Puri
that's the
Hasan Minhaj
that would be the problem but I have to put up a new video every tuesday that's the just just
James Stephen Donaldson
delete the video
Hasan Minhaj
I know
James Stephen Donaldson
What do you do if you sometimes don't upload for 2 months? If you only upload when it's a great video, then that's all that matters.
Hasan Minhaj
yeah so I
James Stephen Donaldson
I think it's dumb when people stick to a schedule and they're like, "Oh, the video is not great, but I upload every Tuesday." It's like, who cares?
Shaan Puri
What are you guys trying to figure out right now? Because I think if you watch a lot of interviews with people, it's like it's all buttoned up. It's all figured out. They're already successful; it's all working. Then the person who's watching these videos is typically somebody who doesn't have it all figured out. They're just sort of like, "Ah, that's different. That would be nice to have it all figured out." But the reality is, nobody's got it all figured out. Right? Like, we were in your office, the whiteboard's full because you're thinking of new ideas. Like, "Where are we going? What's not figured out? We gotta figure it out." So, what's on both of y'all's plates? What are you still trying to figure out in your game?
James Stephen Donaldson
well I'll let you take it first yeah sean what are
Hasan Minhaj
you trying to figure out
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah what are you trying to
Sam Parr
figure out
Hasan Minhaj
yeah come on sean
Shaan Puri
I'm trying to figure out I'll tell you I'll try to figure out if I wanna go all in on content creating
James Stephen Donaldson
wow
Shaan Puri
I basically built businesses. I have the most fun doing this, but I don't know if I have the most fun just because it's a hobby. You know, I only get the good and I don't put all the work in.
James Stephen Donaldson
and if you love it then go all in I mean it's not gonna be less
Sam Parr
do you
Shaan Puri
I love it! I love doing it the way we're doing it now. Yeah, if I was like him, obsessed every hour of every day, trying to be like, "How are we gonna grow this channel?" I might not love it as much.
Sam Parr
did you like doing the twitter thing
Shaan Puri
For a time, it got older. Yeah, it got older. It was fun to chase the number. Can we get to 100,000 in like a few months? Yeah, this is fun to chase a number, but that didn't... yeah, I got.
Sam Parr
sick of it too
Shaan Puri
That didn't last, so that gets me worried. But that's the thing I'm trying to figure out. It's like, should I go all in on content creation, or should I stay with creating businesses? Which one is it? What do I want to be when I grow up? That's the question.
Sam Parr
I'm asking myself that exact same question too. Because sometimes, like when you're creating a business first and then go to content, I'm like, "Oh man, am I just gonna talk?"
Shaan Puri
about doing it all the time
Sam Parr
or am I just gonna fucking do it yeah so I I I
Shaan Puri
I know exactly what you mean
Sam Parr
yeah I feel exactly the same way what about you
Hasan Minhaj
Right now, I'm trying to stay loose for this game tomorrow. That's what I'm trying to do.
Shaan Puri
I'm not
Hasan Minhaj
I'm trying to get tight, man. I'm 36, pushing 37. He's a young boy; he might run us off the court. Play the...
Shaan Puri
game yeah he was he was 24 to 28 yeah I mean
James Stephen Donaldson
I was like yo man
Shaan Puri
using me and I'm like dude
Hasan Minhaj
my l four is hurting like my my hamstrings are kinda tight from this flight
Shaan Puri
We got to his studio and he was like, "He's got a hoop there." Yeah, he's like, "Oh, we got 6. Let's play a game." Yeah, he's wearing his Yeezy slides. I was like, "Bro, I need 15 minutes of stretching." Then, like, you know, I need proper practical attention, and we're going to try to do something pretty much. Do you?
James Stephen Donaldson
guys wanna cabal yeah if there
Hasan Minhaj
was an indoor court we would do it yeah I played I played 10121 with jimmy right now
James Stephen Donaldson
yeah okay
Hasan Minhaj
that'd be a fun that would be
James Stephen Donaldson
a that would
Hasan Minhaj
be a fun video that would be a fun video
James Stephen Donaldson
you wanna make it happen yeah let's do it you can play 21
Shaan Puri
find a
James Stephen Donaldson
court somewhere around here okay
Hasan Minhaj
we'll play 21
Sam Parr
we'll play 20 we'll
Hasan Minhaj
play 21 or horse yeah
Sam Parr
we'll wrap up with this quote with with your with your answer
James Stephen Donaldson
okay oh what was the question
Shaan Puri
what's not figured out what are you trying to figure out in in oh in
James Stephen Donaldson
double to everything so I'm just gonna say a funny joke to change topic alright
Shaan Puri
for sure
James Stephen Donaldson
basketball how to not train my legs tomorrow
Shaan Puri
there you go
Hasan Minhaj
there we go