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Sloan Eddleston hen Facebook co-founder Chris Hughes bought what had been one of the nation’s most influential political magazines, Bloomfield Hills native Sloan Eddleston didn’t waste any time offering a hand running it. “I came out of (Harvard) business school, pretty opportunistically, Chris Hughes bought The New Republic,” Eddleston said, describing how he landed his position at the 100-year-old magazine. “He was an acquaintance from college and I found out he bought it. It’s a magazine that I always knew and cared for, with its politics and history, and what it stood for. The opportunity for turning around a business was exciting for me.” And with that, Eddleston, just 12 years out of high school at Cranbrook Kingswood, became the Chief Operating Officer for The New Republic. Almost immediately, he began to reinvent the digital arm of the magazine. “When Chris bought the magazine, the circulation and web traffic was down,” Eddleston said. “I don’t think the editorial strategy was where it was supposed to be. All of our processes were print focused, and that didn’t work five or 10 years ago in the digital age, and it won’t work in the social age.” The website itself “wasn’t a pleasure to look at,” and was lagging at getting Facebook fans, a critical component to gain return readers, Eddleston said. A year later, the magazine had completely redesigned its brand, and has since increased its print circulation by some 30 percent. Measures to relaunch its digital product have helped to quadruple its web traffic to the site, reaching a digital audience of 4 million monthly readers, all while refocusing on high-quality, long-form content. In addition to his position at The New Republic, Eddleston serves as an
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advisor and consultant for New York-based Plated, which offers customers the ability to choose from several chef-designed recipes. The recipes, instructions and all ingredients are delivered to the customer’s house, ready to cook. “Two friends started Plated,” Eddleston said. “It has the potential to transform the way we eat and the way we think about food.” Prior to the endeavors that started in 2012, Eddleston had worked for Bain & Co., both in New York and in San Francisco, where he focused on consumer technology and private equity. Prior to that, he worked for the Kerry-Edwards presidential campaign after graduating from Harvard in 2004. “It’s always been something that I’ve gravitated to,” Eddleston said about his interest in politics. “Maybe, as a liberal, the idea that leaders can do good, if you can mobilize people. If you can be a leader that can think critically and analytically, and bring people together, then you can make a lot of positive change.” For now, at least, Eddleston is pleased with the his current career, and his life in New York, where you might find him biking along the Westside Highway, or heading back to Detroit on Thanksgiving to catch the Lions play. “I love the business world, but I also love the policy and political world,” he said. “I was back for the Detroit Homecoming, and I was very impressed. If there were an opportunity to take a hands-on business minded approach, then that might be something I would be interested in. But I’m also very happy with some of the things we are doing in the business world.” Story: Kevin Elliott