With millions of subscribers and billions of views, Mr. Beast is the most popular YouTuber on the planet. A decade ago, however, Jimmy Donaldson (Mr. Beast’s real name) was posting amateur videos of himself playing Minecraft and other video games.
You might see his success today overlook how he got started.
It took 137 videos for him to earn his first 1,000 subscribers. It took 100 more videos to get the next 1,000 subscribers. Jimmy just kept going, posting new videos despite the slow start.
In 2015 he recorded a video titled “Hi Me In 5 Years.” He scheduled the video to publish exactly five years later. He only had about 9,000 subscribers at the time, but he told his future self in the video that he expected he would have one million subscribers by 2020.
Did he do it?
Yes, in fact, he crushed that number.
By 2020 he had more than 50 million subscribers! In five years, he had become one of the largest YouTubers in the world.
What happened? How did Mr. Beast exceed his original 5-year vision?
Listen to Donaldson in interviews today and he consistently shares one simple goal for all his work: “just make great videos.” To make great videos, he had to work hard. He studied the most popular videos on YouTube day after day. He studied titles and thumbnails and poured everything he learned into making each of his next videos as good as possible.
Video after video he got better and better. He started to create stunts and giveaways and before long he had earned the attention of millions of people.
His next “Hi Me” video will go live in 2025: “Hi Me in 10 Years.” It will certainly contain a big vision from a high school kid with a very big dream. No one else could have imagined the impact of his hard work and dedication to making something great.
Reflection Questions
- How did Mr. Beast become a YouTube sensation?
- If you made a video predicting a big dream for your life in five years, what would you say?
- What would you say in a video about yourself ten years from now?
- Instead of “Just make great videos,” fill in the blank with something you want to become great at doing: “Just make great __________.” Explain why this is important to you.
Download and Print this Story
Download and print this story to share with kids at home or in class:
