Daniel Priestley

We've just hit 1 million views on the Diary of a CEO interview with Steven Bartlett

Thank you to everyone who watched, shared and commented on the video.

If you haven't watched it yet, here's a breakdown of what we covered in the podcast:

- The Most Exciting Time in History For Businesses
- Growing Small Businesses & Making Millions
- Can Anyone Be An Entrepreneur?
- How To Know If It's A Good Business Idea
- How Important Is Passion In Being A Successful Entrepreneur
- Don't Pursue Entrepreneurship For This Reason!
- How To Be A Visionary
- How To Be Great At Pitching Business Ideas
- The Magic Of 'With Or Without You' Energy
- The Steps To Know If It'll Be A Good Business
- Fear Of Failure
- Life Force Energy & Bringing Stories To Life
- The Importance Of Changing Environments Regularly
- Starting A Business/Personal Brand
- Soloentreneurship Doesn't Work
- How To Make Money
- Your Team Is Essential In Your Business
- How Do You Invest Your Money
- How To Build A Business From Scratch
- Should You Work For A Big Company Or A Start Up
- The Humility Of Accepting Others Who Are Better Than You
- What's A Management Buyout?
- How To Structure And How To Sale A Deal
- AI Will Revolutionise How Businesses Work!
- Work-Life Balance
- Last Guest Question

Let me know, what was your biggest take away moment from the interview?

#doac #diaryofaceo #entrepreneur

Not everything goes to plan. In a bid to impress my 7yo daughter, I tried to show her how I could still skateboard. This resulted in a broken wrist and emergency surgery. :(
Hope you’re finishing the year on a higher note and you’re grateful for the little things - like having two working arms! Happy new year. Looking forward to sharing our entrepreneurial journeys together in 2026.

Some big news...

I've been working on this for most of 2025 and I'm really excited to finally share it with you all.

My next book, The Lifestyle Business Playbook, comes out in just over a month, and is available to pre-order now!

If you're trying build a business that emphasises fun, freedom, and flexibility, and that actually serves your life (not the other way around) then this is for you.

This one has been a lot of work but I think you're really going to love it.

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/eA48Auwi

Some big news... I’m proud to announce that Rethink Press has been acquired by Advantage Publishing (the company behind Forbes Books).

I’ve been a proud owner of Rethink for 7 years and I’ve watched it grow and develop under the leadership of Lucy McCarraher MBE and Joe Gregory.

A few months ago we met Adam Witty and the team at Advantage Publishing and sparks flew. We completely bought into Adam's vision for the future of book publishing. We knew Rethink Press would play a perfect part of Advantage's global plans. It was the definition of a strategic fit.

As part of the deal, I will be joining the advisory board and Dent Global has also made a considerable investment in Advantage Publishing.

I want to thank the Rethink Press team for being so passionate about our authors and their books. I want to thank Lucy and Joe for inspiring so many to write and publish books.

I also want to thank my CFO David B Horne. This is our 13th M&A deal together. David has the most amazing, calm, cantered energy when doing deals and he’s the perfect glue that holds everything in place through the process.

To all of our Rethink Authors, you’re now part of a much bigger vision. Advantage Publishing has remarkable reach across the USA and beyond. Adam and his team live and breath all things books, speaking, personal brand and authority. You are in very good hands.

Isn't it wonderful when something like this comes together.

ChatGPT is experimenting with advertising in their free subscription.

I’m old enough to remember when Google started running ads and for a few years you could get warm leads for pennies.

I also remember when Facebook launched ads and they had so many eyeballs and so few advertisers that it cost nothing to get clients for the first few years.

Corporate advertisers don’t move fast on new things. They take 6 months to plan and 6 months to test before they go in heavy.

Right now ChatGPT has almost a billion users a week. If they start running ads, they will have a lot of eyeballs and not so many advertisers until the corporates come in. There will be a window of opportunity to win customers very cheaply if you jump on it.

I wish I had of been more bullish when Google and Facebook launched ads. I didn’t recognise how unique the moment was and I also didn’t realise how fleeting it would be.

When ChatGPT launches ads, I’m going to seize the day and I’d encourage you to be ready to do the same.

Each week close to a BILLION people are using ChatGPT.

That is a lot of eyeballs. Not just any eyeballs - people with high intent, not mindless scrollers.

When Sam Altman decides to, he will turn on ads for the 80% of people on the free account. For a year or more, they will be dirt cheap.

Not because he has a lot of screen real estate to fill - he'll make the ads cheap to deal a savage blow to rivals Google and Meta.

Cheap ChatGPT ads will send Google/Meta into a panic. They will counter with cheaper ads to stop the bleeding.

All over the world, entrepreneurs will have a glorious 12-24 months of cheap ads and booming margins as they pick up warm leads for half price.

Be ready for it when it all goes down, my friends. Have your lead generation campaigns ready to go.

I strongly recommend setting up and testing 30 campaigns on ScoreApp, so you’re optimised and ready to go when the firing gun goes off.

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FYI - Have you got your Black Friday campaigns up and running yet?

Most businesses do Black Friday wrong 🖤

Do it differently this year: build an early waitlist campaign so you’ve got an audience already excited before the inbox madness begins.

We've done 95% of the work for you, here: https://bit.ly/4oca5Zg

I've got a friend who is a professional speaker.

He used to have a button on his website allowing people to book his services.

One slight tweak completely transformed his business.

Instead of allowing people to book right away, he changed his website so people could only “register interest” in working with him.

Now, when someone clicks and registers their interest he asks them questions:

How many attendees?
Is the event free or ticketed?
Is it a keynote or a workshop?
Are their sponsorship opportunities?
Do you want me to recommend sponsors I've previously worked with?

He can also tell them his capacity. He tells them he only does a few events a month, and only says yes to events he thinks will be able to add value to.

In other words, he flipped the script and became the one with all the power.

He generated a lead, asked for valuable data to tailor his approach, and created supply and demand tension by only allowing people to register interest and being transparent about his capacity.

All from changing one button.

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FYI - There are so many tricks like this where you can just make a few simple tweaks and everything changes.

Next week, I am going to be revealing every one that I know of in a brand new workshop I've put together.

It's going to be one-time-only, and there's a live Q&A at the end for specific questions.

Register here: https://bit.ly/3ILWxVn

The only person who deserves to make money from an idea is the person who executes it, not the person who thinks it up.

That's why one of the most important things you can do when you’re starting a business is to get your ideas out there.

Get feedback from mentors and successful entrepreneurs.

Test the waters with waiting lists, questionnaires and online discussion groups.

When I tell people this, sometimes they tell me they don’t want to do that - because they’re worried someone will steal their idea before they implement it.

Here’s the thing: your ideas aren’t worth anything.

Anyone can come up with the idea for the world's tallest building, or a robot that cleans your house, or a holiday to the moon. Anyone can have ideas about how to improve a marketing campaign, hire A-players or get an investor.

However, the only people who will make any money from ideas are the people who go out, test the market, build, iterate, package, sell and ship.

Get your ideas out of your head and into the market. It’s the only way to find out what they are worth.

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FYI - Entrepreneurs, I'll be hosting a free, live workshop next week, teaching the simple 5-step process to becoming the most well-known, respected and sought-after person in your industry.

There will also be a Q&A at the end, if you want to ask me any specific questions.

If you're interested, you can register here: https://bit.ly/3MTaTlh

My latest book is out on November 20th - The Lifestyle Business Playbook

I believe technology and other trends have shifted the window of possibility for entrepreneurs. We live in a time when a small startup can provide freedom, fun and fulfilment - far more than working for a large organisation.

It used to be near impossible to achieve this outcome. It also used to be impossible to share a message with the world, collect payments from abroad, hire and manage a global team or use software to automate daily operations. These things are now easy and that is what makes entrepreneurship more accessible than ever.

In my latest book I share a series of playbooks you can apply to get this result. I also share some useful trends and mindset shifts worth exploring.

You can pre-order and get the book as soon as it comes out for the best offer. see comments below...

Lawyers have their place but they can cause all sorts of trouble if given the chance.

I’m currently arguing with Litmus Software (owned by Validity Inc.). Their lawyers claim the ScoreApp logo is too similar to their logo. Apparently they own the rights to have a colourful circle. Sure, their colourful circle is different colours and dimensions to ScoreApp but the lawyers think all colourful wheels are off limits! Ours is the “o” in our word mark and theirs goes next to their logo. BUT... "alL ColoUrFul CirClEs aRe oUrs!"

They intend to take this to court. I expect the judge will roll her eyes and explain that a company cannot own the rights to all colourful circles in the world. Of course we will all need to spend $50K getting to that obvious outcome though.

I doubt Paul Farnell or Mark Briggs have seen this case. I’m sure they’d also be horrified to know their company money was being spent on this frivolous argument. I’ve tried to reach out to them but couldn’t get a response. If anyone knows someone senior, I’m sure a CEO to CEO conversation for 5minutes would save a lot of time and hassles.

Bigger message - Be careful giving your lawyers too much leeway. When people get paid to argue, don’t be shocked that they’ll go start a silly squabble.

For reference, these are the two logos. Can you tell the difference?...

It’s not nice to say this - It’s almost mathematically impossible for normal employees to become financially free.

Here’s why: 
Financial freedom requires you to have 25x your annual burn rate separate to the value of your home. So if you spend $100K per year, you need a minimum of $2.5Million in assets. This allows you to draw down $100K per year almost indefinitely and still stay ahead of inflation. 
In most Western Countries, earnings are now taxed at 40%+ and then you have other taxes.
It's highly unlikely regular people can accumulate a house and 25x annual earnings inside a 45 year career while also paying half their money in taxes.

So what’s the answer? Entrepreneurship
Some won’t like this. It doesn’t fit with what the school system taught us. It doesn’t fit with the mindset we feel most comfortable with. I wish I could tell you that things haven’t changed since 1970 and you can just save, invest and pay down a mortgage - it won’t work.

Entrepreneurship allows you to earn an income while also building a business that can become valuable as well. If you do things intelligently, as you earn more and more from a business you also have a bigger and bigger asset. A business is often worth 5-10x its profit so if you ever build a business that makes $100K profit, you have also created a business that could be worth $500K or more.

Entrepreneurs also have the power to earn leveraged income. Through systems, capital and people a businesses earnings aren’t limited. There are people who own plumbing businesses that make millions of profit but there are very few plumbers who earn more than $100,000 as an employee.

Also, when an employee spends money they have to pay tax first. A $1000 flight could cost $1800 of earnings before tax. Alternatively a business expense reduces tax obligations. Even pension contributions can reduce your company tax.

It used to be very hard and very expensive to start and grow a business. Not anymore. There are so many tools available, lessons available and capital available. The sooner you can commit to this journey the better.

Across a 45 year career, there is plenty of time to build a business that grows to being worth 25x your annual spend. There's plenty of time to leverage your business into assets and to become financially free. It's not guaranteed but at least it's possible.

As an entrepreneur, the worst thing you can do is to treat your business like a job.

Think of your work as a difficult game filled with challenges and opportunities.

If you ever feel like it's becoming work, take a break and look for new perspectives.

Surround yourself with new, inspiring people who can bring more passion and creativity to your business.

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FYI - I'm running a brand-new, live workshop next week.

This is one you're not going to want to miss.

I'm going to go through, step-by-step, EXACTLY how you become oversubscribed in the age of AI.

The landscape has changed, make sure you're changing with it.

I'll see you there: https://bit.ly/3ILWxVn

Over the last 20 years, I've had the opportunity to meet over 500 millionaires, and even some billionaires on my travels.

Here are the top 5 lessons I've learned from them.

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FYI - Entrepreneurs, I'll be hosting a free, live workshop tomorrow, teaching the simple 5-step process to becoming the most well-known, respected and sought-after person in your industry.

There will also be a Q&A at the end, if you want to ask me any specific questions.

If you're interested, you can register here: https://bit.ly/3MTaTlh

Are you leaving money on the table?

There are 12 low-effort income streams you could add to your business over the next few weeks, potentially increasing your revenue by more than $1,000,000.

Watch the video below for a detailed breakdown of each stream and how much it could add to your business.

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FYI - I'm running a brand-new, live workshop this week.

This is one you're not going to want to miss.

I'm going to go through, step-by-step, EXACTLY how you become oversubscribed in the age of AI.

The landscape has changed, make sure you're changing with it.

I'll see you there: https://bit.ly/3ILWxVn

Something to do before 2026.

Take a blank piece of paper and draw a line down the middle. On one side write “highest value activities” and on the other side “low value activities”.

HVAs = would cost a lot to outsource or would nearly impossible to delegate. These are the big things that move the needle on your life.

LVAs = Objectively shouldn’t be difficult to outsource or delegate. These don’t really change the course of your life.

Make the two lists. Ask people who know you if they think you missed anything.

Next year, delegate the low value activities and spend more time on the high value activities.

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FYI: To kick off the new year, I'm hosting a live webinar called "Make it Big in 2026"

If you want to get ahead of the latest trends, and make 2026 your breakout year, you can register here: https://bit.ly/4aRBe03

(We do this every year and it is always oversubscribed, so make sure to secure your spot early)

The UK tax system is poorly designed and sends money and talent to the USA, UAE and other countries. Here's what I'm seeing...

1. UK Pension contributions going into the S&P500.
One of the few ways to reduce tax in the UK is to allocate income into pension funds. At £50K per year, tax rates jump from 20% to 40% and at £100K per year there's a 60% wall that feels incredibly unfair. People at these cliff edges often choose to put money into their pensions but these funds don't typically go into building the UK, they go into the US markets to essentially inflate the values of established American companies. If the tax system wasn't so punitive, people would happily earn more, spend more and invest in the UK economy.

2. National Insurance rates have driven a boom in offshoring and automation.
I have seen countless businesses doing everything they can to move roles out of the UK. Not only are skilled foreign workers available for lower rates, they don't attract the 15% NI tax on top. As a result, they've decimated the local roles for customer service, admin, IT support, software development and media production. Add to that the push to automation which becomes more affordable as the real costs of employees rise. The government has prioritised its greed and inability to deal with inefficiency over workers getting jobs and pay rises.

3. The government has been brutal to young people who go to university. In a bid to reduce their unemployment figures, they encouraged everyone to go to uni and made it the standard. First it was paid for, then it was £3K per year and then £9K per year.... Plus interest. Typically a £27K loan with 7%+ interest, payable through higher tax rates has put a generation of young people into a situation where they can't get out of a negative financial position until they're in their mid 30s or later if they stay in the UK. It especially hits women who have kids and the interest keeps climbing. Many highly skilled young people have figured out the hack - leave the UK for a lower tax jurisdiction, earn more and keep more and then pay off the loan with the tax savings. Instead of using their skills at home, they go off to add value abroad.

When the government gets involved in trying to fix one problem, there's a good chance they'll create downstream consequences that are even worse. Systems-thinkers are needed to fix it but they are also the thinkers who can see how bad it is and steer clear.

Imagine AI could transform your business into a conversational entity.

Imagine asking “Hey, how much did we sell yesterday?” and getting immediate answers.

Imagine AI centralises everything, from finances to emails and messages, allowing you to talk to your business and eliminating the need for a large executive team.

We're prototyping this now. This is going to happen.

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FYI: Entrepreneurs,

I have a very specific way I generate demand and supply tension in my businesses. I'm currently giving that information away for free in a 22-minute video course that walks you through my exact blueprint.

I generate thousands of warm leads every month for all my businesses this exact way.

Get it here: https://lnkd.in/eqcdtAs5

Do you want to be perceived differently?

Would you like your business to be seen as “high-performance”?

Would you like to be known as “down to earth”?

Would being described as “luxury” or “exclusive” be helpful?

A key to achieving this is “contextual adjacency”.

In plain English, people rate you based on who and what they see happening around you. In particular, they look for four contextual clues to make up their mind about you.

Imagine this…

You meet a business coach. This guy is wearing brand new athletic wear and is in shape (1). He’s got a top-of-the-line fitness tracking watch on (2). He arrives in a sports car (3) and brings you a gift, the book Good to Great (4).

What kind of business coach do you think this is? Is this going to be a gentle, therapy-style, softly spoken, deeply empathetic, spiritually centred business coach? You’ve probably already worked out this coach is going to be performance-focused, numbers-driven, and a driver personality.

By being contextually adjacent to four signals of high performance, you easily assume that he is performance-focused.

Rolls-Royce stopped exhibiting cars at car shows. Instead, they started showing up at boat shows. Contextually, they were the most expensive and outlandish car at the car show, but at a boat show, they fit right in. For people who have been looking at $5M boats all day, a $400K car seems like great value. They altered the context and changed the perception of price and value.

One of the best ways you can transform the way people see you is to transform what they see around you, the “contextual adjacency”, as it’s called by academics.

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FYI - Last chance to secure your place for the OVERSUBSCRIBED workshop I'm running later today.

This is one you're not going to want to miss.

I'm going to go through, step-by-step, EXACTLY how you become oversubscribed in the age of AI.

The landscape has changed. Make sure you're changing with it.

I'll see you there: https://bit.ly/3ILWxVn

Imagine it’s 2028.

Your customers will never answer their phone or respond to an email.

They will not engage in any form of synchronised communication at all.

Your business has to be able to win them over and deliver value without ever talking to them directly.

What’s your plan to achieve this?

This isn’t a hypothetical, it’s the way the world is heading.

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FYI - Entrepreneurs, I'll be hosting a free, live workshop next week.

I will be teaching the simple 5-step process to becoming the most well-known, respected and sought-after person in your industry.

There will also be a Q&A at the end, if you want to ask me any specific questions.

If you're interested, you can register here: https://bit.ly/3MTaTlh

Keep an eye out for my latest book the Lifestyle Business Playbook in airports and train stations. Part of the Steven Bartlett ‘s choice book display!

Btw if you see it, please send me a pic!