He Got Fired By His DAD… So He Built a $60M/yr Empire
About This Episode
Sam Parr interviews Craig Fuller about building a $60M/yr media empire by acquiring legacy magazines like Flying and Boating. They discuss the 'content to commerce' playbook, including raising subscription prices and leveraging enthusiast audiences to launch high-margin businesses like aircraft financing and aviation-themed real estate.
Episode Description
Show Notes
- 0:00Intro
- 2:45Economics of long-haul trucking
- 3:36Getting fired from the family business
- 5:30Fuel cards for truck drivers
- 6:40How FreightWaves hit $20M ARR in 2 years
- 9:08Acquiring FLYING for $3.5M
- 12:14Opportunity: Depressed media properties
- 16:02From losing $8 per subscriber to profitability in 1 year
- 20:31A media side hustle becomes a real estate main hustle
- 22:55Craig's tolerance for being leveraged
- 25:32Pre-selling $28M units pre-construction
- 28:51Diversity, Asymmetrical risk, and generational security
- 31:11Teams to diversify your time
- 34:21Building a portfolio of hobby magazines
- 37:20Content to commerce playbook
- 47:03The story of William Randolph Hearst
- 51:32What's the chase?
- 53:15"The best thing to give a founder is an enemy"
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Key Takeaways
Monetize high-intent audiences by shifting from low-yield programmatic ads to 'content to commerce' models like niche real estate, financing, and specialized e-commerce.
Niche enthusiast markets often have high price elasticity; legacy magazines can be revitalized by significantly raising subscription costs while simultaneously improving paper and content quality.
Use 'asymmetric risk' by acquiring undervalued legacy assets with existing cash flow and using bank debt to scale, ensuring that even if a venture fails, the underlying assets (land, brand equity) retain value.