Steven Bartlett

Flight Fund

Founder

Flight Studio

Flight Group

Chapter 2 Partner & Investor

thirdweb

Co-Founder

SpaceX

Investor

PerfectTed

Huel

As an Investor and Board Member at Huel from 2022 to 2024, I'm honoured to have supported the company’s incredible growth.

Investor / Board Member

atai Life Sciences

ATAI is one of the world’s largest and most exciting mental health company using psychedelic and non-psychedelic drugs to heal mental health disorders so that everyone, everyone can lead a more fulfilled life. I invested in ATAI’s series C round and then joined the team as Creative Director through their IPO. 

I worked alongside ATAI’s founder and CEO to prepare the company for its IPO. Working across everything from strategy, marketing, comms, hiring and preparing the key assets for the NASDAQ IPO. 

In 2021 ATAI IPO’d on the Nasdaq with a $3bn~ market cap. My contract was 6 months long, but I voluntarily extended for another 6 months because the IPO was delayed. I departed the company after the IPO.

Investor / Creative Director

Reach My Team👇🏽

Commercial & Speaking: commercial@stevenbartlett.com
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This is one of the most important videos you’ll see on the internet this year 🤯

Zuckerberg says Facebook & Instagram will now prioritise free speech

⚖️ This is a cultural tipping point that will have knock on effects for the rest of the internet

✅ Mark says "fact checkers" were too biased & legacy media too political about censorship

🗣️ We're entering a new era of social media called "freedom of expression"

My thoughts?

💯 As Tim Urban's book "What's our problem" highlights, good ideas, when taken to an extreme or followed in sequence, can lead to unintended bad outcomes. This applies profoundly to online censorship:

Societies often embrace a good idea like: “protect individuals from harm.” But if this idea is prioritised *above all else* it can spiral into overreach:

The sequence might look like this:

1️⃣ Start with a noble goal: Censorship to reduce hate speech, misinformation, or harassment
2️⃣ The scope expands: The definition of “harm” broadens to include ideas that offend, make people uncomfortable or that people disagree with
3️⃣ Silence dissent: Legitimate debate & differing opinions are suppressed, creating an echo chamber of “approved” ideas. (See the middle ages where the church controlled truth & dissenters were murdered)
4️⃣ Erode trust: People lose faith in platforms they once trusted to facilitate open dialogue, seeing them as the "thought police"

💯 This is exactly what happened this decade

Platforms like Meta, X & YouTube initially embraced "free speech" but faced extreme pressure to moderate & history shows that the pendulum often swings too far, leading to:

⚠️Perceived Bias: Users believe platforms favour certain ideologies or narratives, damaging trust
⚠️Polarisation: Perceived over-censorship leads to silos where people retreat to echo chambers (many more major social networks now than 10 years ago)
⚠️Chilling Effects: Fear of backlash, bans or being cancelled, discourages genuine conversation, undermining the original goal of protecting free expression

✅ Balancing competing values is critical, which means there is NO PERFECT SOLUTION. The correct answer will therefore annoy all sides: Platforms must protect users without stifling conversation. How?

1️⃣ Be Transparent: Clear, consistent moderation policies that everyone can see, that protect people against incited violence, real harm & illegal activity

2️⃣ Decentralise "truth": Features like Community Notes decentralise decision-making and allow users to fact-check / add context in public view. No media organisation or person should be the truth police

3️⃣ Defend Core Principles: Protect free expression (from all sides) as the cornerstone of a healthy online society, even when it’s uncomfortable, pisses you off or offends you

4️⃣ User Empowerment: Give users more control on the algorithm they use and what they want to consume.

Thoughts?

Founder of Flight Fund. Flight Studio. Thirdweb. The Diary Of A CEO.

Your reminder to take into 2025...

Growth happens when you start doing the things you're not qualified to do.

Like this post if you agree 🙏🏽

Page 43 from my book, The Diary of a CEO: The 33 Laws of Business and Life.

Everything you do - with or without an audience - provides evidence to you about who you are and what you're capable of this year.

Success comes from seeking challenges, creating opportunities, and risking failure.

What are your goals this year? 🙏🏽

@Kataivisuals on Instagram

I think most people already know what they need to do. 

They don’t need more books, podcasts or courses. 

They need more courage. 

Procrastination loves to hide behind planning. 

Breakthroughs happen when preparation ends and action begins.

How to become the best in your industry...

To be considered the best in your industry, you don't need to be the best at any one thing.

You need to be good at a variety of complementary and rare skills that your industry values.

Share this with someone who needs to hear this 🙏 

Image credit: @junhan.draws

maybe the most important thing you can do in 2025 is to realise that all the labels, the professional bio and the identity you've given yourself is totally made up, and that you really can leave it behind and become someone else ...

The higher your failure rate, the higher your chances are of success.

Whenever I get asked about how to start something they're passionate about but afraid to start, this is my primary piece of advice:

You must out-fail your competition!

It will inspire you to start failing much faster than you currently are.

And remember that your pride has killed more dreams than failure ever will.

Share this with someone who needs to hear this.

From a talk I did to the team at Virgin.

Here are the 3 business books I read this year that had the biggest impact on my thinking...(please share yours)... READ THESE BOOKS IF: 

📘 Blue Ocean Strategy

Essential for business leaders, entrepreneurs, and innovators looking to create uncontested markets and escape intense competition. If you’re stuck in a saturated market, frustrated by diminishing returns, or overwhelmed by rivals, this book offers clear frameworks and actionable insights to rethink strategies, unlock opportunities, and deliver unique value.

📗 The Innovator’s Dilemma

A must-read for leaders navigating disruptive change and striving to sustain existing success. If you’re uncertain about new technologies, worried about competitors, or struggling to balance innovation with core operations, this book explains why great companies fail to adapt and how to embrace disruption for growth.

📙 Working Backwards

A great guide for entrepreneurs and leaders seeking to replicate Amazon’s success. Written by two former executives with decades of experience, it reveals all the key strategies behind Amazon’s rise. Perfect for those scaling their business or aiming to build customer-focused products through actionable, proven frameworks.

Please pay it forward by recommending at least one book that shaped your thinking this year in the comments section below! 🙏🏾❤️

Taplio

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