Howard Frank: The Importance of Luck

Dr. Howard Frank considers himself a very lucky man: as a Northwestern graduate, an ex-CEO of three companies, and former Dean of the highly touted Robert H. Smith School of Business it's not hard to see why. He began at Northwestern, where he majored in engineering and became a professor at the University of California. He claims that it was a string of accidents that led him down the path of becoming a successful entrepreneur. First he was asked to work for the White House. He found brilliant success in this and he and his partner became so proficient at what they did that they decided that they should open up a business together. They thought that if they had only done what they did for the White House for themselves, they would be rich.

Him and his partner struck out with a simple goal: to make as much money as possible. They thought that by bringing analytical thinking into the world of network theory, that they could replicate the things they did for the White House. Unfortunately they were sadly mistaken. Within a year Frank went completely broke and his partner had done such a bad job that he removed himself from the company. While first nervous about accepting his role as a businessman and not an engineer, Dr. Frank learned that if he could effectively communicate to people the rest would handle itself. Frank found that communication skills became vital to his job. He had to communicate his leadership to the people working under him, communicate the imminent success of his company to potential investors, and communicate his competence to all around him. He has seen people who had all of the business knowledge in the world fail because of a simple failure to understand basic communication skills.

When it comes to communication in business, the pitch is arguably the biggest topic. In regards to the art of the pitch, Dr. Frank stressed knowing your audience. When pitching an idea to potential investors, you have to know exactly what type of people you are talking to. He recommends studying them, talking to them, questioning them, and listening to them. Once you truly know your audience only then can you begin to think about how you should communicate your idea to them. You should also read their body language and take cues from them on how to adjust your pitch to them. This is why outlets such as social media and telephone will never be as effective as one on one in-person communication when it comes to pitching an idea. While it is always preferable to be well prepared for a pitch, this is not always possible: this is when he spoke of the elevator pitch, a pitch that is made in short time without any prior preparation. He said that while more difficult to do, they often led to spectacular results, because the investor's guard was down and he does not expect to have a sales pitch; a combination of luck and the right product also cannot hurt. He pitched to anyone anywhere, from racquetball club locker rooms to Las Vegas bars and found success, but he always said to be honest. Using honesty helped him achieve some of his greatest accomplishments. If the person has no need of your product, you should be honest and tell them. They may often find your products useful/reliable in the future.

While a combination of luck and good timing got Dr. Howard Frank to where he is, he certainly could not have achieved his high level of achievement without putting in hard work and always having business on his mind. He is a good businessman but is even better at dealing with failures. He says that in business, one will lose three out of every four customers/potential investors and that how you deal with these failure will shape the way your business runs. He stresses that if you do not let it, failure will never drag you down.