BEAST MODE

MR OBSESSION

What happens when someone obsesses over one thing for fifteen years nonstop?

Every single day, spending every waking hour focused on one goal- to be the best Youtube creator in the world?

Jimmy Donaldson has what I call the mojo. He’s on a roll

The most-followed Youtuber on the planet, Jimmy, AKA Mr Beast is a creative force

A decade-and-a-half into his journey as a creator, he’s achieved his goal and has gone on to launch several entrepreneurial endeavors like Feastables chocolate and Beast Burger

Just a few days ago, his interview with Steven Bartlett went live and he reveals wisdom far beyond his years

I’m impressed with how he views leadership, success, and the power of action

Here are five lessons from that interview that I found valuable-

1. Hiring and training others is the eighth wonder of the world. If you invest heavily in your employees, it will pay off as they dedicate themselves to your mission and spend years focused on your business

2. Do what’s right, even if no one else is. The main ingredient in chocolate is cacao, which is grown in West Africa. The farm workers harvesting cacao are mainly young children. Jimmy made the mission of Feastables to get 1.5 million out of child labor on those chocolate farms by paying the farm owners a premium price. All of the large chocolate makers just accept the child labor situation, as it’s always been done that way. Not Jimmy.

3. Focus on one thing at a time. Jimmy will spend each day focused on just one thing- Youtube, Feastables, Beast Games and go deep on that thing. He says it’s too difficult to give any one thing your best effort if your mind has to constantly shift gears (Elon Musk is also famous for taking this approach in his many companies)

4. You are who you surround yourself with. If you want to be the world’s top baseball player, you need to be around other great players. If you want to be the best surgeon, you need to be around other great surgeons. If you want to be successful, surround yourself with other successful people. It will rub off. If you spend your time with people who don’t share your goal, it’s likely that you will be influenced by their non-goals.

5. Be obsessed with the one percents. The details are where the difference is made. Few people are willing to obsess over every detail, that last one percent. If you do, it’s a cheat code for winning.

You can see the interview here.

THEY JUST DID IT

Nike just announced that they’ve partnered with Kim Kardashian and her SKIMS brand, creating a new line called NikeSKIMS

Their mission is to deepen their connection with female consumers with “Designed to sculpt. Engineered to perform”

The fashion world has all kinds of things to say about it, mostly words of doubt

Here’s what I think-

1- Nike’s entire business model is built around collaborating with celebrities, in their word “athletes”. They sign big endorsement deals and draft off of the attention that those celebrities generate. This follows exactly the same playbook. Take a look at the Jordan brand- when’s the last time Mike picked up a basketball? It’s grown exponentially since he retired, because the brand is about the lifestyle of Jordan more than the athletics. Nike has learned from this.

2- It’s important for companies to try new things. There’s no guarantee that anything new ever works out, but you won’t get growth without taking risks. A brand the size of Nike ($51 Billion) needs to take bigger risks in order for anything to move the needle, so this is a big swing at bat. Expect that it will get alot of marketing attention and marketplace support. Nike will play to win with this new line.

3- The folks behind the Kardashian brands- SKIMS and Good American, and Tom Brady’s namesake brand are Emma and Jens Grede. This wife-and-husband team are powerhouses when it comes to building apparel brands. I definitely would not bet against the Gredes. Plus SKIMS is fresh off of supporting Team USA in the Paris Olympics- this extension into sports is a natural progression.

It’s possible that this tie-up halts the decline that the Nike brand is experiencing in terms of business and relevance. It will definitely be a win for SKIMS, for Nike it’s a wait and see. I’ll be watching this one closely.

CHAD’S ROUND-UP

📚 What I read: Sell It Like Serhant by Ryan Serhant- You may have seen this guy on Youtube, TikTok, or on Netflix’s Owning Manhattan. This former struggling actor and hand-model parlayed extreme extroversion into becoming one of the top-selling real estate brokers in the world. His story is a surprising tale of giving until it hurts and outsized persistence. It’s a good read for executives and those working in sales.

🎧 What I heard: How I Built This- Beyond Yoga In a world where the 2010s brought big VC investments into the DTC apparel space, founders Michelle Wahler and Jodi Guber steadily grew this cult-favorite yogawear brand over a 20-year run before selling it to Levi’s for $400 million. An obsessive focus on the product, connection to the customer, and opportunistic growth when Lululemon struggled, all are indicative of what happens when you pair a great team with a founder’s force of will.

🕵🏻‍♂️ An interesting discovery: Music Lab- How good are you at seeing colors? What about identifying sounds? Researchers at Yale have put this test out into the world- take a few minutes and test your visual and listening skills. It’s fun, enlightening, and will challenge your brain in ways that are different from your day job. It’s harder than it appears!

That’s all for today

I’m rooting for you!

Chad