I’ve been thinking a lot about the idea of leverage lately. How one decision, one piece of content, or even one tool can compound into something that changes the trajectory of your entire career. For Steven Bartlett, it started with an $80 microphone in a London flat, and leveraging years of his own personal founding experience in startups. Eight years later, that mic built a $425 million empire.
Steven’s story isn’t just about a podcast that went viral that looks like an overnight success. It’s about how he turned attention into infrastructure, storytelling into equity, and influence into an ecosystem.
He didn’t build The Diary of a CEO to be famous. He built it to be foundational.
The $100 Million Decision
When Forbes reported that Steven turned down $100 million offers from major streaming networks, I wasn’t surprised.