Steven Bartlett’s Diary of a CEO forecasts $60M income

The present has grown right into a enterprise Bartlett forecasts will generate about $60 million in income this yr. However rising it has additionally meant turning down cash—together with a deal that will have required extra promoting and taking the showcase YouTube. He described the proposed association as a commerce: settle for a big cost, put 12 ads within the podcast, and have little say over these adverts.

“One of many central the explanation why I turned down such a suggestion is as a result of that’s 4 instances extra adverts than I’ve to place in now,” Bartlett advised Fortune’s Ellie Austin on Fortune Daily.

Working with what he calls “fragmentation vultures”—firms looking for unique podcast distribution offers—can imply sacrificing income or management over the connection with an viewers, Bartlett argued. As an alternative, he sees the connection together with his viewers as value defending, even when a profitable provide like that comes alongside. The enterprise he goals to protect already makes cash past promoting: by way of merchandise, subscriptions, and occasions.

Past the podcast advert

Bartlett, who dropped out of school to pursue entrepreneurship, launched The Diary of a CEO in 2017 by turning his personal diary entries into podcast episodes. He later started interviewing different folks about their very own diaries, discovering it extra intellectually stimulating to find out about their very own lives than to examine his personal

These conversations explored his visitors’ motivations, insecurities, and ambitions, ultimately broadening the present’s scope to topics starting from neuroscience and psychology to efficiency and sports activities. 

And with it, the enterprise has expanded too. When requested the place the present’s projected $60 million comes from, Bartlett pointed to model partnerships, merchandise his enterprise owns and manufactures, subscriptions, memberships, and occasions. On high of that, he runs an funding fund. 

“It’s a variety of issues and once more, this goes to the purpose of diversification,” he stated.

Steven.com, Bartlett’s holding firm, homes the podcast and his different creator companies. It additionally consists of different creators, serving to them construct media manufacturers and develop merchandise and ventures.  Bartlett forecasts about $90 million in income for his broader media firm this yr, together with the projected $60 million from The Diary of a CEO. 

He additionally put subsequent yr’s holding-company forecast at about $160 million. However he’s not the one particular person to see nine-figure valuations because of the podcasting enterprise:  “Name Her Daddy” podcast host Alex Cooper’s holding firm Unwell raised funding at a $500 million valuation in August.

Bartlett sees that evolution as a part of a wider shift of how creators work with manufacturers. Early in his profession, he stated firms handled influencers like billboards: pay them, and they might submit one thing. Then got here the creative-director titles, fairness preparations, and alternatives to co-found companies. Most evident with Sydney Sweeney, who became an equity partner and artistic director at sports activities prediction market Novig, shaping its promoting slightly than simply merely showing in it.

He believes the following stage entails creator companies making acquisitions and working extra like massive holding firms. 

“You’re not an influencer, you’re not an fairness companion, a inventive director,” he stated. “You’re an proprietor or co-founder.”

The enterprise of viewers belief

Distribution has develop into some extent of negotiation throughout podcasting, maybe most famously in 2024, when Spotify ended Rogan’s exclusivity and allowed his present to stream on rival platforms. Bartlett prefers fewer partnerships, and solely with companies that matter to him personally. About 70% of his podcast companions, he stated, are firms whose founders he approached himself. 

Selecting sponsors is just one a part of sustaining viewers belief—what visitors say on the podcast issues too. On Fortune Day by day, he was questioned a few 2024 BBC investigation into health claims made on his present. He stated his staff had contracted a full-time medical PhD to overview well being episodes, including context on display screen and eradicating materials that might not adequately be contextualized. Now, an unbiased overview staff fact-checks every episode—not simply these targeted on well being—earlier than it’s revealed. 

When requested whether or not an unsupported scientific assertion could be faraway from the audio, he stated the choice will depend on its framing: a definitive declare could be handled in a different way from a visitor discussing a speculation primarily based on early analysis.

However regardless of his rising affect, Bartlett doesn’t take into account himself a journalist. He described his interviews as an train in pursuing his personal curiosity, whether or not he’s sitting throughout from Kamala Harris or JD Vance. Viewers will all the time have questions they need he had requested, he stated, however he believes his method wants to stay anchored in that curiosity.

“If you happen to’re not anchored to, like, your personal curiosity, you’re going to be a plastic bag within the wind,” he stated.

Because the enterprise continues to develop, Bartlett’s recommendation to different creators is to suppose past the following deal—whereas acknowledging that his personal success offers him extra freedom to decide on. 

“If you wish to construct a sturdy enterprise on this creator financial system, you must prioritize sovereignty,” he stated. “You’re renting your viewers in the mean time.”