Think Like an Owner

Craig Fuller - Acquiring Flying Magazine and Building a Media Playbook - Ep.250 [Replay]

Nov 19, 2024

Craig Fuller, founder of FreightWaves and recent acquirer of Flying Magazine, shares his remarkable journey from a family trucking business to the forefront of media and data in freight. He delves into the birth of FreightWaves, discussing the vital role of unique content and networking in building a successful media brand. Fuller reveals his plans to revitalize Flying Magazine, emphasizing the significance of engaging storytelling in today’s digital landscape and the important balance between journalism and marketing.

59:00

Episode guests

Craig Fuller

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Episode notes

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Quick takeaways

Craig Fuller highlights the importance of persistence and adaptability in media strategy, noting that real-time events can significantly drive audience engagement.

He stresses the necessity of building strong networks and mentorships in new industries, illustrating how strategic relationships can catalyze business growth.

Fuller shares his vision for revitalizing Flying Magazine by merging high-quality content with modern digital strategies to attract a dedicated readership.

Deep dives

Founding FreightWaves: Transition from Family Business to Media Entrepreneur

Craig Fuller shares his journey from working in his family's trucking business to founding FreightWaves, a data and media company focused on freight and supply chains. Growing up in a successful entrepreneurial family, he learned valuable lessons about running a business but ultimately distanced himself from the family legacy to carve his own path. Despite lacking prior media experience, he leveraged his deep understanding of trucking and logistics to identify a gap in the market for freight data and insights. His background in technology and finance allowed him to blend these elements and create a successful company that now boasts significant revenue and growth.

Intro

2min

From Trucking to Tech: A Founder's Journey

5min

From Day Trading to Freight Innovation: The Birth of FreightWaves

3min

Building a Media Brand: Insights and Challenges

19min

Revitalizing Flying Magazine: A Journey Through Aviation Media

24min

Navigating Leadership and Delegation in a Remote Work Environment

3min

The Profitable Appeal of Industrial Real Estate

3min

My guest on this episode is Craig Fuller. Craig is the founder of FreightWaves, a data and media business focused on freight and supply chains. FreightWaves is a VC backed company with $19 million in revenue with editorial content, a data product, job board, video content, and multiple podcasts. Prior to FreightWaves, Craig had no background in media but has built quite a playbook for media businesses with a data component. Craig, as of a month ago, is also the new owner of Flying Magazine, an iconic, blue-chip publishing brand in the general aviation community which we discuss extensively in this episode. For a deeper background on FreightWaves, I highly recommend his episode on A Media Operator, which we’ll link to in the show notes.

During our conversation, we discuss his fascinating background in his family’s trucking business, starting a tech business before FreightWaves, launching FreightWaves, and his acquisition of Flying Magazine and his plans for growth and improvement.

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Learn more about Alex and Think Like an Owner at https://tlaopodcast.com/

Links:

Craig on X

Flying Magazine

FreightWaves

Topics:

(00:00:00) - Intro

(00:01:47) - Craig's career and background

(00:06:46) - The Birth of Freight Waves

(00:12:41) - Building a Media Business

(00:27:05) - The Importance of Unique Content