Barstool CEO Leaves Company Unexpectedly | Stool Scenes
El Presidente | Stool Scenes
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00:00 After a search long and hard, every big-ass bald dude in the city came and said, "I want to run Barstool."
00:08 I said, "We need somebody who can control the city."
00:11 Finally, the day has come to announce our new CEO, my boss, big old balls, Erica Nardini.
00:20 Erica Nardini, CEO Barstool.
00:27 [Music]
00:32 Um, I am stepping down as the CEO of Barstool.
00:37 Uh, yeah, big news. Erica is stepping down as CEO. Did she fire herself?
00:43 Feeling sentimental. Like, I think back to 2016 and they went through 70 candidates.
00:50 And I remember thinking, like, "Who the fuck is going to take this job?" Like, you're coming in and you got to deal with Dave and us.
00:57 Who's going to come in here and do this? And she was, like, the perfect fit for the job.
01:03 I kind of think either nobody wanted the job and I did or they were stupid enough to not see what it could be and I thought I could make something of it.
01:12 And what we made of it is, like, it exceeded my wildest expectation and I'm so proud.
01:19 You know, we used to talk about maybe one day, like, I'm talking 2009, you know, maybe we could sell it for $100 million one day.
01:26 And we were, like, you know, I'd laugh, like, $100 million. That was our pie in the sky and she's 6X'd that.
01:32 We grew the company into something I don't think anybody ever thought possible. I feel like the work I came here to do is done.
01:40 Erica did what she came to do at Barstool and she did it a while ago, to be honest.
01:45 And the fact that she stayed on throughout these past few years to continue to run it, I think, is a testament to how much she liked this place and loved this place and, like, really wanted to grow it.
01:57 She was perfect for the job, perfect for the time, and it did run its course and it's time to move on to bigger and better things because the job here is done.
02:06 Everything I could have ever imagined and wanted to achieve, we did. I feel so good about Dave and he's the right person to make this a pirate ship.
02:17 Is that a position that needs to be filled?
02:20 No, it won't be filled. I'm pretty sure, I'm sure Dave will talk about it later, but I'm pretty sure Dave will be doing the majority of it with also sales people and people on the second floor.
02:32 Cool.
02:33 So I found out through a Twitter post from the New York Post, unfortunately. I don't know why. I don't know who's always talking to the New York Post, but, like, they better watch their back.
02:44 Like, honestly, like, I can't believe that they find out things like this.
02:47 This is what the video should be. Erica, thank you so much for everything. Who's the rat?
02:53 We got a rat and we should find out. That's what we should be doing. We should do lie detectors because that guy should be gone.
03:00 But yes, I found out through the New York Post.
03:03 Erica as a CEO. Great CEO. Did a good job, but I'm not here to talk about the past. I'm here to talk about the future. I know where Erica's going.
03:10 I've been leaking stuff to the New York Post since I got here. I blacked out, what did I just say?
03:15 Possible candidates for CEO are rising up through the ranks. Looks like Tico has an interview. Thank God, you know, that the woman's leaving. In fact, there's just being men around here.
03:25 Big day for Barstool. Sad day for Barstool. She was, you know, the one that took it to the next level.
03:31 So we're not where we're at today without Nardini. Now it's back to the inmates running the asylum. So we'll see how that goes.
03:39 Oh, I love that shirt. I love this shirt, too. I know. I actually don't even know how I got my hands on it, to be honest.
03:48 But one of my favorite things you ever said. That was probably the best thing you ever said.
03:52 I love it. What's happening with Taylor Swift? Oh, shit. Are you OK?
03:59 I know Erica's leaving, but like I'm 55 and 25 and nobody is talking about it besides me.
04:06 And I'm trying to get into the universe. You hear about that? Erica, I know you're leaving. Thank you for everything.
04:13 Sorry, I'm 55 and 25 this year. What's that? In gambling. Really? 70 percent. Do you have the best record in the company?
04:20 Yeah, no one's talking about it. That's a tragedy. But thank you for everything. You're welcome.
04:25 I've been here with you the whole time. That's amazing. Congrats on your gambling record. Thank you.
04:30 Congrats on your good gambling. Thank you. See you. It's more, it's honestly the most important thing that's happening today.
04:37 I'm just sad. I don't know. It's weird. It's like the end of an era. I loved it. I just loved every second of it.
04:44 I think what we built was extraordinary. And it's so rare. I think what we did is so rare.
04:50 Just how things are different from day one to right now. It was just it was so we were so unsure, you know, like it was.
04:59 We didn't know, like what it would be or if it would be great or it would be terrible or who the fuck was I?
05:04 And it really was brick by brick. I was in her office at HQ2. I can't remember why I was in her office.
05:12 We were in some sort of controversy. Barstool was. She goes, shit, give me a second.
05:16 I'm calling. But it was one of those times. It was like, think we just have to like say like my bad.
05:21 Like we're Barstool. You're like, sorry. And she did the complete opposite.
05:26 She basically said, like, suck my dick. We're not apologizing to you. If you don't want us, somebody else will.
05:33 They tried to like basically like bully her. And she was just like, no, fucking get out of my face.
05:38 And I thought it was like the coolest thing I ever saw. I think Dave is the genius and he's the right person to take this thing into the future and keep it what it should be.
05:49 And I think, you know, I really do think I did everything I could. Like I gave it. I left it all in the field.
05:54 Like I gave it my all. The first thing that was like this is going to be a cool and very different boss is the first Super Bowl that we were at in Houston.
06:04 It was the Comedy Central Super Bowl. We're all at the content house.
06:08 And it's the end of the night and it's like everybody from Barstool's like sit in there on this little back porch area.
06:15 And Buddha Ben's like, should I roll one up? And we're all like, yeah, roll one up. And Erica's like, oh, hit it.
06:22 Like, oh, what the fuck, Erica's fucking hitting the butt. And then like half an hour later, Erica was like, Buddha Ben, are you going to roll another one up or do I have to go to bed?
06:33 I was like, what? This is fucking different.
06:38 So I talked to Dave after Black Friday and I had like a shaky, I was nervous, like shaky voice, kind of upset.
06:46 It's we sold the company twice last year, which is just crazy.
06:50 And I really did feel like we did everything we ever wanted to do.
06:55 And I felt like that for Dave to take the helm and keep this exactly what he wanted, always wanted it to be.
07:02 It was like the right time and the team we had built and the lessons we learned and the mistakes we've made, like everybody's ready for that.
07:10 And I basically, since we got it back in August, have been working hard to make sure like the people that we have can do it the way we always wanted.
07:21 And I said all that to Dave and I told him how much I loved him and how much I loved building this and how much how grateful I am.
07:29 And also that I still want to go build something new and I still want to go build something in that Barstool doesn't need to be built anymore.
07:38 Like it is what it is and it's exactly right. It's perfect as it is. And it's he should lead that.
07:45 And he was great. He was super gracious and he was great.
07:51 What do you think the future looks like for Barstool?
07:54 I think it looks like it's always like chaos. One minute it's going to seem like a disaster. Everything's doomed.
08:00 The next minute it's going to be the Phoenix rising and it's amazing. It should be rowdy.
08:07 It should be what the people in Barstool want it to be and not what anyone else thinks it should be.
08:15 Now I'm looking at the only executive female bad bitch up in here. She's going to Ruby Tuesday's, correct?
08:22 I don't know who the new CEO is going to be. A lot of whispers, a lot of rumors. Nobody knows for sure.
08:28 I guess we'll find that out later at the meeting.
08:30 I'm kind of in on Robbie Fox as CEO to be honest. It's been swirling.
08:34 I think the New York Post wrote about it. Page six or about Robbie Fox rumored to be next Barstool CEO.
08:40 So I like Robbie. I think he'd be a great CEO.
08:42 He just ordered ravioli at like 945 a.m. So that's what I want in my CEO.
08:49 I think it's time. Somebody needs to whip the New York office into shape. I can be that guy.
08:54 Somebody said you just ordered raviolis too.
08:57 Listen, I woke up so early this morning. I've basically been up the allotted time that my body needs to think it's lunch.
09:06 I mean you go from one power CEO to another power CEO if that's the move. You don't miss a beat.
09:11 I mean Erica's obviously been great for this place. Has helped us explode to a level since we got to New York
09:19 that I don't even think the guys at the top thought were possible. So she's made that possible.
09:23 But I think the next era with Robbie Fox, it can be even bigger.
09:27 I'm a disruptor is what I am. It's rav-am. That's what we call it.
09:35 When he popped the top on those ravis I checked my phone and it was 1048 a.m.
09:40 I'm not judging. I'm just for the record I wanted it to be on.
09:43 It sounds like the office is judging. Eat what you want when you want. You want raves at 10 a.m.?
09:47 Get yourself some raves at 10 a.m. I might not live till 12 p.m. today.
09:51 There's a chance I drop dead of a heart attack at 1159 and I'm going to regret on my final day of being alive not eating ravioli in the morning.
10:00 You're going to use that bread to sop up some of that sauce?
10:03 God, that's the dessert brother.
10:05 I might get ravis at 1050 a.m.
10:08 I decided to sit with the head of HR just in case she wants to slip me right into position.
10:12 Paperwork's all on her phone. I can just sign right here and pretend I'm being situated.
10:16 I'm going to lead us to the motherland.
10:19 Which is essentially a quarry hole on 7th Avenue.
10:37 Dave, do you want to start or do you want me to start?
10:40 No, you can start.
10:44 So I promised myself I wasn't going to have the Riggs at Pinehurst moment.
10:49 But I'm probably going to have the Riggs at Pinehurst moment.
10:52 So obviously there's been a lot today. I'm stepping down as the CEO.
10:57 This will be one of the wildest runs of my life.
11:03 Do you want me to go?
11:10 Yes.
11:13 Watching her get emotional, you could just tell how much this place meant to her.
11:18 I was trying to squeeze out some tears for some last-ditch brownie points and just be like, "Hey, I'm crying too."
11:23 I couldn't, but I dripped some visine on my cheeks just to get the stolen valor.
11:28 The meeting was emotional. I didn't expect her to say many words because she couldn't get it out.
11:32 And that's basically what happened.
11:34 It does feel like the end of an era. I moved to New York and Erica had just been hired as CEO.
11:39 So to have her stepping down, it's just going to be strange. I'm sitting in her office right now.
11:43 To have her not in here anymore is going to be a strange thing for sure.
11:46 She got really emotional. She cried. She said that she cried on the train on the way in.
11:51 Listen, I'm a crier. I cry all the time.
11:54 And sometimes things make you emotional. Sometimes things make you cry.
11:57 And I think that it's nice to show emotion.
12:01 She's a perfect hire for us. Perfect time. Perfect everything.
12:05 No chance that we get here without her.
12:08 Her and I have talked. I wasn't shocked by it.
12:12 We've probably known, I don't know, for a couple weeks, a month, she came in and told me.
12:17 So I don't know, Erica. Once you gather yourself...
12:20 Yeah, I've gathered.
12:22 All right. Back to you.
12:24 Thank you for that.
12:26 So my biggest thing is just that what we have created together is incredible.
12:32 Nobody thought we could do it.
12:34 Truly, truly nobody thought we could do it.
12:39 And I knew from the moment I met Dave in, you know, I think it was April 2016 that he was the one.
12:49 And what we built together changed my life.
12:52 It changed so many people's lives here.
12:56 And I really hope you feel like I have given you my all.
13:01 And I really, really have.
13:03 And you've given me so much more.
13:05 Oh, God, that was terrible.
13:08 But I also really believe in the future.
13:10 And I will always, you know, I will always be the biggest champion of this company.
13:15 When I came back here in 2017, I was living off unemployment.
13:19 I did not have a lot of money, lived in the office for a month.
13:22 Like, it was dark times.
13:24 But she would share her lunch with me.
13:27 There was a day where she walked through and saw that I was wearing Dave Portnoy's old loafers that I got from his Milton apartment.
13:33 She was like, "What the hell are you doing? I'm going to buy you some shoes."
13:36 And it was a small thing, but it meant a lot to me.
13:39 The best part about it was working with all of you.
13:42 It was truly a wild run.
13:45 We were so ahead of our time, oddly, with no idea that we were or how we would get here.
13:51 But what I really do care about is that it continues.
13:55 And Dave is the right person.
13:57 I talked about it in my email.
13:58 Like, this really is full circle.
14:01 Like, we wanted to build something.
14:03 We wanted somebody to buy it.
14:05 We did that twice.
14:07 We wanted this to be a pirate ship.
14:09 It is a pirate ship.
14:10 This was always Dave's baby.
14:12 And Dave, I'm so grateful that you gave me this chance.
14:16 Like, I truly loved every second of it.
14:20 And my just ask and hope of you is that you be good to one another.
14:26 Well, I can't promise that, Erica.
14:28 I don't know that I'm going to be good to people or what.
14:30 But, no, honestly, seriously, I think I speak for everybody.
14:35 It was the perfect fit, perfect time, perfect everything.
14:38 And as Erica just hinted, for people asking, we're not hiring a CEO, at least a replacement.
14:43 That's not the plan.
14:45 We really work pretty closely throughout our time here.
14:48 So, I don't think anyone could come in and do it.
14:51 And not only that, we have really strong people across the board.
14:54 So, you know, content, obviously, Dan in Chicago, Kevin in New York.
14:58 So, we have strong people in all the areas.
15:00 And I think we'll be able to continue on.
15:02 It is a different time.
15:03 Like Erica said, we built this to grow it.
15:06 And Erica will always be there.
15:09 Like if I have questions or she wants questions, like it's not, you know, this isn't like, "Oh, see you later."
15:13 So, she will still be involved.
15:15 I'm sure we'll see a lot more of her still in the future.
15:17 Yep.
15:18 And then the only thing I would add is that, you know, the company is in such a good place.
15:22 Like when you look around the Internet, no company has what you guys have.
15:28 And this is a machine.
15:30 And, you know, I'm so confident.
15:33 We have an awesome team here.
15:35 Awesome business team.
15:36 Dave is a great business person, always has been a great business person.
15:40 And I'm not vaporizing.
15:43 So, I'm a phone call away.
15:44 I'm a text away.
15:45 And just thank you.
15:47 Thank you for the opportunity.
15:48 I really loved it.
15:50 [Applause]
15:56 [Music]
15:58 We are in Providence, Rhode Island.
16:00 That was incredible.
16:01 Let's go.
16:02 I got the belt now.
16:03 Let's go.
16:04 See you in Providence, mother f*****.
16:05 [Applause]
16:06 [Music]
16:10 I started my career, I thought I wanted to be a lawyer.
16:12 I didn't want to be a lawyer.
16:13 I was very bored.
16:14 So, I went to a company called Demand Media.
16:16 Then went to AOL as a CMO.
16:18 The company that I modeled a lot of that on was Barstool.
16:22 I would like give anything to work for Barstool Sports.
16:24 We need somebody with big ass balls dragging on the ground.
16:29 Alpha male, go into a meeting, command the room.
16:32 We have found, and I mean we have found our CEO.
16:36 Erica Nardini, CEO of Barstool.
16:39 I was the last candidate I think to come along.
16:41 There were over 70 women.
16:43 I think there was something that clicked with me in Barstool.
16:45 I saw what Barstool could do, which is just how big this brand has the potential to be
16:51 and just how powerful its audience is.
16:54 I think there is a huge runway for Barstool Sports.
16:56 This is the Token CEO Podcast.
16:58 I'm Erica.
16:59 I'm the host.
17:00 [Music]
17:10 I think this is a very dynamic company.
17:13 The difference with us is that we're just so close to the audience.
17:17 We've gone from, let's say, a $12 million valuation three and a half years ago to $450 million today,
17:22 which is unheard of in media.
17:24 I brought to Barstool what I knew how to do, which is to scale, to monetize, to create a platform,
17:32 to build systems, to think about the brand and brands that we could build underneath Barstool.
17:38 There's pressure in the marketplace.
17:40 Hold on, let me finish.
17:42 I had colleagues who thought this was career suicide.
17:46 Just to give you some context, we're trying to be a billion dollar company.
17:49 And we have millions and millions and millions of fans who live and die by what this company does.
17:55 I think we continue to be a media juggernaut,
17:58 and I think the runway in terms of where we go to build this out independently is very long.
18:03 The finest group of people I've ever worked with are the guys and girls now who work at Barstool.
18:09 I knew that I was meant to have this job because I was the right person for the job,
18:14 and I was the right person for the job because I understood how to--
18:17 I had been places that Barstool wanted to go,
18:20 and I had a great understanding of the brand and a great affection for where they had come from.
18:27 Erica, thank you for everything you did for us and me specifically.
18:31 Thank you, Erica, for the last eight years at Barstool,
18:34 everything you've done personally and professionally in this building.
18:37 Happy to call you a boss, and even more happy to call you a friend.
18:41 I don't think there was anybody else that could have fit the way she did and got the job done the way she did.
18:46 So she's a great asset to have wherever she ends up. They'll be lucky to have her.
18:52 Love you, Erica. Going to miss you a lot. You've done so much for me. You've done so much for Barstool.
18:56 You were the perfect CEO. You've been the perfect CEO.
18:59 You've been so good to me, and just thank you. I'll miss you.
19:03 Her being willing to take a chance on me legitimately changed the trajectory of my entire life.
19:07 For that, I'm very grateful, and I spent a lot of time thinking about that yesterday during the meeting, after the meeting.
19:12 So, Erica, I love you. Thank you. I really appreciate it.
19:15 The emotional outpouring, I think, is indicative of the impact that she had.
19:20 Anything you ever need me for, Erica, I definitely will show up.
19:24 Appreciate you as a boss. Appreciate you as a friend. And you're going to kill it no matter what you do.
19:30 The best part about Erica was she just let us all be ourselves and never told us, like,
19:35 "Hey, when you come through those doors, you've got to be this person," or "You've got to do this shtick."
19:39 It was just, "Do whatever you think is best, whatever you think is funny." And I really appreciate it.
19:44 Anyone who will let you be yourself.
19:47 Erica, going to miss you. Going to love you. Still owe you that lunch. We'll get that soon.
19:52 I will miss her so much. I hope the next thing she stumbles upon in bills will be an absolute monster like she built this place.
19:59 And I can't thank her enough for what she's done here.
20:01 She trusted everybody and believed in everybody. Overwhelmingly supportive all the time, which she probably had no reason to be.
20:09 I have nothing but good things to say about our former boss.
20:13 She allowed me to be creative and step out of my comfort zone, and I appreciate that so much.
20:20 So I can't be more grateful to Erica, seriously.
20:23 It's very bittersweet. I'm excited for her, and I'm thankful for her.
20:28 And I just think that a lot of us wouldn't be here without her, and a lot of us wouldn't be in the position we are without her today.
20:36 And so, she's just, I'm so thankful to her, I'm so thankful for her, and, you know, it's the end of an era.
20:45 I mean, I think it's pretty clear how everybody else in the office feels about it, because it's been a nonstop Erica dick suck fest for the last fucking week.
20:55 Come on in.
20:59 Hi, Erica.
21:01 Hey, Francis.
21:03 So, how are you?
21:06 I'm good. How you doing?
21:07 Well, something weird has come up. I feel like I've been doing really well so far.
21:12 I've only been here about a month, and I'm really enjoying my time.
21:17 But I noticed that yesterday you liked a tweet that someone tweeted about me, and all it was was the guy said, "Hey, Francis, I hate you."
21:29 And you liked it.
21:31 And I'll be honest with you, there's kind of a string of tweets that are pretty negative about me, and you've liked all of those.
21:38 For example, "If I ever slept with Francis, I hope my town would tie me to a stake and throw rocks at me until I died."
21:46 "My mother cremated herself alive when Francis won Barstool Idol."
21:50 "Francis is to Barstool what the plague was to 14th century Europe."
21:55 "I want to stuff a Samsung Galaxy Note 5 into Francis' pocket before a flight and hope that it explodes."
22:03 "Erica Nardini might be the worst CEO in America for hiring Francis."
22:08 I was really surprised you liked that one.
22:10 So you see what I mean?
22:11 Yeah. Yeah.
22:12 They're all pretty negative, and you liked all of them.
22:15 I did, yeah.
22:17 What's the deal?
22:19 I think I might not like you, Francis.
22:24 [music]