Fruchterman was born in Washington D.C. and grew up in the Chicago area. He graduated in 1976 from St. Viator High School in Arlington Heights, Illinois.
Fruchterman received his B.S. in Engineering and M.S. in Applied Physics from Caltech in 1980 and went on to Stanford University to pursue a PhD, but left school to join the Percheron private enterprise rocket project as its electrical engineer. The rocket blew up on the launch pad, but it launched Fruchterman’s career as a serial entrepreneur.