Jeff Smulyan - Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down: The Ups, Downs, and Reinvention of an Entrepreneur

Contents

Praise for Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down

Meeting, knowing, and working for Jeff Smulyan gave me the confidence to leave Indianapolis and seek fame and fortune in our sister city of Hollywood. I will never be able to repay Jeff for his faith, kindness, and motivation. Please read the book and phone me.*

*Anyone attempting to phone Mr. Letterman will be subject to prosecution.

David Letterman, comedian and former TV host

Jeff is a natural storyteller and makes me laugh out loud every time he shares the highs and lows of his life as an entrepreneur in sports and media. Full of insight, humor, and an honest voice, Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down is cleverly paced and a delight for the reader.

Andrew Luck, former quarterback for the Indianapolis Colts

Jeff Smulyan is the kindest, funniest, and smartest person Ive ever knownexcept for everyone else Ive ever known. Read Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down and youll find out why.

Jerry Reinsdorf, owner of the Chicago Bulls and the Chicago White Sox

Jeff Smulyan brought fun to baseball. He also brought us together as the only father and son to ever play in the major leagues together. If you read this book, you wont play in the major leagues with your father or your son, but you will have fun reading it and you will learn some great life lessons.

Ken Griffey Sr. and Ken Griffey Jr., former MLB players

Jeff and I have been best friends for decades and his book, Never Ride a Roller-coaster Upside Down, chronicles the experiences of a classic entrepreneur. Told in a humorous, engaging style, Jeff provides the lessons that anyone who has ever thought about starting a business needs to know. Some of his experiences are death-defying, some are bizarre, but all of them have led to a life filled with joy and accomplishment. Im not in favor of cloning, but if I did, Id suggest Jeff Smulyan be cloned.

Evan Bayh, former Governor of Indiana and former United States Senator

NEVER
RIDE A
ROLLER
COASTER

UPSIDE DOWN

NEVER
RIDE A
ROLLER
COASTER

UPSIDE DOWN

The Ups, Downs,
and Reinvention of
an Entrepreneur

Jeff Smulyan

Matt Holt Books
An Imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.
Dallas, TX

Unless otherwise indicated, all photos are courtesy of the authors personal or business collection.

The events, locations, and conversations in this book while true, are recreated from the authors memory. However, the essence of the story and the feelings and emotions evoked are intended to be accurate representations.

Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down copyright 2022 by Jeff Smulyan

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.

Matt Holt is an imprint of BenBella Books, Inc.

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BenBella and Matt Holt are federally registered trademarks.

First E-Book Edition: 2022.

Library of Congress Control Number: 2022013473

ISBN 9781637742228 (hardcover)

ISBN 9781637742235 (electronic)

Editing by Phyllis Strong

Copyediting by Scott Calamar

Proofreading by Jenny Rosen and Leah Baxter

Indexing by WordCo Indexing Services, Inc.

Text design and composition by PerfecType, Nashville, TN

Cover design by Brigid Pearson

Cover image Shutterstock / Scarlette2020_

Special discounts for bulk sales are available. Please contact .

To my family, you make everything worthwhile: especially my wife,
Heather, and my children, Cari and Brad, and his wife Leslie and my
grandchildren, Liam and Quinn. And of course, my daughter Sammie,
who convinced me to write this book. I love you all very much; know
that this book is for you. Finally, to my Emmis family, who have
meant so much to me for so many years: I love all of you, too.

Contents

I f you were ever under the impression that being an entrepreneur is an easy one-way bet to endless reward, Jeff Smulyans long career in broadcasting, radio and whatever else he found along the way will quickly disabuse you of that notion. Smulyan makes it no secret; being an entrepreneur is hard, particularly if the chosen area of focus is an industry of endless challenge that requires constant reinvention all while the fickle capital markets constantly threaten to shut you down.

This book is as much textbook as memoir, offering countless lessons on the way to build a career in business. You want to learn what it feels like to start a radio station, build a TV station business, run a radio empire, start the first all-sports radio station and own a Major League Baseball team? Smulyan has the answer, and he teaches in the most effective way: by sharing his many mistakes along the way. The journey of Jeffs life in business proves that nice guys dont always finish last, but they sure dont always finish first.

Ive known Jeff for long enough to remember when his company, Emmis, was significant enough to merit regular mention on CNBC. Those days are long gone, but there was so much I had forgotten or never known about the radio business and how Smulyan always managed to fight on despite the obstacles to success. His retelling of both the halcyon days of radio and the near-death experience brought on by a suddenly stingy capital market was particularly insightful for someone who has covered markets for decades. As his story unspools youll meet a wonderful cast of characters along with some well-known names from broadcasting (who do you think gave David Letterman his start?). But its the intricacies of dealing with the daily challenges of trying to build a company that will stay with you. That and the fact that Smulyan is funny. Or at least his many stories are funny. His humor draws you in so that you find yourself rooting for him to succeedor at least not fail too badly.

Should he have sold Emmis when he had the chance years ago? Probably. Should he have tried to hang on to the Seattle Mariners with losses mounting and a city turned against him? Possibly. And did he really need to sell WFAN, one of the most successful and groundbreaking stations of all time? I will leave that for the reader to decide.

One thing not in question is Smulyans love for radio. It lives on. As does something else he shares with those who have faced setbacks in business but ultimately persevere. He is relentless. And I mean that in the best possible way.

David Faber

My parents, Sam and Natalie, with me.

A family photo from a recent holiday card: Heather, Sammie, Me, Jude (a.k.a. Junior), and Savannah (a.k.a. Fozzie).

I originally wanted to call this book