Howard is a lovable insurgent, a revolutionary who has succeeded.
– HBS PROFESSOR BILL SAHLMAN
About Howard Stevenson
Howard Stevenson’s life and career have been remarkable.
Howard is regarded as “the father of entrepreneurship” and coined what Inc. Magazine proclaimed to be “the best answer ever” to define it. He taught at Harvard Business School for 40 years, served as the Senior Associate Dean of HBS three times, the Chair of HBS Publishing, and the Vice Provost at Harvard University. He has written over 200 books, cases, and articles.
Howard raised over $1 billion for philanthropic causes. He is the former Chair of National Public Radio and has assisted innumerable other charities. He is the founding President of Baupost, which is one of the world’s leading hedge funds.
Howard grew up in Holladay, Utah in what he describes as an idyllic childhood. In high school, he participated in the first ever American Field Service overseas program where he moved to France — speaking no French himself — and lived with a French family that spoke no English. He won a National Merit Scholarship and attended Stanford as an undergraduate followed by Harvard Business School, where he earned his MBA and Doctorate.
HBS became Howard’s home for decades and the centerpiece of an array of nonprofit, for profit, academic, and community activities around the world. It was while in his role as Harvard’s Vice Provost for University Resources & Planning that he was introduced to Eric Sinoway, a graduate student whose curiosity and perspective piqued his interest. A 20-year relationship began.
What’s a good way to get to know Howard?
Ask Eric to tell us about him, which he does in the interview below.
An Interview with Eric Sinoway
ABOUT HOWARD STEVENSON
ERIC: The first time I met Howard was during a “walking meeting” across the Harvard campus. I knew Howard’s reputation as a towering figure at the University. I knew that, as Vice Provost, he was well positioned to supervise my interest in studying the future of higher education and NGO’s.
What I soon learned about Howard was that he was the wisest person I would ever meet – and that this professor in a slightly rumpled suit would become a mentor, dear friend, and thought partner for decades.
“Entrepreneurship is the pursuit of opportunity beyond the resources currently controlled.”
– HOWARD H. STEVENSON
Howard Stevenson coined the definition of an entrepreneur adopted worldwide. In doing so, he fundamentally changed the concept of what it is to be one.
Stevenson’s work transformed the idea that entrepreneurs “were born not trained” into the belief that entrepreneurship entailed a set of beliefs, behaviors, and outlooks that could be researched, taught, and learned. He was the driving force that led to the explosion of entrepreneurship programs and activities at universities worldwide.
“Early in Howard’s career, entrepreneurs were considered ‘crazy people who thrived on risk.’ Teaching entrepreneurship was a foreign idea and was viewed as an academic career-killer. But then entrepreneurship came in from the cold, thanks in large part to a maverick true believer named Howard Stevenson.”
— HBS ALUMNI MAGAZINE
Howard will go down in business history.
– ARTHUR ROCK | EARLY INVESTOR IN APPLE & INTEL
Howard has reached the pinnacle of success in at least ‘five careers’
PROFESSOR
Howard taught 15,000 Harvard students, including U.S. President George W. Bush, Founding Member of Staples and Professor Myra Hart, and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson. His iconic definition of entrepreneurship sparked the creation of it as a legitimate field of academic research and instruction worldwide.
ENTREPRENEUR
Howard was the founding President of Baupost, which is one of the most successful hedge funds in the world. He has been involved in starting or growing countless other organizations, including his current venture named Pravi (www.pravicorp.com) with Eric.
UNIVERSITY LEADER
Howard was appointed Vice Provost in 2005. He served as Senior Associate Dean at HBS three different times. He initiated the first HBS capital campaign and led Harvard Business Publishing as the Chair of its Board.
FUNDRAISER
Howard has been a philanthropist and fundraiser for decades. His book, Getting To Giving: Fundraising the Entrepreneurial Way, is a how-to-guide for successful university and NGO strategy - generally - and for maximizing fundraising, specifically.
INVESTOR
Howard’s investing prowess is anchored in his philosophy that “he doesn’t care about business plans” and instead focuses on the people involved, the “5 bets they are making about their business” and the “gives and gets” the company believes will resonate in the market.
200
BOOKS, CASES, &
ARTICLES WRITTEN
40 Years Teaching At Harvard
15,000+
HBS STUDENTS
1,000+
LECTURES GLOBALLY
$1,000,000,000+
RAISED FOR PHILANTHROPY
What has made Howard such a success?
ERIC: It’s impossible to fully capture. There is no one thing. It’s the intellect, judgment, spirit, fairness, and insight. It’s the ability to smell and call out B.S. It is often the willingness to admit he doesn’t know something, whereas many others are sure they have the answer. He’s never afraid to ask the question that many in a room may think but are hesitant to pose. Finally, he has a desire to see others succeed alongside him. By doing so, he naturally brings out the best in everyone.
How to describe Howard?
ERIC: Feisty. Caring. Passionate. Curious. Precious. Lovable. He says what he thinks, without regard for how it may be perceived. He’s apolitical. At first, I was told he was “gruff.” Then, I came to agree with a colleague who described him as a “fragile treasure.” In a single word, he is “wise.”
In a single word, Howard is “wise.”
Howard is the fiercest man I have ever known: fiercely interested in the world and its people. And fiercely honest.
– MYRA HART | FOUNDING MEMBER, STAPLES INC.
What wouldn’t people guess about Howard?
ERIC: Howard has raised money for Harvard and for innumerable NGOs, yes, but he and his wife, Fredi, have also given away large portions of their wealth quietly without people knowing it. Rarely will you find a fellowship, building, organization, or professorship in the Stevenson name. One will, however, find gifts given by Howard and Fredi either anonymously or in the name of a person of particular importance to them.
A humorous thing about Howard: In his late 70’s, he built an enormous model train set that took up his entire garage as a hobby.
A serious fact: his doctors estimate that his heart stopped beating for about 3 ½ minutes after his heart attack, a fact that by every estimate should have caused massive cognitive damage or death – both of which he avoided.
His key to fulfillment?
ERIC: Continuously moving forward towards something and a desire to contribute. When I asked him why he was keeping himself so busy after he retired, he told me that he thought one of the keys to human fulfillment and satisfaction is a feeling of continuing to contribute, to make a difference. His intellectual curiosity and desire to help others is insatiable.
Our relationship?
ERIC: We’ve more or less talked every few days or certainly every week for almost 20 years. He describes it as both mutual respect and affection. What I know is that at age 31, I fell in love with a 64-year-old man. His wife, Fredi, and his family have been kind enough to share him with me. Some have called it similar to an adopted father-son relationship. Whether it is or not there certainly is a special kinship and deep friendship.
What led to the writing of Howard’s Gift?
ERIC: Howard and I would spend hours a week together at his house when he was recovering from his heart attack. We would talk about anything and everything – from starting a business to the meaning of life to what constituted success. It was an extraordinary time with someone whose wisdom was priceless. It was a 1 on 1 independent study with one of the great minds - and spirits - of our time. It’s the type of experience that is rarely possible given the time constraints of daily life.
In one of these conversations, I suggested to him that we record what we were saying so that it could be shared with his children and grandchildren in the future. And so we did. Months later it occurred to me that there was a book here - one about the man himself and about the wisdom he was sharing.
There’s something magical, vulnerable, lovable, and special about him — a giant of a man in his own time. Generally, those who get to know him invariably feel a certain protectiveness over him, as I do. The bottom line is that he is the person I would most hope that my children aspire to be like.
READ THE INTERVIEW WITH HOWARD
