NEVER RIDE A ROLLERCOASTER UPSIDE DOWN

A successful entrepreneur tells his story and provides guidance for others seeking a similar path.

Smulyan, founder and CEO of Indianapolis-based Emmis Communications Corporation, offers a pleasing amalgam of business guide and memoir. The author begins by chronicling his humble beginnings in a Midwest Jewish family in which entrepreneurial roots ran deep. Though he developed an early passion for radio, his father steered him toward a law degree for the “instant credibility a master’s degree won’t give you.” After operating WNTS, a small Indianapolis radio station (“These days, WNTS is known for its original midday host, David Letterman”), Smulyan branched out to own stations in other markets, experimented with diversified formats like religious and all-sports broadcasting, and eventually founded Emmis Communications, a company that expanded to include TV stations and magazines. In 1989, Smulyan led a group of investors in the acquisition of the Seattle Mariners, a problematic proposition that the author recounts candidly. Sprinkled throughout the shrewd text are accounts of impressive ratings for Emmis’ top radio stations and anecdotes about the personal and professional sacrifices that became necessary to keep Emmis profitable amid dot-com crashes and recessions. Smulyan fair-mindedly contrasts his major successes against his failures and near misses, some of which nearly cost him everything. He takes readers on a largely entertaining behind-the-scenes tour of the tumultuous nature of a struggling business and illuminates the uniquely challenging economics involved in the media and sports worlds. Smulyan, now 74 and still working, clearly believes in the classic principles of hard work and lifelong learning as well as the understanding that “to succeed, you absolutely have to know how to handle failure.” He dispenses sage advice on the power of effective leadership, business ethics, and integrity, and the rewarding benefits of fostering a collaborative corporate culture.

A nicely balanced personal and practical book of corporate reflections and hard-won business lessons.