Steven Bartlett
Born 1992 · Age 33
Botswana-born British–Nigerian entrepreneur, investor, author and podcaster. Founder of Wallpark, Social Chain, thirdweb and Flight Story; host of The Diary of a CEO and a Dragon on BBC's Dragons' Den.
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Life & Career Timeline
Born in Gaborone, Botswana
Steven Cliff Bartlett is born to an English father and Nigerian mother in Gaborone, Botswana.
Family moves to Plymouth, England
Bartlett and his family relocate from Botswana to Plymouth; he grows up and later attends Plymstock School.
Expelled from Plymstock School sixth form
Bartlett was expelled from sixth form at Plymstock School.
Enrolled then dropped out of Manchester Metropolitan University
Enrolled on a Business Management course but left after one lecture and pursued entrepreneurship.
Moved to San Francisco and became Entrepreneur in Residence at Monkey Inferno
At age 20 Bartlett moved to San Francisco and worked at the incubator Monkey Inferno (Michael Birch), working with entrepreneurs like Shaan Puri.
Founded Wallpark (online student noticeboard)
Launched Wallpark, a student messaging/noticeboard which expanded to serve seven major UK cities.
Worked as rapper under moniker 'Lyricist' (moonlighting)
Bartlett performed/recorded as a rapper under the stage name 'Lyricist' during his early years.
Co-founded Social Chain Limited
Co-founded social media marketing agency Social Chain with Dominic McGregor in Manchester.
Launched The Diary of a CEO podcast
Started The Diary of a CEO podcast (interviews and long-form conversations).
Social Chain merged with Lumaland to form The Social Chain AG and listed on Xetra / Düsseldorf
Social Chain merged with German online retailer Lumaland to create The Social Chain AG and listed on German exchanges; listing valued the business at over $200M (FT cites €186M at merge).
Featured on Channel 4's The Secret Teacher
Appeared undercover as a teacher in the Channel 4 series The Secret Teacher.
Stepped down as co-CEO of Social Chain AG
Resigned as co-CEO citing disagreement on company direction; moved into an advisory/strategic role afterwards.
Founded Catena Capital (private equity vehicle)
Created private equity company Catena Capital.
Sold a significant portion of Social Chain AG shares
Reported sale of a significant portion of his Social Chain AG shares when the company's market capitalisation was roughly $300M (December 2020); Bartlett later noted he retained a 'significant' holding and options.
Joined Huel as non-executive director
Appointed a non-executive director on the board of meal-replacement company Huel.
Joined BBC's Dragons' Den as youngest-ever Dragon
Became one of the show's five dragons; noted as the youngest investor on the program at the time.
Social Chain AG uplisted to Frankfurt Prime Standard (valuation ~$600M)
Social Chain AG moved to the Frankfurt Stock Exchange's prime standard, reaching a reported valuation of $600M.
thirdweb raised $5M seed funding
thirdweb secured $5M seed financing from angel and institutional backers including Gary Vaynerchuk, Mark Cuban and others.
Co-founded thirdweb (web3 developer platform)
Launched thirdweb with Furqan Rydhan to simplify building Web3 apps.
Social Chain AG sold minority stake in KoRo for ~€39.2M
As part of group restructuring Social Chain AG sold a minority stake in KoRo Handels GmbH for approx €39.2M.
Social Chain AG half-year report: group comprised 64 companies
Half-year financial report shows The Social Chain AG (holding company) included 64 companies as of 30 June 2022.
ASA (Advertising Standards Authority) action over undisclosed Huel ad
ASA ruled Bartlett breached CAP Code rules for advertising Huel on his podcast without clear disclosure; required ad to be re-labelled.
thirdweb Series A: $24M at $160M valuation
thirdweb closed a $24M Series A co-led by Haun Ventures (Katie Haun) with participation from Coinbase Ventures, Shopify and others; company valuation reported at $160M.
Advertising rules breach reprimand by BBC (Dragons' Den)
BBC reprimanded Bartlett for breaching on-air commercial guidelines after wearing jewellery linked to a brand he promoted on social media.
Invested in PerfectTed via Dragons' Den
Invested in PerfectTed (matcha energy drinks) following their Dragons' Den pitch; Bartlett has acted as mentor and supporter.
Flight Story / Flight Fund public launch & $100M fund announced
Bartlett launched media/investment company Flight Story, announcing Flight Story Fund — a $100M fund aimed at diverse founders in tech, biotech, blockchain and more.
Social Chain Ltd (agency) acquisition / sale reported (target figure)
Reports state Social Chain Ltd (one company within the group) was acquired in Feb 2023 for a total potential fee of £17.2M (including £7.7M upfront and up to £9.5M in earn-outs). Bartlett had exited the parent group well before this deal.
Became advocate for Prince William's Homewards initiative; accompanied royal visits
Announced as an advocate for Homewards and joined Prince William on Royal visits, including Bournemouth (Sept 2023).
thirdweb platform & developer metrics reported (late 2024)
Reports claim thirdweb enabled 55,000+ developers, 150,000+ smart contracts deployed across multiple chains and 9 million unique wallets in a month (figures reported late 2024).
Spotify Wrapped: The Diary of a CEO ranked #5 globally
Spotify Wrapped listed The Diary of a CEO as the world's 5th most popular podcast in 2024.
Reported to have declined ~ $100M deal to partner with a streaming platform
Forbes reported Bartlett turned down an offer estimated around $100M to partner with an unnamed streaming platform and kept the podcast independent under Flight Story.
ASA bans advertisements featuring Bartlett (Zoe & Huel)
ASA banned ads featuring Bartlett for failing to properly disclose commercial relationships (August 2024).
Podcast passes 1 billion total streams; 50M monthly listeners reported
Forbes reported The Diary of a CEO surpassed one billion total streams and had ~50 million monthly listeners (reported Nov/Dec 2024).
Public controversies & regulatory scrutiny
Ongoing public criticism for episodes containing health misinformation (BBC analysis) and scrutiny of Flight Story fund transparency reported in the press (2024–2025 coverage).
Stepped down from Huel board of directors
Huel confirmed Bartlett stepped down as a non-executive director to pursue other commitments (Feb 2025).
Visited Aberdeen with Prince William for Homewards initiative
As a Homewards advocate Bartlett joined the Prince of Wales on a visit to Aberdeen to meet youth and homelessness prevention programmes (March 2025).
Won Best International Podcast at iHeartPodcast Awards
The Diary Of A CEO podcast won Best International Podcast at the 2025 iHeartPodcast Awards (March 2025).
Forbes reports Bartlett rejected a $100M podcast deal
Coverage and interviews confirmed Bartlett rejected a high-value offer to keep control of his podcast business under Flight Story (April 2025 coverage).
Became co-owner of Stan Store (US tech company)
Announced as a co-owner of Stan Store; Stan Store reported $30M ARR and $300M GMV at the time (May 2025).
Ranked among Forbes Top 50 Digital Creators (9th for earnings)
Forbes placed Bartlett in the world's top 50 digital creators; ranked 9th for earnings and 11th overall (June 2025).
Included in TIME100 Creators list
Named to Time magazine's inaugural 'TIME100 Creators' list in the Leaders category for influence via The Diary of a CEO (July 2025).
Appointed Niki Aryana as Chairman of FlightStory
Bartlett named former BCG Director and Partner Niki Aryana as Chairman to support FlightStory's strategic growth (July 4, 2025 press reports).
YouTube channel milestone (subscribers & views reported)
Infobox metrics report ~11.8M YouTube subscribers and 909.1M total views (data from August 19, 2025 snapshot).
Key Achievement Ages
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