How MrBeast crossed 100M subscribers and built the biggest channel on YouTube

This week on the Colin and Samir Show, we’re exploring how MrBeast hit 100 million subscribers on YouTube by revisiting our most popular episode – our two-hour sit-down interview with the biggest creator on YouTube.

First of all, let’s take a look at his subscriber milestones over the past 5 years

2017 - 1 million?

2018 - 10 million

2019 - 20 million

2021 - 50 million

2022 - 100 million

Jimmy’s incredible success has all come down to his mindset.?

His appetite to learn is what sets him apart from other creators – Jimmy has made learning about YouTube and content creation a science.

In the early days of his channel, he found a way to accelerate his learning by building a “braintrust” of other creators – a group of friends who were all learning about YouTube at the same time. They candidly shared their mistakes and failures on the platform with each other, so that when one person made a mistake the others wouldn’t repeat it.?

Here’s how Jimmy puts it: “Imagine a world where it's just you working solo and you work 12 hours a day every day for a year. You make a mistake, you learn from it, and you do that for like a year.?

Now imagine a different world where you have four friends who are also equally grinding. Friend No. 1 makes a mistake. On Friday, he teaches the other four people. Friend No. 2 makes a mistake and the next week teaches everyone.?

And then you're all learning from each other's mistakes. You're all constantly studying, 24/7. And after a year, you're two years ahead of the guy who's just solo.”?

Working by yourself can be a slow process – solving creative problems takes time. But having a group around you solving the same problems in different ways actually helps you uncover new problems to solve, and accelerates your success.?

Jimmy also describes the group as “tearing apart” each others’ videos. Another reason to avoid working in a vacuum is that you need honest feedback to get better. Feedback can be painful, but it’s necessary.?

Jimmy’s early embrace of feedback and failure, combined with his desire to learn, is how he built the biggest channel on YouTube.?

If you haven't yet listened to the full 2 hours interview with Jimmy from last year, check it out here.