Dave Portnoy has built a business empire on his viral pizza reviews and brash social media personality.Now, the "Barstool Sports" creator is looking back on his journey to the top in his new memoir, "Cancel Me If You Can." Long before he started ranking pizzas across the country, Portnoy decided to quit a sales job he hated and start his own media enterprise.
That project was the early iteration of "Barstool Sports." At the time, the publication was a four-page sports newspaper, which Portnoy passed out for free. "I didn't care if I was working, you know, 24 hours a day, 7 days a week; it was better than doing what I was doing," Portnoy told CBS Saturday Morning."Every day, I felt like we were making tiny steps.
They may be (a) reader one day, and we went to two the next." The goal of "Barstool Sports," then and now, is to "be honest and authentic to readers," Portnoy said.To build the company that did that, Portnoy hired talented people and let them run wild.
One of those hires was Alex Cooper, who would go on to create the hit podcast "Call Her Daddy." Portnoy said he wanted "Barstool Sports" to be like "Saturday Night Live" — a place where great talent could be established and developed. "I wanted young comedians, talent, to apply to Barstool, and then hopefully they become superstars and some of them may leave," Portnoy said.So we sign you for a contract and the hope is that you explode and get big, and we monetize you during that time and then at the end of that contract, we can either re-sign you if we can afford you ...
or you can go to great success." "Barstool Sports" is now more than just a publication.The Barstool Fund, started in the early days of the coronavirus pandemic, helped over 400 businesses pay their bills and keep their doors open. Portnoy has also begun to dip his toes into the political waters.
He openly considered running for mayor in New York City, and has endorsed politicians, including current President Trump.He told "CB...