With over 21 million followers and over one billion streams across platforms, “The Diary of a CEO” has become one of the biggest podcasts in the world. 

The show’s creator, Steven Bartlett, was haunted by the potential of elevating voices who he felt could have a positive impact on the world. In Fall 2023, Bartlett connected with Georgie Holt and Christiana Brenton, media veterans who shared his vision for using data-driven methodologies to amplify creator success.

Together, they launched FlightStory in February 2024 to build a business model based on the exact methodology that propelled Bartlett’s podcast to global prominence. This isn’t merely inspired by “The Diary of a CEO” success—it’s the blueprinted version of the formula that created it.

“You don’t learn anything when you’re successful because you just think, ‘That was great. We move on,’” explains Georgie, who serves as the CEO of FlightStory and co-founder of its newly launched division, FlightStory Studio. “Failure is one of the most important components of building a successful company.”

This approach—systematically analyzing failure rather than simply celebrating wins—forms the foundation of FlightStory’s proprietary blueprint. What viewers see when they watch an episode of “The Diary of a CEO” represents just “the tip of the iceberg,” according to Georgie. 

Behind each polished interview lies an elaborate system of processes, data analysis, and strategic decisions that most creators never see. “[The system] is rigorously built on a process of experimentation and following the data science to kill the guessing of any editorial, guest, or production decisions that we would make,” Georgie notes.

The results demonstrate the methodology’s transferability: “We Need to Talk with Paul C. Brunson” hit 100,000 subscribers in just 20 episodes on YouTube and has accumulated 10 million streams. Every show they’ve launched has reached #1 on both Apple and Spotify. 

This performance indicates that their approach is not only repeatable but potentially improvable across different creator personalities and audience segments.

“We elevate stories, build communities and support founders that inspire a happier, healthier humanity,” Georgie explains their overarching mission.

Revenue Model and Monetization

Unlike traditional podcast networks that might focus on distribution or ad sales alone, FlightStory provides end-to-end production services spanning creative development and the production process. 

“So everything from guest booking to set design to the videography to the editing to the long-form to the trailers,” Georgie explains.

They further monetize their expertise in scaling audiences through their audience growth engine, employing social media teams specializing in “the creative side of social and the growth side of social.” 

Their commercial team drives additional revenue for creators through “world-class brand partnerships” and helps them scale revenue through various channels.

Following models like KSI and Logan Paul’s Prime or Alex Cooper’s Unwell Drinks, FlightStory also facilitates product and e-commerce development, helping creators develop their own products and brands. They then connect these creators with companies in their investment portfolio through venture partnerships, creating equity deals that benefit both parties. 

“If we bring an amazing product and an amazing creator together and we go on a journey of development and ideation around that product… this is such a huge blue ocean for creators and companies,” Georgie notes.

Image: Flight Studio team

Data as the New Creative Director

Where traditional media companies rely heavily on intuition and gut feelings, FlightStory has essentially eliminated guesswork from their operation. The company maintains dedicated teams for experimentation and failure analysis, treating content creation more like a science lab than a creative studio.

“We have a team dedicated to experimentation and failure, and they push us to continue to experiment and fail because there’s so much learning in failure,” says Georgie.

This commitment to data extends to every aspect of their operations, including:

Talent Discovery: The company has developed a proprietary tool called Flight Radar (or Guest Radar) that uses data science to identify potential podcast guests outperforming their peers when discussing specific topics.

“We can see if we search a specific genre or topic or concept, we can see the hundreds of thousands of people who have been speaking on that topic on YouTube and social media, and we can see who is outperforming their cohort about that topic,” Georgie explains.

Content Optimization: Their data analysis extends to specific engagement metrics for different types of content. “We can see which guests on Steven’s show had performed best in that topic,” Georgie reveals, showing how they use historical performance to inform future decisions.

Production Process Refinement: Even technical aspects of production are subjected to data analysis. “We rigorously commit to experimenting with all different aspects of our editorial product, of our production processes, of the way we approach brand partners,” Georgie explains.

Partner Selection Criteria: Who FlightStory Works With

FlightStory is selective about the creators and experts it partners with, looking for specific indicators of potential. Editorial alignment plays a key role in their selection process. They initially focused on the highest-performing content categories from “The Diary of a CEO”: health & wellness, psychology, neuroscience, celebrity, sport, business, and entrepreneurship.

Data validation forms another crucial criterion, as partners must show promising growth or engagement metrics. “The data metrics that you have on your show and your channel have to demonstrate that something is interesting happening in your growth or your engagement or how your audience is interacting with you,” Georgie explains.

Image: Jimmy Donaldson (MrBeast) and Bartlett in an episode of “The Diary of a CEO”

The company also evaluates growth potential, assessing whether a creator’s current trajectory suggests they could benefit from FlightStory’s systems. “If we think that what you’re doing and what we’re doing can be a one plus one equals three, then we’re going to start to have some interesting conversations,” says Georgie.

Mission alignment rounds out their selection framework. They seek creators whose content supports their mission of inspiring a “happier, healthier humanity,” though Georgie clarifies this extends beyond health and wellness to include entertainment and pop culture that brings joy.

From Audiences to Fandoms: Building Communities

FlightStory’s methodology also targets audience development. Georgie articulates a sophisticated framework for turning casual viewers into passionate advocates:

“You start with an audience, you start to build a community, you start to understand who your audience is, you want to be in service of them, you want to deliver more connectivity, more intimacy with that particular community,” she explains.

The process continues: “A fan is what happens when people sort of start to self-direct and self-organize around your brand. They’re almost advocating for you; they’re really advocating for you when you’re not in the room.”

This development isn’t left to chance but tracked through specific metrics. While many creators focus primarily on views, FlightStory pays special attention to saves and shares as indicators of deeper engagement.

“If they’re saving something, it means they’re telling you, ‘I want to come back to this later. This is something that is meaningful and important,'” Georgie notes. “Not only would I come back to it later, I want to watch it maybe 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9 times.”

She adds: “Shares are great too. It means that I think it’s good enough that I want to tell my community and people that this was good. And also when I share something on any of my social channels, it’s sort of like I’m taking a little personal risk.”

The Short-Form Strategy

In the creator economy debate about short-form versus long-form content, FlightStory takes a strategic approach informed by data, viewing short clips as discovery mechanisms for longer experiences.

Georgie draws an analogy: “Sometimes you just want a snack, a light bite, a quick hit. But sometimes you just want a light bite, which can be just as fulfilling as the very long meal.”

This “snack and meal” framework guides their distribution strategy: “The distribution of our shows is sort of the primary principle for our growth engine. We need to utilize the content and make sure it travels as far as possible. And clips are a fantastic way to do that.”

By analyzing performance metrics from short-form clips to inform its long-form strategy, the company creates a discovery funnel where clips drive viewership of full episodes, informing future clip selection based on performance data.

AI Integration and Platform Dynamics

FlightStory is already exploring the next frontiers of content creation through several experimental initiatives:

AI-Generated Podcasts: “We’re testing AI podcasts now. We have seven AI podcasts that are completely produced by AI in the world right now, being tested to understand whether as humans we are open and ready for AI storytelling,” Georgie reveals.

Their initial findings suggest audience receptivity varies by content category: “There are some content genres people are ready for, and there are some that they just aren’t.”

Platform-Agnostic Distribution: The company questions traditional industry definitions, adopting a “wherever there’s a screen” philosophy for content distribution. “We know, for example, that over half of our one, particularly with Steven, I think 60% of his audiences are watching on YouTube and half of that audience is watching it on TV,” Georgie notes.

Publishing Expansion: “We are launching books through Flight Books, our new publishing imprint,” Georgie shares, indicating their move into traditional media formats alongside digital content.

Failure, Consistency, and Business Mindset

For creators and businesses operating in the creator economy, FlightStory offers several valuable lessons. Georgie emphasizes embracing failure as a learning tool. She encourages creators to analyze what doesn’t work as rigorously as what does, rather than simply moving on from failures.

She also believes consistency trumps seasonality in content creation. “Consistency and compounding incremental growth over time is one of the most important factors,” Georgie advises, challenging the conventional wisdom about seasonal podcast releases. “You have to be showing up every single week, maybe twice a week, producing your content to start to get a good data map of what’s performing.”

Following data rather than intuition, Georgie notes, forms another core principle of FlightStory. By analyzing specific metrics, especially saves and shares, creators can identify what truly resonates with audiences rather than relying on assumptions about what might work.

The industry veteran also encourages creators to think like business owners from the start. “As soon as you start to produce work and put it out there on your YouTube channel, on your social media, you’re an owner,” she reminds creators, urging them to approach their content with business strategy in mind rather than treating it as purely creative expression.