#049: Mr. Beast Leaked Document, Perplexity New Discovery Feed, Vegas Hotel That Breaks Physics

Hi All!

We are pleased to welcome you to this week's edition of Undiscovered, a newsletter with exclusive resources and insights expanding from the material found on our main site - becketu.com.

This week, we will take a look at the leaked Mr. Beast document detailing how to succeed in his production company, a discovery feed from 'the new Google', how an architect designed one of the 'deadliest' curved buildings in Vegas, and more.

Let's dive in:

How to Succeed in MrBeast Production

There is a quote from Justin Kan, co-founder of Twitch, that goes something like this:

"First time founders are obsessed with product. Second time founders are obsessed with distribution."

There is no one on the planet better at distribution than Mr. Beast. While being mired in recent controversies (including videos posted by Dogpack 404, the lawsuits surrounding his Amazon show under development, and backlash over his Lunchables competitor) one of the documents that came to light was his "How to Succeed in MrBeast Production" document.

It's a look inside the brain of Jimmy Donaldson, a.k.a. Mr. Beast, and how he thinks about growth and creation on YouTube. There are questionable segments inside, but 99% of the content on the 36-page document is well worth reading.

This document is valuable to creators for obvious reasons, but I believe it's also important to read as a consumer of content. Most people are starting to understand how the algorithms of these platforms work, and this will continue to enhance your education on how the most popular channels in the world persuade you to sit and watch.

Perplexity's New Discovery Feed

I'm already a big Perplexity fan, and I use it for practically every search I used to use Google for. Their latest update includes a brand new Discover tab. Upon first glance, it looks like Apple News or an aggregator app that you may already be familiar with. The interesting thing about it, however, is how it separates the trending headlines for different categories.

Under the 'Top' section you can read the Perplexity-summarized news of the Fed's Big Rate Cut, the Lionsgate/Runway AI Video Deal, and even the newly discovered 'third state' beyond life and death. Beyond that, you can see the latest trends in Tech & Science, Finance, Arts & Culture, Sports, Entertainment, and more. It's a fantastic way to catch up on the essential points of the latest news in the world.

The Ultimate Guide to AI Code Editors

I am officially overwhelmed when it comes to AI code editors. My timeline is constantly filled with developers looking to show off their latest creations with new AI tools, and it's hard to differentiate the quality from the slop. A few of these tutorials could have been shown earlier, but I wanted to sift through as many as I could before sharing what I found particularly useful. Here are a few of the winners:

1. ​Rohit Mittal using Replit Agents. Rohit tried to make a Trello clone and built a fully functional app within 45 minutes. He proceeded to share how he showed this to a few other people in his office. One individual was in such disbelief that he stated, "I should quit my job" - and built a stock trading app in two minutes with specific features he wanted.
2. ​Meng To creating functional Figma designs with Claude AI. Meng To is already one of our most recommended resources with his incredible website DesignCode.io, and here is a brief breakdown of how he uses Claude Artifacts to finely tune an app he is building. If you're interested in the full tutorial, be sure to check out his full Cursor and Claude course on the Design Code website.
3. ​Greg Isenberg sharing how to build a fully-functioning social app in 100 minutes. Using v0, Cursor, and Replit, Greg challenges two senior developers to make a complete app in under two hours. This video is the most complete in terms of where to start as an absolute beginner.
4. ​A quick Cursor pro tip from Ian Nuttall. This one is pretty short, but essential nonetheless. When starting a new project, make sure you 1. ask it to recommend a folder structure 2. ask it to actually create the folder/files based on that. This way, Cursor knows where to update its files and will be more accurate using the codebase as a result.

Paul Graham on How to Raise Money

Raising money is one of the most common topics when it comes to startups, and few people know the game better than Y Combinator co-founder Paul Graham. Back in September of 2013, he wrote a blog post titled, 'How to Raise Money'. It's a thorough post with lots of practical advice, and thankfully, Ben Lang was able to condense it into a one-page summary on Twitter. It covers the basics, effective fundraising strategies, managing the process, preparing for fundraising, what to avoid, and more. The blog post covers all the additional context, but Lang's post is a great place to start.

He also wrote a summary of the MrBeast document mentioned earlier in this issue. If you don't have time to read all 36 pages, skimming his post will provide high-level insights. Lang also posts regular updates of some of the fastest growing early-stage startups on his Twitter profile, which I highly recommend checking out.

Solar Death Rays in Las Vegas

I recently came across a video titled, 'The Worst Hotel in Las Vegas' from fern on YouTube. It takes a look at the physics behind two buildings, The Vdara hotel in Las Vegas and the Fenchurch Building in London. Both of these curved buildings were designed by the same architect, Rafael Viñoly. They are impressive upon first glance, but each have a critical flaw: solar convergence points.

At certain times of the day, light reflecting off the curved surfaces of these buildings can create a 'death ray' that heats surrounding spots to 147-242 degrees Fahrenheit (64-117 degrees Celsius). This phenomenon has led to shocking incidents, including one bather who had the hair on his body singed off and a man who returned to find his parked car partially melted. It's a quick 10-minute video capturing the details of these events, highlighting the surprising everyday implications of physics.

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