Entrepreneur to Investor the Hard Way
Retired Booz Allen Senior Vice President David Durgin recounts his unique journey through a hidden area of defense contracting during the Cold War.
Entrepreneur to Investor the Hard Way opens a window into the mind of successful entrepreneur and investor Dave Durgin, one of the first individuals to attempt technology transfer after the Cold War.
Dave Durgin
With Sherry Robinson, Durgin has written an engrossing book that journeys into the dynamic world of high-tech business and venture capitalism, and details his work with other visionaries to improve the business environment in his home state of New Mexico. Deal by deal, Durgin built a successful portfolio as an angel investor and co-founded a venture capital firm. In the process, he honed a model of money and mentoring, guiding startups and their eager but inexperienced founders.
Durgin joined Sandia Laboratory in 1961 as it ramped up during the Cold War and became one of the first to transfer Sandia technology. He later spent 20 years in defense contracting with firms such as Booz Allen, which he joined in 1979 to head its new nuclear technology effort. Over 10 years, he built the firm’s technology business with Department of Defense organizations and rose to senior vice president.
In the 1980s, Durgin co-launched the first company in New Mexico to focus on commercializing technologies from government laboratories. Durgin also co-founded Verge Fund in 2003, the first New Mexico-based venture fund dedicated to financing New Mexico startups. In four years, Verge had a portfolio of 12 successful companies and was named one of the nation’s Top 100 Venture Capital Firms for Entrepreneurs by Entrepreneur Magazine.
Readers will find practical advice on business plans, marketing, hiring, boards, teams, partners, and commercialization, and will learn how Durgin thinks, weighs opportunities, and copes with adversity. Durgin’s venture evaluation criteria provide insights for investors and allow entrepreneurs to size up their operations before they seek venture capital.
Entrepreneur to Investor the Hard Way is a compelling success story that also offers a ringside seat in the hidden arena of defense contracting as it expanded during the Cold War. An absorbing insight into one man’s career, Durgin also reveals his frank view about why—after 30 years—technology transfer still has not lived up to its hype.
David Durgin is a retired Booz Allen Hamilton senior vice president
