Dragons鈥� Den star Steven Bartlett has revealed he turned down a lucrative deal 鈥� rumoured to be worth around $100m (拢75m) 鈥� for his podcasting business.
Last year Joe Rogan signed a multi-year $250m deal with Spotify but Bartlett said he wasn鈥檛 tempted to follow suit because it didn鈥檛 feel the 鈥榬ight path鈥�.
Bartlett, founder of FlightStory and FlightStory Studio, recently signed a deal with the world鈥檚 No 1 talent agent, WME, to represent him in the USA, ahead of his move to Los Angeles.
He revealed: 鈥淟ast year, we were offered an undisclosed podcasting deal 鈥� the kind many of my peers whom I respect in this space have taken. And for good reason. These deals can be life-changing.
鈥淭here鈥檚 no 鈥榬ight or wrong鈥� here. Everyone鈥檚 circumstances are different. This is just what aligned with our values, our audience, and our long-term vision.鈥�
The 32-year-old revealed one of the reasons why they turned the deal down was it would have meant at least 300 per cent more adverts on the show.
Bartlett added: 鈥淚 believe there are smarter ways to monetise than just piling on more ads.
鈥淓quity partnerships, long-term integrations and creating your own products, membership options鈥� are more innovative options that keep the listener experience intact.
鈥淚 would鈥檝e had less control over where the show appears. With these deals, you鈥檙e often contractually incentivised to focus on certain platforms 鈥� and sometimes, that means removing your show from others altogether.
鈥淔or a show that鈥檚 always been built on independence and accessibility everywhere, that felt like a step back.
鈥淥ne of the beautiful things about podcasting is that it can appear on all platforms at once – and the viewer gets to decide.鈥�
Bartlett revealed the deal headline figures aren鈥檛 always what they appear.
鈥淵ou don鈥檛 sign a $100 million deal and get the cash up front,鈥� said Bartlett. 鈥淭hese are usually multi-year deals, spread out over time and tied to performance targets.
鈥淭o put it in perspective a $125m deal might actually be $25m/year for five years, and that money may only be paid if you meet certain performance targets.
鈥淭hat difference matters. Especially when you鈥檙e thinking about opportunity cost and long-term creative freedom.
鈥淔or full transparency: we were offered two deals. The most significant was over a three-year term. The fee remains undisclosed.鈥�
Bartlett said when FlightStory鈥� chief revenue officer, Christiana Brenton, did some forecasts she concluded they could do better on their own.
Brenton explained: 鈥淥n paper, these seem like a dream come true for any commercial leader who鈥檚 spent their entire career in pursuit of major financial milestones.鈥�
She added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e managed to find and assemble a world class team of strategists, media and creative scientists, brand partnership directors, global partner manages, production experts, branded content producers, product and venture specialists, speaking and live events leaders, platform monetisation fanatics, and elite equity and investment operators.
鈥淭his combination of raw talent has led The Studio @FlightStory to achieve record-breaking performance: 3x growth in 2024 and +$20m in revenues.
鈥淭his wasn鈥檛 simply ‘no’ to a deal. It was a ‘yes’ to myself. A ‘yes’ to our team.鈥�
Bartlett added: 鈥淲e鈥檝e now got nearly 100 full-time people building our media company, FlightStory, (which is home to The Diary of a CEO) led by Georgie Holt.
鈥淚n my view, they鈥檙e the best in the business. We鈥檝e built every capability in-house 鈥� strategy, data, production, creative, commercials, e-commerce, social media, marketing, newsletters and more 鈥� and we believe in betting on ourselves.
鈥淭ime will tell if we were right but betting on myself and my team is a decision I can live with 鈥� and truthfully, one I wish I鈥檇 made more often when I was starting out in my career.
鈥淲e鈥檙e still learning, still building, and still listening.鈥�
- Bartlett鈥檚 former commercial director Danny Gray has announced he鈥檚 left after three years with The Diary of a CEO and Flight Fund. 鈥淚 began as Steven鈥檚 partnerships manager and later became his commercial director, brokering some of the biggest and most innovative podcast brand deals in the industry,鈥� he said. 鈥淚 then stepped into investment, becoming his investment partner – spotting high-growth opportunities, structuring talent-led deals, and helping founders scale with purpose, unlocking incremental value.鈥�
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