Frank Ferguson - Practical Dreamer

<p><span style="color: #e67e23;"><strong>Join Sal Daher's Investment Syndicate:</strong></span> <a href= "https://www.angelinvestboston.com/our-syndicates"><strong>Click to Joi</strong>n</a></p> <p>Frank Ferguson had a knack for building companies. He headed Bose at a time of rapid growth and built Curriculum Associates into a great success. Frank Ferguson’s angel investing was unusual in that he invested in just a few startups but lavished support on those few. The results were great. Frank was active well into his nineties but passed away recently; this relaunch of an interview I recorded with him is a memorial for his life of achievement and passion. It’s loaded with lessons for angels and founders. Rest in peace, Frank Ferguson.</p> <p>My favorite observation from the conversation with Frank Fergusson neatly encapsulates his recipe for success as an investor:</p> <p><em>“You can get sucked in and fall in love with a lot of things, but then you have to ask, "Are these the guys who can actually make it happen?” What are the odds that these guys can keep together, not fight, get over it, be successful, run things correctly, not fall in love with their own things so much that they lose track of the financial realities of the business? Can they sell?”</em></p> <p><a href= "https://www.angelinvestboston.com/ep-007-frank-ferguson#Transcript-of-Ep.-007"> Click Here to read the transcript of the interview. </a></p> <p> TOPICS DISCUSSED INCLUDE:</p> <ul> <li>Yes, That Bose Corporation!</li> <li>Curriculum Associates, Which Frank Ferguson Built, Continues to Be Hugely Successful</li> <li>Scraping Chicken Droppings in an Iowa Farm</li> <li>From Iowa State University to Teheran Courtesy of Syracuse University & the US State Department</li> <li>Frank Ferguson Thinks about Business School at MIT or Harvard Thanks to a Friendly Psychologist</li> <li>With an MIT Sloan MBA in Hand, Frank Ferguson Goes to Work at Baird Atomic Near Harvard Square</li> <li>Frank Ferguson Meets his Co-founders at Curriculum Associates Just as He S