Harry Hoagland was a pioneer in venture capital, as he was at other fields, because he worked hard to exploit opportunities, even in the face of resistance from others. For example, Georges Doriot was never particularly keen on developing new business for American Research and Development Corporation in regions of the country outside of the Northeast U.S. But having grown up in the Rocky Mountains and on the West Coast, this was a distinct advantage Harry could give A.R.D., and he worked hard to convince Doriot. Along the way, he would make several good friends who would be both personally and professionally close through much of his life.
Dr. Samuel W. Bodman, currently U.S. Secretary of Energy, recalled that Harry greatly enjoyed taking the train in his trips across America, and in his travels was invited to dinner by more than one bank president. It was not unusual for him to walk into a bank, introduce himself, and with his easygoing manner, manage to learn more not only of the bank itself, but of its chief executive as well. Through conversations with them and/or his own diligence, he would often learn of the head of a local company who was looking to either pare down commitments or sell the company — a personal as well as a professional reason to pursue a partnership with A.R.D.
It was in this manner that Harry met and became friendly with Grover Ellis, a Houston banker who was a board member of a company called CAMCO, which specialized in drilling equipment and techniques for pressure lifting oil from wells. Harry’s cultivation of CAMCO became a major financial success for A.R.D., and continued a friendship (begun earlier in Kennebunkport, Maine) between Harry and George H.W. Bush, whom Harry brought in as a director of the company. Through Harry, A.R.D. previously had a financial interest in Bush’s oil company, Zapata Offshore, and also in CAMCO, which was important in the emerging ancillary high pressure-lifting industry.
In 1961, Harry had taken a leave of absence from A.R.D to work on Republican political campaigns, and Doriot felt compelled to write him a letter explicitly stressing his importance to the firm:
“First, let me say that there is no question in my mind as to the important of what you have to do with Midwestern, Radar Relay, CAMCO, Geotechnical, and El Charvon [various technology and energy companies], and any projects in that district [largely in Texas], so again let me say that there is no question as to the importance of those jobs in my mind.
“However, as you realize, we are sort of swamped here; therefore, I would very much appreciate it if you could could do everything you can so that this trip of yours is as short as possible. Be kind enough to compress your activities as much as you can and do the best you can not to be away any longer than strictly necessary without its interfering with the usual high quality of what you do.”
Harry’s work obviously had made a very positive impression on Doriot, and without Doriot’s realizing it, he had become a strong convert to Harry’s business cultivation in the southern and western U.S. Of course, with the profitability of the investments he had discovered, this was a relatively easy task.
– Christopher Hartman
