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.
Content & Articles by Roy Laughlin
LA Tech Week 2025 Day 2 Recap: Startup Growth – Tuesday Oct 14
After a packed AI Building Day, we continued LA Tech Week with Startup Growth Day, a full schedule of sessions focused on go-to-market strategy, founder journeys, and scaling startups in...
LA Tech Week 2025 Day 1 Recap: AI Building – Monday Oct 13
We hosted three full days of events during LA Tech Week, each one focused on helping founders learn, connect, and build with the latest in AI and startup growth. Day...
Using Customer Feedback to Build a Product that Customers Will Love
Customer feedback is the lifeblood of successful product development, but many startups struggle with collecting, validating, and prioritizing the constant stream of input from users, advisors, and internal teams. In...
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
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....
