Nate Feltman: Why I’m thrilled to lead IBJ Media’s next chapter

In 2017, Mickey Maurer approached me about the possibility of becoming a partner with him and Bob Schloss in IBJ Media. I had just sold a health care company, Home Health Depot, that my business partner, David Hartley, and I had grown over eight years. I needed a break from the day-to-day running of an intensive business, but I was open to learning more and knew that I wanted to find another business that one day I might be able to help lead.

IBJ Media intrigued me. I had long been an avid reader and thought of the Indianapolis Business Journal as a must-read in order to stay current with what was happening in the community from a business, government and political perspective. I didn’t know anything about the media business, but I also didn’t know anything about the health care business when I decided to take the leap from practicing law to running a business. The opportunity to learn a new industry appealed to me when I took the plunge into health care, and it again appealed to me as I considered investing in the media business.

Another major draw of investing in IBJ Media was the opportunity to once again work very closely with Mickey Maurer. Soon after Mitch Daniels won the 2004 gubernatorial election, he asked Mickey to help form the Indiana Economic Development Corp. and help lead Indiana’s economic development efforts. Mickey recruited me to join him and Vera Bradley founder Pat Miller in that effort. Working side-by-side with Mickey was better than any MBA program could offer. I soaked up all the lessons (and more) that Mickey outlined in his book “10 Essential Principles of Entrepreneurship You Never Learned in School,” (a must-read for aspiring entrepreneurs).

I started out as a one-third equal owner with Mickey and Bob in 2017 and began to learn the ropes. Longtime, dedicated employees (and since retired) Greg Morris, Kim Howell, Lisa Bradley and Pat Keiffner embraced me and made me feel part of the team right away. And Mickey and Bob supported my new ideas for growth, no matter how naïve they might have been.

In 2020, I was having so much fun that I decided to take the leap and jump in full time as CEO. Simultaneously, I increased my ownership interest in IBJ Media to 50%. Over the next four years, we began to experiment. We expanded our podcast offerings, increased the number and types of events, improved our digital experience, enhanced our custom content division, purchased Inside INdiana Business and began to expand statewide. We also exited business lines where we no longer felt we could effectively compete (e.g., book publishing). Over this period, the number of IBJ subscribers increased more than 30%.

Recently, I became the sole shareholder of IBJ Media after acquiring Mickey’s and Bob’s remaining shares. I am thrilled to continue their legacy of local ownership of what I know many consider an important community asset.

Mickey’s and Bob’s purchase of IBJ back in 1990 returned our company to local ownership. For the last 34 years, Mickey and Bob have ensured that IBJ Media would not be beholden to an out-of-state owner—meaning we would maintain our editorial independence, make decisions fast and in the best interest of our community and company, and act entrepreneurially.

In “10 Essential Principles of Entrepreneurship You Never Learned in School,” Mickey writes about the business adage: “Do not get too emotionally attached to your business” and notes that he violated that rule when it came to IBJ Media. Well, I have also violated this rule, but I couldn’t be more excited about the continued growth and evolution of IBJ Media in the years ahead.•

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Feltman is publisher of IBJ and CEO of IBJ Media. Send comments to nfeltman@ibj.com.