In the quiet town of Greenville, North Carolina, a high school kid sat down with a box of plastic knives. A couple of months ago, an idea had struck him–an idea that could potentially make millions. Cutting a table in half using only plastic knives.
James Stephen Donaldson never really enjoyed school. Whether in the lunch room or on the basketball court, his mind was on one thing. Neither his mother nor his handful of friends could convince him to let it go; YouTube.
Over a decade later, Donaldson’s mindset hasn’t changed. He sets out with the goal of making “the best possible videos” that viewers will enjoy. With laser focus and incredible self-discipline, Donaldson has pulled all sorts of stunts to obtain viewership–from giving away thousands of dollars to the homeless to spending 50 hours buried underground, Donaldson’s fast-paced, master storytelling as well as his extensive knowledge and skill with Youtube has made him one of the top creators to date. His videos often incorporate high-stakes challenges alongside goofy characters, building a fan base that’s not just thrill-seeking but fun-loving. While Donaldson has diversified his channel through physical products such as chocolate bars and burger joints, he is committed to staying focused and consistent with his content while creating interest.
Donaldson is not only disciplined at his craft but extremely innovative. Through constant ideation and working with his carefully tailored network of employees, Donaldson is always developing and looking ahead. From his successful campaign to raise $20 million dollars to plant trees to his recreation of the popular TV show Squid Games, he is constantly seeking to grow and improve both his content, storytelling, and tools. In addition, Donaldson has created subchannels such as his gaming channel and philanthropy in order to appeal to a wider range of markets. Despite this, most of his revenue is poured into his main channel.
While Donaldson produced videos beginning in 2012 and only had 30,000 subscribers by 2016. It wasn’t until 2017 that one of his videos reached viral status, gaining him a foothold in the YouTube algorithm that he quickly took advantage of, causing him to drop out of college and pursue YouTube full-time. Today he has 194 million subscribers and counting and is the highest-paid Youtuber with a net worth of $500 million. Despite the fact that he did not experience instant success, Donaldson’s unwavering commitment to creating the best content has led to major success with no signs of slowing down. Donaldson expressed in an interview that after all these years, he is still as obsessed with YouTube as before. This type of discipline as well as creativity, combined with Donaldson’s apparent desire to help others is an inspiration and one of the many reasons so many are familiar with MrBeast.
