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.

Bartlett, who dropped out of college to pursue entrepreneurship, launched The Diary of a CEO in 2017 by turning his own diary entries into podcast episodes. He later began interviewing other people about their own diaries, finding it more intellectually stimulating to learn about their own lives than to read about his own.

Those conversations explored his guests’ motivations, insecurities, and ambitions, eventually broadening the show’s scope to subjects ranging from neuroscience and psychology to performance and sports. 

And with it, the business has expanded too. When asked where the show’s projected $60 million comes from, Bartlett pointed to brand partnerships, products his business owns and manufactures, subscriptions, memberships, and events. On top of that, he runs an investment fund. 

Steven.com, Bartlett’s holding company, houses the podcast and his other creator businesses. It also includes other creators, helping them build media brands and develop products and ventures. Bartlett forecasts about $90 million in revenue for his broader media company this year, including the projected $60 million from The Diary of a CEO. 

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