CANCEL ME IF YOU CAN

Cancel Me If You Can is Dave Portnoy's unfiltered memoir about building Barstool Sports from a hand-distributed, four-page Boston broadsheet into a nine-figure multimedia company. It reads as a string of bets on himself, held together by authenticity, scrappy persistence, and a refusal to bend to critics.

Build an unapologetic brand

1. Build your voice around consistency, not polish. Portnoy never sanded down what he believed to please critics. His unfiltered, consistent persona became the trust signal that kept an audience loyal even as it drew enemies. (source, source, source)
2. Grow an audience before you chase revenue. Barstool won because people came back daily, not because it had money behind it. Habitual readers mattered more than short-term income. (source)
3. Find the gap established players refuse to fill. Mainstream sports coverage felt sanitized, so Portnoy fed the appetite for raw, locker-room talk. Target what incumbents won't say or do. (source)
4. Start scrappy and do the unglamorous work yourself. He sold ads for a paper that didn't exist yet, wrote nearly every piece, delivered copies, and cold-called. Structure emerges through action, not from waiting for perfect conditions. (source)
5. Bet on yourself before there are guarantees. Portnoy committed time and money to Barstool again and again before anyone believed in it. He treats his own ideas as investments and takes calculated risks on instinct. (source, source)
6. Let consistency compound. Success came from years of publishing, adapting to new platforms, and showing up. Steady effort builds momentum most people underestimate. (source)
7. Hire unusual, singular talent and then let them run wild. Barstool finds people doing something different, gives them resources, and keeps producers from dictating the content. Hands-off trust became an early edge. (source)
8. Design compensation so it can't create conflicts of interest. McAfee's 50/50 deal next to a fully-owned show bred suspicion that sales steered clients elsewhere. Structure pay so talent doesn't mistrust the business side. (source)
9. Treat persistent criticism as fuel, not a stop signal. Portnoy treats being attacked as proof he matters and lets feuds keep his name in circulation. Separate useful input from background noise instead of bending to avoid disapproval. (source, source)
10. Diversify formats and revenue once you have attention. Barstool grew from a paper to viral video, 'One Bite' reviews, gambling, and brand partnerships. Test adjacent formats and monetization paths on an audience you already have. (source)