The character arc of Steven Bartlett
Born 26 August 1992 in Gaborone, Botswana, and raised from the age of two in Plymouth, England. Between then and now sit a childhood as one of few mixed-race families in the area, an exit from school and then from university after a single lecture, the building of a social marketing company worth hundreds of millions, one of the world's most listened-to podcasts, a chair on Dragons Den, and two bestselling books. The line below draws the story so far, in order.
Tap the line to pluck it. Hover or tap any mark for its card. Drawn from the public record of his life; the sources are at the foot of the page.
Who is Steven Bartlett?
The Plymouth outsider who built the world's ear.
He was born in Botswana in 1992 to an English father and a Nigerian mother, and moved to Plymouth in the south west of England when he was two. He grew up as part of one of the few mixed-race families in the area, an outsider by his own account, and left school in his sixth form. At eighteen he enrolled on a business course at Manchester Metropolitan University and dropped out after one lecture, convinced that the thing he wanted to learn was not in the room.
What he did next is the spine of his arc. In 2014, still in his early twenties, he co-founded the social marketing company Social Chain with Dominic McGregor, and built it into a business valued in the hundreds of millions before he stepped away in 2020. In 2017, almost as a side project, he started a podcast called The Diary of a CEO, sitting people down for long, honest conversations. It grew, slowly and then very fast, into one of the most listened-to shows in the world.
By his late twenties he was the youngest investor to take a chair on the BBC show Dragons Den, backing founders with his own money, and the author of two bestselling books, Happy Sexy Millionaire and The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life. His line is worth reading because the boy who felt like an outsider in Plymouth built, out of curiosity and long conversations, a room that millions of people now choose to sit in.
The moments
Steven Bartlett's timeline.
The 1990s
Born in Gaborone
Milestone, and it changed his direction. Born in Gaborone, Botswana, to an English father and a Nigerian mother.
Raised in Plymouth
Milestone. His family moved to Plymouth in the south west of England when he was two.
The 2000s
A childhood as an outsider
Setback, and it changed his direction. He grew up as part of one of the few mixed-race families in the area, an outsider by his own telling.
The 2010s
Dropped out after one lecture
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He enrolled on a business course at eighteen and left after a single lecture to build instead.
Finish the degree, or build now
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: leave and build something, taken, or stay for the degree. Four years after leaving, he had co-founded Social Chain, which would grow into a business worth hundreds of millions.
Co-founded Social Chain
Milestone, and it changed everything. With Dominic McGregor he founded the social marketing company Social Chain in his early twenties.
Launched Diary of a CEO
Milestone, and it changed everything. He began a podcast of long, honest conversations that would grow into one of the world's most listened-to shows.
Social Chain went public
Milestone. Social Chain merged and listed, valued in the hundreds of millions, the company he had started at university age.
The 2020s
Stepped away to build anew
Milestone, and it changed his direction. He left the company he co-founded to focus on the podcast, investing and new ventures.
Stay with the company, or the mic
Crossroads, decided.
The paths laid out: bet on the conversations, taken, or stay as the founder. The podcast became one of the world's biggest, and within a year he had a chair on Dragons Den.
Youngest Dragon in the Den
Milestone. He joined the BBC show Dragons Den as its youngest investor, backing founders with his own money.
His first bestselling book
Milestone. He published Happy Sexy Millionaire, a Sunday Times bestseller drawn from his early years and beliefs.
A second book of laws
Milestone. He gathered his working principles into The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life.
A 2026 podcast award
Everyday. The show he began as a side project was named best in its field, still growing nearly a decade on.
The line reaches today still recording, still investing, which is why it is drawn now rather than at the end. What it has set moving is already everywhere: the founders he has backed, and the millions who sit down each week to listen to someone answer an honest question.
In his words
Quotes by Steven Bartlett
Growth happens when you start doing the things you are not qualified to do.
The easiest way to do big things is by focusing on the small things.
Your turn
Every story draws a unique line.
His is three decades in and still being drawn, one conversation at a time. Yours is already further along than you think, and drawing it takes about three minutes.
Sources
- Wikipedia, Steven Bartlett (businessman), verified 17 September 2026.
- stevenbartlett.com, his official site.
- Forbes, profile of Steven Bartlett.
- The Diary of a CEO, podcast record and 2026 iHeartPodcast Awards.
- Steven Bartlett, The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life, 2023.
- Steven Bartlett, Happy Sexy Millionaire, 2021.