You when you’ve been in the industry for decades, the institutional knowledge is solid gold. And the opportunity to have the information from those years of experience passed along to the next generation of integration company owners is priceless. With all the pressures facing CE pros today from supply chain to labor rates to company culture, worthy advice from someone who has seen it all and done it all is welcome indeed.

That’s where Franklin Karp comes in. After spending decades in the trenches, Karp is now sharing his sage advice with others through the formation of his own consulting company: Franklin Karp & Co. Karp started in the consumer electronics business when he was in college selling stereos. That evolved to a job in retail at Stereo Warehouse before moving Harvey Electronics, a high-end dedicated retailer that eventually expanded into custom installation. Harvey’s grew to $46 million in sales, including $21 million in custom installation during Karp’s long tenure. For the past decade he has been at Audio Video Systems in New York, dealing with vendors and affluent clientele.