The star business podcaster Steven Bartlett has lost four core employees in the past five months as he grows the show and expands his media empire beyond the UK.
The long-serving employees had helped the show become the No. 1 business podcast on Spotify in the US.
One departing staffer was Jack Sylvester, who calls himself the “cofounder” of Bartlett’s “The Diary of a CEO.” He helped establish its presence on YouTube, where the show now has more than 18 million subscribers.
Also out:
- Jem Erith, who was the show’s executive producer
- Anthony Smith, the director of trailers
- Grace Miller, who had the title of head of failure and experimentation
A FlightStory spokesperson said the departures were planned over almost a year, with Bartlett’s support. She added that the people involved had joined relatively early in their careers and advanced to senior roles before leaving on good terms.
“We see their next steps as a positive reflection of the culture,” she said.
All four departing staffers posted on social media that it was their decision to leave and said they didn’t have a specific plan for what would come next. They also effused about their time at FlightStory and expressed gratitude to Bartlett.
“I owe Steve more than I could ever put into words,” Sylvester wrote on LinkedIn, later adding that he didn’t “know what’s next” but was “more fired up than ever.”
Sylvester told Business Insider that he was searching for the next step in his career after the show moved out of its initial growth phase.
Bartlett wrote on LinkedIn that “nobody” had a “bigger impact” on the podcast than Sylvester.
The staff departures elicited some surprise among those close to Bartlett’s company. One former FlightStory employee, speaking of Sylvester and Erith after they announced their departures, described them as part of the “inner circle” responsible for the “heavy lifting” of the podcast.
“They’re the reason it gets delivered twice a week,” another former employee said of the four, referencing the podcast.
Turnover is common at startups. At Social Chain, a social media marketing firm that Bartlett started before “DOAC,” a number of alums went on to start their own ventures.
‘DOAC’ is moving beyond its UK roots
The exits come as the 9-year-old show is expanding beyond its UK roots and as Bartlett builds a media company around it.
Bartlett, who started out interviewing business tycoons like Richard Branson and Brian Chesky, has moved into more emotional territory, with guests like addiction expert Dr. Alok Kanojia and YouTuber MrBeast. He regularly gets millions of views for his hour-plus interviews.
He’s become a leadership guru in his own right. He’s known for obsessing over details, like the carbon monoxide level in the recording studio, and for assessing candidates through a questionnaire called the “Culture Test” to see how they’ll react to workplace scenarios.
“DOAC’s” center of gravity has also shifted to the US. Bartlett recently moved to Los Angeles and opened a production studio there. He’s been gaining on Joe Rogan in YouTube subscribers, and his show regularly tops Rogan’s in views.
Meanwhile, Bartlett has been increasingly busy with other ventures. He recently raised an eight-figure investment round to expand the company, which has about 150 employees and took in around $47 million in revenue last year.
He’s added other creators to his network and sought to apply his own playbook to their businesses, including extensive pre-show research and using social clipping to grow their footprints. His company now has a speakers division called FlightSpeakers, and a unit that helps other creators distribute on social media. FlightStory is also exploring a paid membership program to leverage its passionate audience.
