Steven Bartlett started his podcast with just a laptop and a sock pulled over a $100 microphone. Before there were guests, it was just Bartlett, reading from his diary at 2 a.m. and trying to make sense of what he had written that week. He eventually began interviewing other people about theirs. Now, The Diary of a CEO is one of the world’s biggest podcasts and is on track to overtake Joe Rogan as the most-subscribed podcast on YouTube.
The show has grown into a business Bartlett forecasts will generate about $60 million in revenue this year. But growing it has also meant turning down money—including a deal that would have required more advertising and taking the show off YouTube. He described the proposed arrangement as a trade: Accept a large payment, put 12 advertisements in the podcast, and have little say over those ads.
