Thread by @TrungTPhan

In 2018, Alex Cooper launched "Call Her Daddy" on Barstool with only $70k in guaranteed money. 3 years later, she closed a $60m deal with Spotify.

Every creator should study her story. Fortunately, Dave Portnoy has laid it all out in 2 separate podcasts.

Here's a breakdown 🧵

1/ FYI: "Call Her Daddy" is a female-led podcast that covers sex, culture, relationships etc.

It launched in 2018 on Barstool w/ 2 hosts (Alex, Sofia). They split in 2020.

Cooper took the show to #5 most-streamed on Spotify and just signed a 3yr/$60m deal with the streamer.

2/ Dave Portnoy discovered "Call Her Daddy' on Instagram.

3/ In 2018, Barstool offered Alex and Sofia each a 3-year deal:

◻️ ~$70k base
◻️ % of merchandise
◻️ bonus on podcast downloads

BUT: Barstool kept the "Call Her Daddy" IP

4/ Portnoy's pitch to any content creator that joins Barstool:

5/ "Call Her Daddy" is a total smash shit and the girls make bank in year 1: Alex = $506k, Sofia = $461k.

They push for a new contract for year 2:
◻️ $1m guaranteed
◻️ Become freelancers (not Barstool employees)
◻️ 50% of merch, ads etc.
◻️ **Get back** "Call Her Daddy" IP

6/ Barstool balked at the offer and find out the girls are shopping "Call Her Daddy" to other podcast networks:

7/ "Call Her Daddy" goes dark in early 2020 and stops posting new content.

To get them back, Barstool offers:
◻️ $500k base salary
◻️ 7.5% of merchandise
◻️ A 6-month reduction in contract length
◻️ **Give them** "Call Her Daddy" IP
◻️ Barstool gets 80% of any alcohol sales

8/ TLDR: Alex -- who does all the editing work on the podcast and is the original connection to Barstool -- takes a deal.

Sofia won't do a deal. Turns out, her BF is a hotshot HBO exec trying to poach "Call Her Daddy" to Wondery. (He's now left HBO, Sofia has her own podcast).

9/ Fast forward to June 2021, "Call Her Daddy" is:

◻️ 5th most popular podcast globally on Spotify
◻️ Top 15 across all podcast services

This week, Spotify inked 26-year Cooper to a 3yr/$60m deal and "first look agreement" on any other projects she develops.

10/ Barstool will still do "Call Her Daddy" merch and Portnoy is happy with the arrangement

11/ The math of Cooper's Spotify deal didn't make sense for Barstool

12/ Why the deal makes sense for Spotify

13/ At the end of the day, superstar creators (e.g., Rogan, Cooper) are like top-tier athletes

14/ Follow @TrungTPhan for other business breakdowns (and really dumb memes):

https://twitter.com/TrungTPhan/status/1404946035936403457?s=20

15/ Sources

Portnoy takes over "Call Her Daddy" podcast in May 2020 to explain negotiations: podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/81-…

Amazing notes on Portnoy's takeover (via @blakeir): blakeir.com/Dave-Portnoy-C…

Portnoy on the Spotify deal (1hr:10min mark):

16/ Speaking of Barstool + creators.

I previously wrote for @TheHustle how Barstool + the Spittin' Chiclet's (top hockey podcast in the world) launched a vodka brand (Pink Whitney) that has done $100m+ in sales in less than 2yrs: thehustle.co/pink-whitney-s…

17/ So, I click on this DailyMail article to see why Portnoy’s account was suspended.

The site does a full investigation of Portnoy’s timeline and I discovered my “Call Her Daddy” thread was one of his R/Ts.

18/ UPDATE: Alex Cooper spoke with WSJ and said key to her scoring such a massive Spotify deal ($20m/year) is her popularity with millennials: “In negotiations, I own the audience they all want.”

Totally dedicated to the pod craft, too:

🔗 wsj.com/articles/call-…