Outdoor Media Entrepreneur
Karl Eller, Eller Media
Karl Eller graduated from the University of Arizona in 1952 and claims to have made more money in college than he did in his first six years therafter. He went into the billboard business where he worked his way up from a lease man, to a sales rep. He then gathered up the confidence to apply for the president of the company at 26. He was turned down, only to receive a phone call a few years later from the former boss saying that he wanted to sell his advertising business to him for $5 million. Karl managed to raise $5 million in ninety days, (during the early 60’s mind you) and began what would be his path to advertising success.
Some great business advice that he gave us was to make ten deals and see how they turn out. According to him, one will be a home run, two of them you will be fortunate to break even, and seven of them will fail. Karl Eller is no doubt driven by these home runs and that is what makes him a successful businessman. He dwells on his successes and downplays his short-comings.
Mr. Eller emphasized the importance of integrity, saying that it is all you have in the business world. He explained creativity as seeing something that others don’t. He stressed that these two principles were fundamental in his achievements and the level of excellence that he and his company’s have aspired to reach.
Here’s the best part of the interview in a transcript…
What’s the largest obstacle you’ve had to overcome in your career?
Oh boy. Well, I don’t know if I really had any obstacles. I’ve had ups and downs. The largest obstacle I had to overcome was when I was running Circle K and I got into bankruptcy. When you get into bankruptcy, the CEO is the one that has to take the heat.
I was the biggest shareholder in Circle K and the stock went from $50 to $0. I couldn’t sell or do anything. I owned a lot of real estate at that time, in the early nineties. And I was in debt, about $100 million bucks. My lawyers urged me to take personal bankruptcy. I just couldn’t do it.
I had a good friend of mine who owned Discount Tire by the name of Bruce Halley. He had lost his wife about three years before that to cancer. We were at a party and he put his arms around me and said, ‘You know Karl, I know you’re going through hell in high water but I’d change places with you right now.’
I said to myself, ‘I don’t have a worry in the world. I better figure out how to get out of this mess.’ So that’s when I decided to see every creditor that I had. I was 65 years old. Everybody retires at 65, I guess. But I went to every creditor and said, ‘Listen. I’m going to try and pay you back, or I’ll settle with you.’ Half of the creditors I was running to settled and half stayed with me.
After I got that cleared up, I had to say what am I going to do, and what do I know best? By that time I had been in the movie business and every kind of business you could believe. I said, ‘Well, the billboard business is what I know best.’
I was riding around Phoenix and saw how badly the business was being ran by Gannett, which I’d sold the business to years ago. I went after them and asked them to sell me Phoenix. Again, this is where perserverance comes in. The first time they turned me down. I went a second time and they turned me down. I went a third time and finally the CEO says, ‘Make me an offer I can’t refuse.’ I said, ‘Well can I have some numbers or something to work with?’ He said, ‘I’m not going to give you anything. You know the plant better than we do.’
So I went back with an offer he couldn’t refuse. And then I had to figure out a way to finance it, which I got done and built another thing. But that was pursuing your passion. I was 65. That was 12 years ago. There is luck involved. I think. Luck is hard work and seeing what others don’t see.
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May 4th, 2007
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