Anthony Franco

**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. Henry Harrison: Let’s start with where you are right now. You’re associated with AI First Principles, and you’re doing some dynamic work around AI. Can you explain what that’s about? 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 and WISER Method. After my last company, I began doing fractional C-level work. One of my clients is OneReach, a leader in enterprise AI. I worked closely with their CEO and saw how they delivered AI into organizations in a unique way. I asked if we could open-source the principles behind that approach. With input from leaders at Meta, Google, Salesforce, and Amazon, we developed 12 principles—a governance framework for organizations bringing AI in-house. It’s free and open source at AIFirstPrinciples.org. From there, I shifted toward implementation—helping organizations operationalize those principles. First Strategy is the consulting arm, and WISER Method is the methodology for putting those principles into practice. Henry Harrison: You’ve also worked with Fortune 100 companies. Anthony Franco: Yes. I co-founded a company called Effective. We did consulting for Fortune 100 companies, building internal software platforms—focused heavily on design thinking and user experience. Eventually we exited that company to WPP. Henry Harrison: That’s impressive. You had 40% of the Fortune 100 as clients and generated $50 million in revenue over six years. Anthony Franco: It was time to graduate into a larger organization. But entrepreneurs and big corporate environments don’t always mesh well. I wasn’t a culture fit. It hurt at first, but then I realized I wasn’t like them anyway. I prefer building and growing companies. Henry Harrison: You’ve founded multiple companies—software firms, manufacturing businesses, even a restaurant and commercial real estate ventures. Tell us about Shark Tank. Anthony Franco: I founded MC Squares, a consumer product company. We built a manufacturing facility around small-batch, bespoke production at scale. We landed a deal with Kevin O’Leary on Shark Tank. It was surreal. You think you’re prepared, but standing in front of those doors before they open, your heart is pounding. I was most worried about being cast as the fool. I didn’t want to be mocked. But I decided to have fun and be myself. That worked. We reached about $4 million in annual sales on Amazon. Then Amazon had a glitch in our listings. Sales dropped to nearly nothing. It took six months to diagnose and another six to fix. By then, it was too late. We filed for bankruptcy at the end of 2023. That was hard. Henry Harrison: How did Kevin O’Leary respond? Anthony Franco: He was great. Very understanding. The biggest feedback I got from investors was that I should have told them earlier when things started going wrong. They were right. But that’s the game. I had my own money in it too. Everyone moved on. Henry Harrison: That’s a powerful lesson—transparency early. What would you tell someone considering entrepreneurship? Anthony Franco: Usually, I tell them not to do it. The odds are stacked against you. It’s lonely. You’re competing against companies with more resources and brand recognition. But occasionally someone looks at me like I’m crazy and 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 entrepreneurship to friends or family—but they wouldn’t choose anything else for themselves. Henry Harrison: That’s honest. Let’s talk about AI. What’s the difference between being good at ChatGPT and operationalizing AI across an organization? Anthony Franco: There’s a maturity curve. Stage one: great prompts in ChatGPT. Stage two: automating yourself—using AI tools to create digital twins and workflows. Stage three: automating your team. Stage four: automating your company. Stage five: helping others automate theirs. AI First Principles acts like a constitution. WISER—Witness, Interrogate, Solve, Expand, Refine—is the process for implementing it. Witness means walking the factory floor, talking to customers. Interrogate means testing assumptions with small prototypes. Solve a single real problem. Expand carefully with human-in-the-loop oversight. Refine and increase autonomy responsibly. The key mistake companies make is automating broken processes. That just scales dysfunction. Henry Harrison: That’s practical. Where can people find you? Anthony Franco: The easiest way is HowToFounder.com. There’s a big picture of me there that links to my LinkedIn. AI First Principles is at AIFirstPrinciples.org. WISER Method is at WISERmethod.com. Henry Harrison: And your podcast? Anthony Franco: How to Founder is a reference manual for entrepreneurs. Each episode tackles a specific founder problem—sales vs marketing, dealing with employee theft, go-to-market strategy. We’re essentially writing a book in podcast form. There’s no business model behind it. I just enjoy it. Henry Harrison: Same here. Anthony, thank you for coming on. This has been inspiring and honest. Anthony Franco: Thank you. I appreciate it.