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The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success Hardcover – October 23, 2012

by William N. Thorndike (Author)

265 customer reviews

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“An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation.” — Warren Buffett

#1 on Warren Buffett’s Recommended Reading List, Berkshire Hathaway Annual Shareholder Letter, 2012

Named one of “19 Books Billionaire Charlie Munger Thinks You Should Read” in Business Insider.

“A book that details the extraordinary success of CEOs who took a radically different approach to corporate management.” — Charlie Munger, Vice-Chairman of Berkshire Hathaway Corporation

“Thorndike explores the importance of thoughtful capital allocation through the stories of eight successful CEOs. A good read for any business leader but especially those willing to chart their own course.” — Michael Dell, chairman of the board of directors and chief executive officer of Dell

What makes a successful CEO? Most people call to mind a familiar definition: “a seasoned manager with deep industry expertise.” Others might point to the qualities of today’s so-called celebrity CEOs—charisma, virtuoso communication skills, and a confident management style. But what really matters when you run an organization? What is the hallmark of exceptional CEO performance? Quite simply, it is the returns for the shareholders of that company over the long term.

In this refreshing, counterintuitive book, author Will Thorndike brings to bear the analytical wisdom of a successful career in investing, closely evaluating the performance of companies and their leaders. You will meet eight individualistic CEOs whose firms’ average returns outperformed the S&P 500 by a factor of twenty—in other words, an investment of $10,000 with each of these CEOs, on average, would have been worth over $1.5 million twenty-five years later. You may not know all their names, but you will recognize their companies: General Cinema, Ralston Purina, The Washington Post Company, Berkshire Hathaway, General Dynamics, Capital Cities Broadcasting, TCI, and Teledyne. In The Outsiders, you’ll learn the traits and methods—striking for their consistency and relentless rationality—that helped these unique leaders achieve such exceptional performance.

Humble, unassuming, and often frugal, these “outsiders” shunned Wall Street and the press, and shied away from the hottest new management trends. Instead, they shared specific traits that put them and the companies they led on winning trajectories: a laser-sharp focus on per share value as opposed to earnings or sales growth; an exceptional talent for allocating capital and human resources; and the belief that cash flow, not reported earnings, determines a company’s long-term value.

Drawing on years of research and experience, Thorndike tells eye-opening stories, extracting lessons and revealing a compelling alternative model for anyone interested in leading a company or investing in one—and reaping extraordinary returns.

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

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Editorial Reviews

Review

“An outstanding book about CEOs who excelled at capital allocation.” — Warren Buffett

“One of the Most Important Business Books in America.” — Forbes

“This book completely changed my business life... If you want to build a company that generates incredible returns, this book should be on your required reading list.” — Dave Morin, Founder & Partner, Slow Ventures as seen on Medium

“… easily the best investment or business book published in the past few years…” — Brendan Matthews, Motley Fool

“…an important insider’s perspective, an unapologetic glimpse into the hard-core investor view of what success looks like.” — Forbes.com

"It focuses on the less sexy but equally important job of a CEO—capital allocation." — Mebane Faber, CIO and portfolio manager at Cambria Investment Management (Business Insider’s Wall Street Reading List for 2014)

“Thorndike wants to give any manager or business owner the confidence to occasionally do things differently from your peers … to make the most of the cards they’re dealt and to delight their shareholders.” — Financial Times

“[Thorndike's] findings turn received wisdom about CEO success on its head. It’s not revenue and profit growth, but the increase in a company’s per share value that offers the ultimate barometer of a CEO’s greatness… Thorndike may have discovered an alchemic formula for CEO success. But will existing CEOs listen?” — economia

“Thorndike has done extensive research on each of the people features, and their success story makes for an inspiring and most definitely, compelling read.” — The Hindu (India)

“An extremely instructive read…well worth the effort.” — Business Traveller magazine

“This is an eminently readable volume with plenty of lessons.” — The Irish Times

ADVANCE PRAISE for The Outsiders:

Jim Collins, author, Good to Great; coauthor, Built to Last and Great by Choice—
“Will Thorndike dissects an eclectic and fascinating group of business leaders who created exceptional long-term value. He takes the unique angle of examining great CEOs as chief allocators of capital, so disciplined in their empirical rationality as to be nonconformists in the very best sense. Thorndike’s take is fresh, smart, and provocative—and well worth learning.”

Michael J. Mauboussin, Chief Investment Strategist, Legg Mason Capital Management; author, The Success Equation—
“Will Thorndike provides management principles that are as rock solid as they are rare and shares the engaging stories of eight CEOs who lived by them. The ideas in this book provide both executives and investors with the North Star of value. Follow it and prosper.”

Mason Hawkins, Chairman and CEO, Southeastern Asset Management—
“The Outsiders is a must-read for leaders—and aspiring leaders—striving to become exceptional CEOs, and for investors interested in partnering with exceptional stewards of corporate capital.”

Walter Kiechel, author, The Lords of Strategy—
“If creating wealth for shareholders is the ultimate test of a CEO, meet the champions. The names of these ‘outsiders’ may come as a surprise, but you will learn valuable strategic lessons from their iconoclastic ways.”

Thomas A. Russo, Partner, Gardner Russo & Gardner—
“The Outsiders celebrates leaders who kept their firms focused, rewarded their management despite long periods of inactivity, and—by keeping their companies out of trouble—found themselves free to pounce when compelling opportunities arose. A highly effective playbook for excellence.”

About the Author

William N. Thorndike is founder and a managing director of Housatonic Partners, a private equity firm. He is a graduate of Harvard College and the Stanford Graduate School of Business and has been a guest lecturer at the Harvard and Stanford business schools. He is a director of eight companies, and two not-for-profit organizations and lives in the Boston area with his wife and two children.

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Product details

Hardcover: 272 pages
Publisher: Harvard Business Review Press; 9/23/12 edition (October 23, 2012)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1422162672
ISBN-13: 978-1422162675
Product Dimensions: 1.2 x 5.8 x 8.5 inches
Shipping Weight: 13.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars See all reviews (265 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #4,492 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #18 in Books > Business & Money > Processes & Infrastructure > Strategic Planning
- #22 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Systems & Planning
- #136 in Books > Business & Money > Management & Leadership > Leadership

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Customer Reviews

265

4.6 out of 5 stars

5 star		75%
4 star		15%
3 star		5%
2 star		4%
1 star		1%

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Top Customer Reviews

Great Book!

ByMicroCapClubon April 6, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

If you never picked up a book and only got information through financial media outlets you would think the best CEO’s ever were Jack Welch, Donald Trump, Mark Cuban, and a few others that love media attention. I’ve always been obsessed with reading business biographies, especially on those CEO’s that are rarely interviewed on CNBC. Often times these less visible CEO’s have track records far greater than their counterparts. I want to learn how they grew their companies and built shareholder value.

The Outsiders is a great book that looks at eight CEO’s who produced above average returns for shareholders over the long term. In most cases these CEO’s were not attention junkies and were not only great capital allocators but also time allocators. Over 29 years Tom Murphy of Capital Cities produced a 19.9% compounded annual return. Over 27 years Henry Singleton of Teledyne produced a 20.4% compounded annual return. Over 17 years Nick Chabraja of General Dynamics produced a 23.3% compounded annual return. Over 46 years (to 2011) Warren Buffett of Berkshire Hathaway produced 20.7% compounded annual returns for shareholders.

These CEO’s as well as four others in the book were not your cookie cutter capital allocators and did not fit the mold of most business books you read today. Every one of the CEO’s was a first time CEO (no past history of success) and more than half had very little industry experience before taking over as CEO. I found these two things very interesting especially has it relates to microcap investing. So often I’m trying to find great management in microcap, which can be difficult if there is no prior resume. In all instances the Outsider CEO’s led decentralized organizations empowering others to make decisions and they were great capital allocators.

Outsider CEO’s ran high cash flowing businesses, which allowed them to take on debt (few ever issued equity) to make the strategic acquisition or to buy back stock when it was historically cheap. All but one of the eight companies bought back 30%+ of outstanding shares over a period of time. Some took on debt to buy back shares at depressed levels. For those that did use equity to make acquisitions they always knew when to do it (when the stock was expensive).

There are many more takeaways from the book, but you’ll just have to read it. I found the book very easy to read and in many cases reinforced management principles I’ve always felt were important. You will enjoy The Outsiders.

0Comment 8 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The fascinating and underappreciated art of capital allocation

ByRanaon October 6, 2013

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Simply put, The Outsiders is a must read for any thoughtful investor or manager. The book is written in easy to understand prose, yet the lessons planted within are extremely instructive for the novice or sophisticated businessperson.

As a graduate from a top MBA program, I can tell you that the book's topic is rarely studied at the world's best business schools. But that doesn't mean the lessons are not important. Far from it.

The basic premise is that a successful CEO needs to do two jobs - a) run their operations efficiently and b) decide how to deploy cash generated by those operations. Business schools are great at training future CEOs to do the first. The skills required to be effective at the second job is closer to those of an investor and aren't a focus for those entering Corporate America.

The Outsiders makes the case for why these jobs are not mutually exclusive and instead are both crucially important for a CEO to generate consistent outperformance overtime. The book profiles 8 CEOs whose day job more closely resemble a shrewd investor of a firm's resources than a prototypical CEO operator. The author shows how these CEOs are able to outperform the market and their peers by adhering to a common set of principles on how to allocate capital.

The Outsiders will not only help aspiring managers gain a better understanding of the value of capital allocation, but will also provide investors with a healthier appreciation of what great capital allocators look like.

0Comment 7 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

The best book on Warren Buffett investment insight and methodology

ByAndi S. Boediman (a venture capitalist and creative entrepreneur)on January 17, 2017

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

Buffett uses float from his insurance companies and cash flow from the consumer companies so he doesn't need to use external fundraise and debt to invest. The chapter on Warren Buffet is worth the price of the book.

As a venture capitalist and owner of many companies, I learn so many insightful strategies such as capital allocation, rolling up companies to maximize scale, margin and cash flow strategy to acquire companies. I get so many ideas to scale my investments.

Thanks William Thorndike to write an insightful book on capital allocation. Recommended for CEO, entrepreneurs and investors.

0Comment 2 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

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Most Recent Customer Reviews

Good read, worth your time.

Definitely worth reading! I gave it four stars because it just didn't knock me off my feet. I'm sure it is difficult to encompass such incredible leaders in such a short book, but...Read more

Published 4 days ago by Mac

Must read for those that plan to run a company

Great book that poses a new approach to what makes a great leader. I find myself saving pager after page and constantly taking notes and saving bookmarks.Read more

Published 9 days ago by Pen Name

The book gets down to what matters

If you are new to the CEO job and looking for a winning plan I recommend you read this book as a starting point.Read more

Published 29 days ago by Ben Iron

Must finish

Like most business books, you get it 30% of the way through. Unlike most business books, the last ten pages summarize and create the actual value of the book.Read more

Published 1 month ago by Client Kindle

Full of wisdom

True secrets of great CEOs. A must read for serious managers. No newbie material. The author keeps the topic as simple as possible so it can be understood by those not in day to...Read more

Published 2 months ago by Daniel

One of the Best Business Books I've Read in Years

There are no charismatic Steve Jobs' or screaming Bill Gates' profiled in this book. Rather than focus on those whose success was based on product innovation, author Thorndike...Read more

Published 2 months ago by PositiveLogic

Five Stars

Great read. No complaints Read more

Published 2 months ago by Cliff

Outstanding tool for re-framing your investment thinking

Outstanding. The author covers the history of several excellent CEOs who excelled in the area of capital allocation, and does it in a well-written and well-researched way.Read more

Published 3 months ago by Dan Brin

very informative

This was a gift, and he enjoyed it immensely!Read more

Published 3 months ago by dare

Just buy it -

Excellent! The end Read more

Published 3 months ago by evolutionofj

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