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

For founder and CEO of Emmis Communications Jeff Smulyan, the path to success has been anything but straightforward. When you've owned a Major League Baseball team, started America’s first all sports radio station, created the world’s two largest hip hop radio stations and managed everyone from David Letterman to Ken Griffey Jr. and Don Imus and even been nationalized by an ally of Vladimir Putin, you've seen the rollercoaster ride of an entrepreneur from every side.

Aspiring entrepreneurs, radio and media industry insiders, and avid sports fans alike will appreciate Smulyan's honesty as he shares the countless lessons he's learned from decades of entrepreneurship. Smulyan offers listeners priceless insight into navigating the twists and turns of growing a business and teaches how to build a culture based on both trust and humor—the essential keys to surviving almost anything.

Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down details Smulyan's journey: from taking over his cousin's failing country music radio station and founding his own company, to purchasing and then selling ownership of the Seattle Mariners and guiding his company through the Golden Age of Radio. Alongside his humorous, eventful, and dramatic stories, Smulyan presents valuable pointers and tips—for anyone else brave enough to try their own hand at starting a business.

© 2022 Ascent Audio (Audiobook): 9781663721709

Release date

Audiobook: 6 December 2022