Pratt, Stanley Edward a pioneer in the world of venture capital, died on November 25, 2019, surrounded by his loving family. He leaves his wife Maryanne “Burkey” Pratt, his children Cindy and Rob Jaczko, Tom and Roxanne Pratt, Ginger and Chris McCloy, and Johanna Pratt Fitzgerald; and grandchildren Nick, RJ and Lily Jaczko; Mercedes, Quinn and Aimee Pratt; and Gavin and Kyle Fitzgerald.
Stanley was inducted into the Private Equity Hall of Fame for his work on behalf of the venture capital industry. For several years he published a trade publication, Venture Economics Journal, for and about venture capitalists and their growing world. When he bought the publication in the mid-70s, that world was small, and he was very much a part of its vast growth. He befriended VC titans and compiled an industry database into an index that would serve as a broad picture of the venture process, its successes and its bombs. Along with the Journal, Stanley also published several books about the industry, including Pratt’s Guide to Venture Capital Sources, which Kiplinger’s recommended as “the bible for private equity.” Venture Economics is now a subsidiary of Thomson Reuters Corporation.
In 1986, Stanley and Ray Held co-founded Abbott Capital Management, a private equity portfolio construction and management company for institutional investors.
After graduating from Noble and Greenough School and Brown University, Stanley worked for the Boston office of W.E. Hutton & Co. After becoming disenchanted with the transactional nature of investment banking, he formed several startups. His first company, Diversified Corporate Services, Stanley would later call “a bit like a venture capital company -- but without the capital.” An early client was the International House of Pancakes (IHOP). He later formed State Street Leasing, another success.
During the Korean War, Stanley served as communications officer aboard the USS Saufley, which did top secret undersea surveillance work in the Carribbean, laying on the seafloor a sonar system that would pick up even the lowest underwater frequency to detect enemy submarines. It was called the “Caesar Network” and it was such a closely held secret that “at all times we had jets flying above us to assure that nobody came near. Occasionally a merchant ship would bumble into the protected waters and the jets would buzz it. I’m sure it was an unpleasant experience, and the ship would beat a hasty retreat.” Later, he attended Fleet Training School at Guantanamo Bay and served as a ship inspector there.
In 1954, while his ship was being repaired after Hurricane Carol in New London, Connecticut, Stanley met his beautiful wife-to-be Maryanne Thomas. They were married for 64 years, living in Wellesley, West Falmouth, and Boca Grande. Stanley spent most of his life at one address on Abbott Road in Wellesley, which his grandparents, then parents owned, and which he later bought from the man his father sold it to. He and Burkey raised their children there, and it is now the home of his daughter Cindy and her family.
Stanley Pratt was a long time supporter and board member of Noble and Greenough School and the Wellesley Historical Society, and a former deacon at Wellesley Hills Congregational Church. Donations in his name may be made to the Virginia S. Pratt Scholarship Fund at Noble and Greenough, which Stanley named for his mother. A memorial service will be held for Stan Friday, Jan. 10, 2020 at 10am at the Wellesley Hills Congregational Church with luncheon to follow at Wellesley Country Club.