Anthony Franco
Anthony Franco on Shark Tank, Bankruptcy, and Building AI-First Organizations
A candid conversation about risk, resilience, AI governance, and the psychology of entrepreneurship.
Join us as we dive into the entrepreneurial journey of Anthony Franco, exploring his passion-driven ventures and unique insights into the world of business.Anthony Franco's entrepreneurial journey began out of necessity, evolving into a passion that defines his identity. From side hustles to significant ventures, Anthony has embraced entrepreneurship as both a career and a hobby. His dedication to helping other entrepreneurs and his love for the craft are evident in his various projects, includi
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About This Episode
Anthony Franco is a repeat founder who has built and exited multiple companies, sold a consulting firm serving 40% of the Fortune 100, landed a deal with Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank, and experienced the hard reality of shutting down a business after an Amazon systems failure.
In this episode, Henry Harrison and Anthony unpack the emotional and strategic realities of entrepreneurship. Anthony explains why he often advises people not to become entrepreneurs—and why true founders won’t listen anyway. They discuss transparency with investors, bouncing back from failure, and how setbacks often redirect founders toward their most meaningful work.
Anthony also dives deep into AI implementation beyond hype. Through AI First Principles and the WISER Method, he outlines how organizations can move from casual ChatGPT usage to operationalizing AI across teams and infrastructure. Rather than relying on scattered point solutions, he argues for governance, structured experimentation, and building AI capability into company DNA.
This conversation is practical and honest. It explores founder identity, risk tolerance, AI strategy, and what it takes to build again after losing everything. For entrepreneurs, executives, and investors navigating rapid technological change, this episode offers clarity and perspective.
Key Insights
If someone can talk you out of entrepreneurship, they probably should.
Transparency with investors—especially when things go wrong—is critical.
Failure often redirects founders toward more aligned opportunities.
AI maturity progresses from personal productivity to team automation to full organizational infrastructure.
Governance and process matter more than tools when implementing AI.
Automating broken processes only scales dysfunction—fix the system first.
Human-in-the-loop oversight is essential when deploying AI operationally.
Entrepreneurship is less about ambition and more about identity.
Episode Transcript
This transcript has been edited for clarity, readability, and flow. Filler words, repetitions, and minor grammatical inconsistencies have been removed, and formatting has been adjusted for easier reading. The substance, intent, and meaning of the original conversation have been preserved.
Henry Harrison:
Welcome to the Henry Harrison Podcast—Entrepreneurs, Business and Finance.
Today, I’m very happy to welcome Anthony Franco to the show. He’s a repeat—maybe even serial—entrepreneur with a lot of exciting ventures, including a current focus on one of the hottest topics in the world: AI.
He also has the unique experience of appearing on Shark Tank, which is not easy to do.
Welcome to the show, Anthony.
Anthony Franco:
Hi Henry. Thank you for having me.
Current Focus: AI First Principles
Henry Harrison:
Let’s start with where you are right now. You’re associated with AI First Principles and doing some dynamic work around AI. What is that?
Anthony Franco:
AI First Principles isn’t actually a company—it’s an open-source governance framework.
The companies I’m working on are:
First Strategy (consulting)
WISER Method (implementation framework)
After my last company, I began doing fractional C-level work. One of my clients is OneReach, a leader in enterprise AI.
I saw how they delivered AI into organizations in a unique way and asked if we could open-source the principles behind it.
With input from leaders at:
Meta
Google
Salesforce
Amazon
We developed 12 principles—a governance framework for bringing AI in-house.
It’s free and open source at AIFirstPrinciples.org.
From there, I moved into helping companies actually implement those principles.
Prior Success: Effective & Exit
Henry Harrison:
You’ve worked with Fortune 100 companies as well.
Anthony Franco:
Yes. I co-founded a company called Effective.
We:
Built internal software platforms
Focused on design thinking and user experience
We ended up working with about 40% of the Fortune 100 and generated roughly $50 million in revenue over six years.
We exited the company to WPP.
Henry Harrison:
That’s impressive.
Anthony Franco:
It was—but I learned something important.
Entrepreneurs and large corporate environments don’t always mix. I wasn’t a culture fit.
At first, that was difficult—but then I realized: I’m a builder. I prefer starting and growing companies.
Shark Tank & MC Squares
Henry Harrison:
Tell us about Shark Tank.
Anthony Franco:
I founded a consumer product company called MC Squares.
We:
Built a manufacturing facility
Focused on small-batch, bespoke production at scale
We landed a deal with Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank.
It was surreal. Standing behind those doors before they open—your heart is pounding.
I was most worried about being portrayed as the fool. But I decided to have fun and be myself—and that worked.
Failure & Hard Lessons
Anthony Franco:
We scaled to about $4 million in annual Amazon sales.
Then Amazon had a glitch in our listings:
Sales dropped to nearly zero
Took 6 months to diagnose
Another 6 months to fix
By then, it was too late.
We filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2023.
Henry Harrison:
How did Kevin O’Leary respond?
Anthony Franco:
He was understanding.
The biggest lesson from investors:
I should have communicated earlier when things started going wrong.
They were right. Transparency matters.
Entrepreneurship Reality
Henry Harrison:
What would you tell someone considering entrepreneurship?
Anthony Franco:
Usually—I tell them not to do it.
It’s:
Hard
Lonely
High risk
You’re competing against companies with:
More resources
Stronger brands
But occasionally, someone says:
“I don’t have a choice.”
That’s the entrepreneur.
If I can talk you out of it—you probably shouldn’t do it.
Entrepreneurs won’t recommend it—but they wouldn’t choose anything else.
AI Maturity Curve
Henry Harrison:
Let’s talk about AI. What’s the difference between using ChatGPT and operationalizing AI?
Anthony Franco:
There’s a maturity curve:
Writing great prompts
Automating yourself (digital workflows)
Automating your team
Automating your company
Helping others automate
AI First Principles acts like a constitution.
WISER is the execution framework:
Witness → observe real workflows
Interrogate → test assumptions
Solve → fix one real problem
Expand → scale carefully
Refine → increase autonomy responsibly
The biggest mistake companies make:
Automating broken processes.
That just scales dysfunction.
Founder Content & Podcast
Henry Harrison:
You also have a podcast.
Anthony Franco:
Yes—How to Founder.
It’s essentially a reference manual for entrepreneurs:
Each episode solves a specific problem
Sales vs marketing
Hiring challenges
Go-to-market strategy
There’s no business model behind it—I just enjoy it.
It’s like writing a book in podcast form.
Where to Find Anthony
Henry Harrison:
Where can people find you?
Anthony Franco:
Best place is:
AI First Principles: AIFirstPrinciples.org
WISER Method: WISERmethod.com
You can also connect with me on LinkedIn.
Closing
Henry Harrison:
Anthony, this has been incredibly honest and insightful. Thank you for coming on.
Anthony Franco:
Thank you, Henry. I appreciate it.
Henry Harrison:
Thanks for joining us on the Henry Harrison Podcast—Entrepreneurs, Business, and Finance. Talk to you soon.
Connect with Anthony Franco
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