From: myfirstmillionpod
The “cloning” principle, as articulated by Mr. Beast, is a strategic approach to business scaling and management, particularly effective during periods of hyper-growth [02:08:08] [02:22:08]. This method, which has impressed even seasoned business leaders, focuses on embedding key individuals within a company to replicate the founder’s decision-making and operational capabilities [02:11:13] [02:30:30].
The Cloning Principle Explained
The core idea behind cloning is to view any task the founder regularly performs as a “flaw” that should eventually be outsourced or delegated [02:09:50] [02:10:50]. To achieve this, the founder ensures that anytime they are working on something, someone is alongside them, learning how to perform that task [02:09:50]. This person effectively “clones” the founder in that specific area [02:10:50].
Cloning vs. Training
While Mr. Beast’s company now has hundreds of employees and extensive training programs, cloning refers specifically to the “all-in people” who are being groomed to potentially run parts of the company or become high-level decision-makers [02:16:16] [02:21:21]. These individuals are expected to be highly committed, often working alongside the founder for extended periods, even living with them [02:30:30].
Benefits of Cloning
- Faster Decision-Making: Clones possess a comprehensive understanding of the entire business, not just one segment [02:21:58]. This allows them to make decisions more efficiently and “cut through red tape” [02:22:01] [02:22:04].
- Founder Leverage: By having multiple versions of himself, the founder can delegate urgent tasks, ensuring that problems in any part of the company (e.g., editing) are addressed quickly without direct intervention [02:22:13] [02:22:20].
- Scalability of Judgment: The ultimate goal is to scale judgment, meaning cloned individuals can “think what would Jimmy do” and often arrive at the correct solution [02:54:55] [02:58:00]. Long-term clones are even capable of anticipating the founder’s needs, gathering data proactively, and even challenging the founder’s initial thoughts [02:24:16] [02:27:28].
- Empowerment of Talent: For ambitious individuals, this intensive learning environment is seen as “the greatest opportunity” to become highly valuable and experienced, potentially earning significantly more than through traditional paths [02:41:41] [02:47:00].
Implementation and Mindset
The process of cloning, particularly the initial “zero to one” phase (e.g., training someone to write videos in the founder’s style), is described as very difficult and time-consuming, sometimes taking years [02:41:41] [02:53:00]. However, once the first clone is established, they can then train subsequent individuals, leading to exponential growth in capacity [02:54:00] [02:56:00].
Embracing the “Impossible is Possible” Mindset
A critical aspect of cloning is instilling a mindset where nothing is impossible [02:21:21] [02:26:33]. When confronted with “no,” the expectation is to explore the specific costs, problems, and bottlenecks rather than accepting immediate rejection [02:26:54] [02:56:00]. This approach encourages deep problem-solving and innovation [02:56:00].
“People say it takes 10,000 from master or something I’m I’m like that’s when you start but you know like nobody does this right I don’t understand why” [00:15:15]
The Role of Experienced People
Related to cloning is the concept of leveraging experienced people, or “consultants,” as “cheat codes” [03:38:00] [03:39:00]. Rather than reinventing the wheel, the strategy is to seek out individuals who have already accomplished similar “weird” or complex tasks (e.g., building the world’s largest cake, burying oneself alive) [03:44:00] [03:50:00]. This allows for rapid learning and avoids weeks of trial and error [03:44:00].
This commitment to learning is so profound that Mr. Beast randomly calls people in his contacts to ask them to “teach me something” [03:18:00] [03:39:00]. This practice, initially seen as unusual, has become a recognized protocol among his contacts [03:59:00] [03:07:00].