Roy Laughlin

Former GM, Clear Channel Los Angeles

Roy Laughlin is most known as the GM of KIIS FM for a decade+ in his 30s under Gannet, then Jacor & Clear Channel. Laughlin lead KIIS FM to the #1 billing radio station in the US for 9 years and as Market Manager of the CCLA 8 stations, delivered record billing of $300mill annually. Laughlin optimized Rick Dees for a decade as well as hired Ryan Seacrest to team with his wife Ellen K to re-launch KIIS FM in February ’04. KIIS FM returned to #1 in the Spring of 2005 as Laughlin excited to pursue station ownership. Laughlin and his brother launched GAP Broadcasting in 2006 which purchased 52 stations from Clear Channel in Texas for $139M (GAP later merged into TownSquare Media). Laughlin continues as an equity partner in Rincon Broadcasting which he co-founded with Sr. Partner John Hearne through the purchase of the Santa Barbara Clear Channel Cluster in 2006. Laughlin also re-launched the Steve Harvey Radio Show in LA Radio while upgrading the signal at 93.5 KDAY / 93.5 KDAI. Laughlin brokered the sale of move-in Riverside signal 96.1 KWIE to Liberman Broadcasting in 2009 for $25M. Hearne and Laughlin later teamed again to purchase an additional FM move-in to the Riverside/San Bernardino market in 2010.

Articles by Roy Laughlin

How Shaun Merritt Vibe-Coded Karrot.ai As A Solo Builder

I recently had the opportunity to chat with Shaun Merritt, cofounder and CTO of Karrot.ai, a LinkedIn ABM tool. Shaun was kind enough to share a comprehensive breakdown of how...

7 Steps to Build a Product That Sells Itself

Learn the 7 steps to product-led growth (PLG) to build a product that sells itself. Drive activation, boost conversions, and scale efficiently with Wes Bush from ProductLed....
Balancing self-care and startup pressure as a founder

The Founder’s Mental Health Playbook: What I Learned After Nearly Burning Out

A hard-won guide to staying mentally healthy while building a startup I founded Stitcher, the podcast platform, in 2007 and ran it for seven years until we sold in 2014....

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

Answer Engine Optimization (AEO) for Early Stage Companies

In our latest session from the Mucker Growth Series featuring Ethan Smith from Graphite, we explored AEO, a significant new approach for optimizing visibility in AI-driven search, particularly relevant as...

Startup Guide to AI Visibility Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends

Startup Guide to AI Visibility: Be the Brand ChatGPT Recommends

Introduction Today, users aren’t just searching on Google. They’re asking ChatGPT, Claude, Google’s Gemini, Perplexity, and other AI systems for advice. AI visibility is the new frontier of brand awareness....

Practical Uses of AI Automation for Startup Operations

Practical Uses of AI & Automation for Startup Operations

In a recent Mucker Growth Series session, we invited Rock Vitale, Founder & CEO of Easie, to share how he’s helped early-stage teams move from manual, fragmented workflows to streamlined,...

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