Show Notes
How did The Diary of a CEO go from 40 downloads to 120 million a month? Steven Bartlett sits down with Daniel on Build or Break to break down exactly how he created one of the most popular podcasts in the world. He walks us through the failed 18-month bet that eventually cracked it, and how the show now runs in 20 languages with zero human translators involved.
Beyond the growth story, he and Daniel get genuinely candid about a rough patch in his relationship with his fiancée and how they worked through it, compare what it's actually like sitting on Shark Tank versus Dragon's Den from the inside, and dig into how he thinks about investing — including the "paper wall" framework he uses to judge whether a limit is real or just assumed.
Steven Bartlett built The Diary of a CEO from a self-funded, no-sponsors show recorded at his kitchen table into one of the biggest podcasts in the world — over 120 million downloads a month, roughly 30 million of them in languages other than English, translated and voice-cloned entirely by AI.
Timestamps:
Cold Open
Guest Intro
Podcast Philosophy & The Diary of a CEO Origin Story
Inside the Diary of a CEO Machine
Depth, Vulnerability & the Craft of Listening
Shark Tank vs. Dragon's Den
The Mexican Inqusition
Pushing on Paper Walls
Build or Break
https://www.instagram.com/DanielLubetzky
https://www.tiktok.com/@daniellubetzky
https://www.linkedin.com/in/daniellubetzky
🙋🏻Become a Builder: https://buildersmovement.org/
Music: Amos Cochran https://www.editscoremusic.com/
Production: Straybird Studios https://www.straybird.studio/
Post Production: Jennell Lewis & Scott Convery
Social Media Production: https://www.edits-etc.com/
Build or Break Team:
Executive Producer & Host: Daniel Lubetzky
Executive Producer: Kristin Schneider
Head of Programming & Production: Joel Rubin
Marketing & Communications: Sarah Black
Associate Producer & Social Media: Taylor Larned
Booking & Scheduling: Kayla Rose
Network Relations: Julianna Cohen
Chapters9
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