Sublime
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exceptional relative performance demands new thinking,
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
believed the key to long-term value creation was to optimize free cash flow,
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
focus on industries with attractive economic characteristics, selectively use leverage to buy occasional large properties, improve operations, pay down debt, and repeat.
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
was the belief that the primary goal for any CEO was to optimize long-term value per share, not organizational growth.
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
These differing results tell an important capital allocation parable: the value of being in businesses with attractive returns on capital, and the related importance of getting out of low-return businesses.
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
“The goal is not to have the longest train, but to arrive at the station first using the least fuel.”
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
“After we acquired a number of businesses, we reflected on business. Our conclusion was that the key was cash flow. . . . Our attitude toward cash generation and asset management came out of our own thinking.”
William Thorndike • The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
There were two basic sources of this astonishing influx: a remarkable tightening of operations and the sale of businesses deemed noncore by Anders’s strategic framework.