Paul McGowan writes:
Turning a good idea into a company is not easy. The devil, they say, is in the details; something Stan and I found to be true.
In this video, Part II of the History of PS Audio, we learn how two wild-eyed hippie audiophiles turned a phono preamplifier into a business that today spans the globe from Seminyak to Hobart, Krasnoyarsk to Antananarivo, New York to Paris, and just about everywhere else.
Our path was not an easy one. Where classic tales of well-funded business plans and successful entrepreneurs might describe a lot of companies, it sure didn’t reflect our own. Ours was the quintessential garage operation. We personally handcrafted each and every phono preamplifier that left the building. And I don’t mean we simply assembled them. Without a financial pot to piss in Stan and I drilled every hole, soldered every part, wired every cord, and boxed every product ourselves.
We were so frugal back then that if we found a few styrofoam packing peanuts in the nightly floor sweepings we’d reuse them in shipments to customers, a practice that got us into a few embarrassing situations. I remember receiving a letter from one of our customers. Inside the envelope was a half-smoked cannabis roach with a kind note included. “Thank you for the terrific preamp. I found this item amongst the packing materials and wanted to make sure it got returned to its owner.”
Our lives are rich journeys and I am happy to share mine with you, warts and all.
