Preston Holland

Let the content inform the commercial decisions

Firecrown's playbook: watch which content gets high engagement (via Google Analytics), then build the real-world commercial business around what the audience already proves it cares about, rather than guessing.

“So really what we did was we let the content inform the commercial decisions that we made, right?”

Steal thisUse your content engagement data as market research, then build the commerce product around the topics that already over-perform.

How a 'we need hangar space' problem became a 1,500-acre airpark

Firecrown couldn't find hangar space near Chattanooga (3 airports, 7-10 year waitlists), so they decided to build their own runway. Content analytics showed huge engagement around 'airparks,' so they bought 1,500 acres and hit their 3-year pro forma in pre-reservations within the first 3 months.

“And so we're like, well, I guess we're gonna have to build an airport if we're gonna be able to get hangar space for any airplanes, you know, that we get on demo or whatever. Build— we, we wanted to build a, a media center on a runway and Every airport was like, yeah, good luck. It's going to take at least 10 years. So we said, hey, let's build our own runway.”

Airpark land bought at ~$1,500/acre in an opportunity zone

Firecrown bought the 1,500-acre airpark site for roughly $1,515 per acre — extremely cheap rural land — and it sits in an opportunity zone for added tax incentives.

“we bought the acreage around $1,500, $1,515 an acre. So it was really cheap land. It's also in an opportunity zone. So there's a lot of tax incentives for making investments in that area. And then we are— we've taken $25 million of pre-deposits.”

Fund construction with pre-deposits, then use them to unlock bank debt

Firecrown took $25M in pre-deposits on airpark lots (like Tesla truck deposits). Those signed pre-sales represent future cash flows, which let them go to a bank and finance phase-1 infrastructure ($10-15M) as a low-risk loan.

“If you've got those deposits, it proves to the banks, you can go to the bank and basically say, okay, look, we've got, you know, $25 million of, of these lots pre-sold. So like, you know, that represents future cash flows of $25 million. And they say, oh, okay.”

Steal thisCollect refundable pre-deposits to prove demand, then use that signed future revenue as collateral to get cheap bank financing.

Print as a credibility play, not a revenue play

Firecrown planned to kill print on day one but kept it: a print product confers a perception of longevity and legitimacy with advertisers and readers that a blog can't. Dwell feels more legit than architecturalblogxyz.com because it has a magazine.

“there's something about having a long, a feeling of longevity and a perception of longevity in having a print product, whether that's with advertisers or it's with audience or readers that you just don't get with a blog. You don't, it doesn't feel, and you think about a brand like Dwell is a great example. Like they have a print magazine and it for some reason feels more legitimate than architecturalblogxyz.com, right?”