MrBeast made his first 250 employees read an entire book before starting, but it was really just to teach them one word

Jimmy Donaldson, better known as MrBeast, recently revealed that he required his first 250 employees to read a specific book before beginning their roles. The detail emerged during a segment titled Inside MrBeast’s YouTube Machine, featured in the series 45 Days With MrBeast with creator Jon Youshaei. As highlighted by UNILAD, the book in question is The Goal by Eliyahu Goldratt, and Donaldson’s reason for assigning it comes down to a single word: bottleneck.

Donaldson explained that he uses the term constantly on set, and needs his team to understand both its meaning and its weight when he says it. In his view, telling an employee they are the bottleneck to a production is a very serious sentence. For someone unfamiliar with the concept, the term might not register, but Donaldson wants his staff to know exactly what is at stake when he uses it.

In The Goal, a bottleneck is defined as any resource whose capacity is equal to or less than the demand placed upon it, while a non-bottleneck is any resource where capacity exceeds demand. By making the book mandatory reading, Donaldson ensures that when he identifies a production delay, his entire team understands why it is a critical issue.

The leaked onboarding doc made it clear this is not a casual operation

This philosophy extends directly into his company’s internal documentation. A leaked onboarding document from his production company instructs employees to avoid bottlenecks at all costs, take ownership, and not let a project fail. The document goes as far as suggesting employees look their coworkers in the eye and tell them they are the bottleneck, rather than sending a casual message for a missing asset.

The stated expectation is that staff operate as though nothing could stop them from finishing a video on time. Trevor Bauer, who built his own large YouTube following while playing professional baseball, is among the public figures who have demonstrated how seriously creators now treat their online output as a business.

The leaked document also reveals how Donaldson categorizes his team. He defines A-Players as obsessive, coachable, and the best in the world at their jobs. C-Players, by contrast, are described as poisonous to the environment and are to be transitioned out immediately. The creative process itself is structured around virality from the very start, with the title and thumbnail treated as the foundation of every video rather than an afterthought.

Metrics like Click Thru Rate and Average View Duration drive constant refinement of the production formula. The team is also taught to treat critical video components like a baby, meaning they check in on them repeatedly throughout the day and never rely on standard shipping for important items. Written communication does not count unless the recipient confirms they have read it, and in-person conversation is preferred over texts or emails.

Donaldson also encourages his team to seek out consultants, describing them as cheat codes who have already done the testing and can save weeks of work. Whether a video involves building the world’s largest slice of cake or managing complex logistics, the goal is to leverage existing expertise to move faster. Amid broader conversations about how public figures handle scrutiny and media attention, George Clooney recently found himself addressing conspiracy theories at a live event, a reminder of how unscripted moments can dominate a public figure’s night regardless of the original agenda.

The onboarding document, combined with the mandatory reading requirement, offers a detailed look at how Donaldson has built one of the most operationally rigorous setups in digital content.