Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down: The Ups, Downs, and Reinvention of an Entrepreneur
by: Jeff Smulyan (0)
What is it really like to be an entrepreneur? After nearly fifty years of building a successful media company, founder of American all-sports radio Jeff Smulyan shares with candor and humor just how many bitter failures come with each great victory along the way.
For founder and CEO of Emmis Communications Jeff Smulyan, the path to success has been anything but straightforward. When youâve owned a Major League Baseball team, started Americaâs first all sports radio station, created the worldâs 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, youâve seen the rollercoaster ride of an entrepreneur from every side.Â
Aspiring entrepreneurs, radio and media industry insiders, and avid sports fans alike will appreciate Smulyanâs honesty as he shares the countless lessons heâs learned from decades of entrepreneurship. Smulyan offers readers priceless insight into navigating the twists and turns of growing a business and teaches how to build a culture based on both trust and humorâthe essential keys to surviving almost anything.
Never Ride a Rollercoaster Upside Down details Smulyanâs journey: from taking over his cousinâs 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 tipsâfor anyone else brave enough to try their own hand at starting a business.
The journey to booming business is a rollercoaster. Learn from someone who has experienced all the ups and downsâand knows that whatâs most important is to hold on while keeping your sense of humor intact.
The Reviews
I found this book to be well-written and much more honest than the average business biography. This is actually one of the most impactful business books I read in 2022 as I found myself stopping several times to write down a quote that I am sure to repeat in my professional life. Highly recommended to anyone with an interest in business in general or actually involved in the operations of a business.
AquaTeak packed the item well to avoid damage. Tray is very nice looking and a great compliment to my bathroom counter. Happy with this purchase and will buy with them again.
I bought four of these, to use outdoors for bonsai supplies.Every single one - packed in its own box, with styrofoam and cardboard - was "off".What I mean by that - is that the products look hand made. They are assembled perfectly well, but none of them were squared up. They were all slightly trapezoidal, and each to a differing degree. No two angles were the same on any of the boxes.The slats feel very flimsy, and will most likely not take much weight, so you probably should not use these to carry anything weighty.The major detractor for me, not shown in the photograph is that at the bottom of one of the long sides, in the middle of one of the support rails, there is a bright aluminum badge nailed to the tray with a vendor logo and branding. It looks horribly out of place, but removal would leave nail holes at best, and might damage the teak finish if glue has been used also. A needless shame, and not something that a sensible person would do to a beautiful wood item.The finish quality is otherwise very good, well oiled, and uniformly coated. Mine are in afternoon sun every day in texas, so I hope to see how they last, or if they will weather silver over time.I don't regret the purchase, They are what they say, but the execution leaves plenty of room for improvement.
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REALLY pretty piece, the teak is real and it looks warm. Makes you think of tropical vacations. And it's a nice size for a wallet and a set of keys. I'd buy it again - it would make a lovely gift.
I wish it did not have the metal AQUATECH label attached to the front....or I guess it's the back since they don't show it in the picture. I simply turned it around
Durable and beautiful
Very decorative on tile shower floor. Holds 5 to 6 regular size shampoo and soap bottles. Wish it had straight sides instead of the slight slant sides. But still love it. I also put these in the guest showers. Very classy!
This is an insightful book, accessible and highly readable from start fo finish. It's a fascinating narrative and a compelling story. And it's told by an engaging person about intriguing, famous and near-famous enterprises and more than a few exotic people along the way, all still leading back to some common-sense, everyday lessons for taking the entrepreneurial plunge. It is also a great history of the modern transformation of media, communications and major-league sports--and the intense interconnections across all three.Most of all, for would-be entrepreneurs, the book makes clear the necessity not only of vision and persistence, but the ability to read people accurately and dispassionately (while, ideally, having as many as possible like you along the way) if you are really going to know where to place your very best bets and have any real chance to achieve startup, scale and success.
