Key Takeaways

Steven Bartlett, host of The Diary of a CEO podcast, projects $60 million in revenue this year from the podcast alone.

Bartlett’s business earns money from ads, products, subscriptions and events.

He prioritizes retaining his audience over taking lucrative advertising deals.

In 2017, Steven Bartlett had no college degree and no guests — just a $100 microphone and a diary.

At the time, he was CEO of a marketing agency, and he turned his own diary entries about entrepreneurship into podcast episodes. Those early solo episodes, recorded at 2 a.m. at the end of the week, were the start of a much bigger business.

Bartlett ran Social Chain , which grew into a large global company and made him a millionaire . Social Chain is now valued at $600 million ; Bartlett stepped away from the company in 2020 to focus on his podcast and other ventures.

Bartlett eventually shifted the podcast’s focus from his own diary to those of other people.…