7th April - Steven Bartlett stole my idea

Perhaps the biggest difference between a successful businessperson, and a truly elite one, is the recklessness with which you're willing to gamble. As an example, in 2014, a colleague of mine informed me of this 'new currency' called 'Bitcoin'. Logically, I should have listened, based on the fact that Sangnam was an intelligent young man who had come over from Sri Lanka to study at Oxford University. That in itself qualifies the validity of his opinion to a higher degree (no punt intended) than 'Dave down the pub'.

Sangnam - now somewhat scarily - also used to spend much of his time at work procrastinating on his phone (as we all did), but rather than checking Facebook or Instagram, he'd regularly play a strategy game in which a virus started to rapidly spread across the globe via a giant atlas on screen, and you'd earn 'coins' to then invest in certain remedies in a bid to slow, or at best case eradicate, the disease. Looking back now, I feel like Sangnam was a time traveller gifted to us from the future. Despite this, as his past-times were so outlandish and 'outside the box' compared to everybody elses, I dismissed his Bitcoin lectures as nothing more than another wacky harebrained scheme.

Fast forward to 2022, and had I gambled on his advice at the time, I'd now likely be feeling the soft velvet robe of my dressing gown draped across my skin as I head out to my pool, cigar in mouth, with a mansion filled with chores undertaken by bunnies. Likewise, around 2019 I first had the idea of a brand-new podcast series in which I'd utilise my celebrity-clad contacts lists to host a fortnightly feature-length broadcast, in which I'd cut through the crap, and go for a real journalistic hard-hitting interview style, exploring the depths of guests childhoods/careers etc, 'Piers Morgan Life Stories' style. 

I was aware, at this point, that most outlets at the time were favouring short, snappy clickbait content. Cheap 'fast-food' muck journalism, catering to the ever-decreasing attention spans of today's youth (hello, TikTok!). But beyond this, there was a more cultured audience. The millennials and 30+ demographic, perhaps, who wanted to unwind after a long day of work by pouring out a glass of red, running a hot bubble bath, and escaping reality for an hour or two by hearing a real authentic conversation between two human beings which could run far deeper than the 'so tell me about your new album' kind of plastic promotion. Eventually, despite pitching the idea to numerous sources (I felt I needed the backing of a 'big-name company' behind me to elevate the podcast to the standards it deserved), I ditched the idea, believing it too difficult to grow organically, on my own.

Steven Bartlett, at 29 years of age, is now conducting the world's most successful podcast, with the exact same blueprint model I creatively concocted, when I was... Yep, you guessed it... 29 years of age. I can't sit here and complain that he 'copied' me. Steven and I had never conversed, and thus he was never aware of my concept. But a good idea can be one which is born in the minds of many. The real success, in both the cases of Sangnam and Steven, lies in whether or not you have the plums to physically conduct it before somebody else. A life lesson for future? Less dreaming...

... More action.