The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success
- Downloads：9184
- Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
- Create Date：2021-08-07 05:52:28
- Update Date：2025-09-06
- Status：finish
- Author：William N. Thorndike Jr.
- ISBN：1422162672
- Environment：PC/Android/iPhone/iPad/Kindle
- Download
Summary
”It is impossible to produce superior performance unless you do something different。” — John Templeton
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。
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。
Reviews
Jacek Łubiński
，
Great book on effective capital allocators and their playbooks。
S。E。 James
，
Hyvä kirja。 16kk odotus kirjastosta sekä sijoitus ammattilaisten suositukset nostivat odotukset kirjaa kohtaan ehkä liian korkealle。
Jakub Dembiński
，
Książka zawierająca lekcje od 8 utalentowanych CEO。 Dość zaawansowana pozycja， bardzo dużo terminologii giełdowej， z którą trzeba się obyć， ale nawet bez tego można wyciągnąć dla siebie lekcje。 Podsumowanie na końcu， świetnie wyciąga esencję i dobre praktyki， które powtarzały się w tych 8 przypadkach。Najlepszy cytat z książki: "When asked whether this was a case of leading by example， Murphy responded， “Is there any other way？”"Moje notatki:1。 Długoterminowe myślenie-nawet kosztem krótkoterminow Książka zawierająca lekcje od 8 utalentowanych CEO。 Dość zaawansowana pozycja， bardzo dużo terminologii giełdowej， z którą trzeba się obyć， ale nawet bez tego można wyciągnąć dla siebie lekcje。 Podsumowanie na końcu， świetnie wyciąga esencję i dobre praktyki， które powtarzały się w tych 8 przypadkach。Najlepszy cytat z książki: "When asked whether this was a case of leading by example， Murphy responded， “Is there any other way？”"Moje notatki:1。 Długoterminowe myślenie-nawet kosztem krótkoterminowych zysków2。 Bycie elastycznym， praktycznym i niezwiązanym z ideologią3。 Niezależne myślenie4。 Decyzje zawsze opieraj na danych5。 Koncentracja może zmniejszać ryzykoOsoby bardziej siedzące w giełdzie z pewnością wyciągną dużo， dużo więcej z tej książki。 。。。more
Martin Chiu
，
Good insight on CEO characteristics that have a high return rate
Terrence
，
4。5 stars
Christian Lyman
，
This book can be summed up as the following:Jack Welch = Virgin Warren Buffett = Chad
Prashanth Bhat
，
Pretty good and easy reading in investment and finance。 Interestingly connects master capital allocator CEO traights around buybacks， acquisitions， cash flow focus， etc。 Good read if you read investing books and follow value investment
Mahendra Rathod
，
This book is focused on what a CEO should do。 According to the book， a CEO should be evaluated only on "The compound annual return to its shareholders compared to the peer and overall market"。The book provides insights into the tenure of 7 CEOs who were totally unconventional but managed to achieve the above objective。 These 7 CEOs are called "The Outsiders"。According to the book， the Outsiders have the following characteristics: Capital Allocation: A CEO is like an investor。 He/She has to devot This book is focused on what a CEO should do。 According to the book， a CEO should be evaluated only on "The compound annual return to its shareholders compared to the peer and overall market"。The book provides insights into the tenure of 7 CEOs who were totally unconventional but managed to achieve the above objective。 These 7 CEOs are called "The Outsiders"。According to the book， the Outsiders have the following characteristics: Capital Allocation: A CEO is like an investor。 He/She has to devote maximum time to this activity。 Capital allocation is identifying avenues to deploy cash/resources which generates the best ROI。 Per Share Value: Once a CEO masters the art of Capital Allocation， it ensures an increase in per-share value for the shareholders。 The per-share value should be prioritised over growth or company size。Cashflow: For a company， Cashflow is a more important measure of a company's success than reported earnings。 Valuation is vanity， Reported Earnings is sanity， and Cashflow is reality。 Decentralization: Decentralise and give more power to the local heads/CEOs。 That will ensure more entrepreneurial value is released in the organization。 This will eliminate bureaucracy in the organizations。CEO Charisma is overrated: A CEO should focus more time on thinking， executing and managing。 Interactions with media， investor relationships etc are distractions。Stock Buybacks: Treat your own stock as an investment opportunity。 Buy when cheap and sell when expensive。This is a good management book - which is well written and insightful。 However， I did not agree with a few things in the book。A shareholder is a king: When CEOs focus only on shareholder wealth， they ignore other stakeholders i。e。 employees， customers， vendors and society at large。 Working only for shareholders is a very myopic and dangerous objective。 All the CEOs in this book are praised for saving costs （by firing employees of course apart from other things！）。Focus on saving taxes: Throughout the book， the CEOs are praised for their ability to save taxes。 This is a very selfish approach for any organization。USA focus: The book focuses on all the companies which are in the US。 Many great companies outside the US could have been covered as well。Old economy focus: The book may not be relevant for today's startups in its entirety。 Luck: When we do a postmortem analysis of a business phenomenon， we always ignore a very important component - which is luck。 The companies mentioned in this book were also the beneficiaries of unprecedented 70 years of growth seen by the US in these times。This is a one time read with what to do and what not to do as a CEO。 。。。more
Sandeep Bhat
，
The Outsiders is a case study analysis of Eight Ceos and their companies to create value。 Using shareholder returns as the supreme yardstick for success， William evaluates the need of CEO to concentrate only on capital allocation decisions。 Stressing the need for a effective leadership team to concentrate on operational decision and free cash flows， the book advocates the quality of repurchases， decentralised decision making， divestiture and tax saving methods to generate value of shareholders。 The Outsiders is a case study analysis of Eight Ceos and their companies to create value。 Using shareholder returns as the supreme yardstick for success， William evaluates the need of CEO to concentrate only on capital allocation decisions。 Stressing the need for a effective leadership team to concentrate on operational decision and free cash flows， the book advocates the quality of repurchases， decentralised decision making， divestiture and tax saving methods to generate value of shareholders。 The various chapters have a common thread of Warren Buffet and a separate chapter has been dedicated to Berkshire Hathaway。 Though the book is retrospective in nature， most of the philosophies mentioned in the book are evergreen and talks about a non pragmatic approach of CEOs in running their businesses。 。。。more
James K Worswick
，
Wonderful book that taught me about the Outsider CEOs and their methods of capital allocation， their personality traits， their emphasis on cash， and strategies they made to divest their business segments due to their low returns。The only thing I disagree with is when it was mentioned that it was OK to have high consistent leverage。 I agree to use leverage to buyback shares or for an acquisition， but to rarely mention about paying back debt is not OK in my books。
Eric
，
More interesting than most business books。
ada
，
*3。5 starsok so i feel like warren buffet secretly wrote this book; also the entire book can literally be summarized by the last page in the epilogue :））
Connor Owens
，
Loved it。 Made learning old topics and revisiting old stories fun。
Bhuvanesh Kandasamy
，
The book is about 8 unconventional CEOs who have outperformed the market and their peers throughout their tenure。 Some of the learnings from the book were:1） All the managers were great capital allocators and always looked for ways to boost shareholders value。 They effectively used capital by repurchasing their own shares when they found their stock cheap or made acquisitions by leveraging when their own company when prices were high。2） They were all independent decision makers and avoided atten The book is about 8 unconventional CEOs who have outperformed the market and their peers throughout their tenure。 Some of the learnings from the book were:1） All the managers were great capital allocators and always looked for ways to boost shareholders value。 They effectively used capital by repurchasing their own shares when they found their stock cheap or made acquisitions by leveraging when their own company when prices were high。2） They were all independent decision makers and avoided attention from media and bankers。3） They made acquisitions only when they found significant possibility of return and divested businesses when their prices were high or when they found a business maturing。4） Their businesses were decentralised and the headquarters of these managers had very few people。 All the operating managers were given freedom to run their individual business and establish processes while the CEO was involved mainly in capital allocation。5）They always deployed capital in ways which were tax efficient to boost shareholder value。6） The main skill set of all these CEOs is temperament and they always waited a long time before a great opportunity came in front of them。 。。。more
Cian
，
Phenomenal book on the methods used by CEO's who have provided the greatest returns for shareholders over long periods of time。 They all follow very similar approaches to managing their businesses: they have a very decentralised business structure and focus on capital allocation rather than operations。 In capital allocation they almost all bought back huge amounts of shares when they could be bought cheap， they waited for long periods of time for opportunities， and when great opportunities came Phenomenal book on the methods used by CEO's who have provided the greatest returns for shareholders over long periods of time。 They all follow very similar approaches to managing their businesses: they have a very decentralised business structure and focus on capital allocation rather than operations。 In capital allocation they almost all bought back huge amounts of shares when they could be bought cheap， they waited for long periods of time for opportunities， and when great opportunities came they acted quickly， didn't bother with diversification and made large acquisitions。 They funded their acquisitions through debt， stock issuance， cash flow， float and sale of assets。 。。。more
Sayantani
，
8 success stories with a common trait of exceptional capital allocations ， data driven insights and taking calculated risks。
Dave
，
Lots of interesting ideas that would be especially useful to the CEO of a Fortune 500 company。 As an entrepreneur with a small business I found plenty of relevant ideas， as well as some mostly irrelevant parts。 Unsurprisingly the chapter on Buffett was the most interesting。 Since he’s using 8 different stories to emphasize the same couple of ideas， it can get a little repetitive at times。
Beena Samtani
，
Very basic - repetitive at best。 Not a book that requires much thinking。
Israel
，
An interesting read on these seemingly unconventional CEOs。 The book focuses primarily on their unique approach to （and focus on） capital allocation/investments。 There isn't much else about what makes a successful CEO， as the title would suggest。 An interesting read on these seemingly unconventional CEOs。 The book focuses primarily on their unique approach to （and focus on） capital allocation/investments。 There isn't much else about what makes a successful CEO， as the title would suggest。 。。。more
Aviva Rosman
，
I thought this book would be triumphant stories of Steve Jobs-type CEOs sweating the details and energizing their companies against all odds。 Instead it turns out the radically rational blueprint for success for these eight outsider CEOs is。。。capital allocation。I ended up taking turns between reading this book and Investopedia as Thorndike discusses dividends， stock buybacks， float， and free cash flow。 As such， most of the lessons in the book - though interesting - mainly apply to publicly trade I thought this book would be triumphant stories of Steve Jobs-type CEOs sweating the details and energizing their companies against all odds。 Instead it turns out the radically rational blueprint for success for these eight outsider CEOs is。。。capital allocation。I ended up taking turns between reading this book and Investopedia as Thorndike discusses dividends， stock buybacks， float， and free cash flow。 As such， most of the lessons in the book - though interesting - mainly apply to publicly traded companies， although Thorndike does draw a connection in the epilogue to any business owner making decisions about how best to use their resources。 I didn't find it that helpful， but it was certainly a new and engaging topic for me。 While some of the companies featured like Berkshire Hathaway and the Washington Post are well-known， others like Capital Cities are much less famous than they should be （Capital Cities started out as an Albany cable station - it would later become big enough to buy ABC）。 And for stories about EBITDA and IRR， The Outsiders is surprisingly gripping。 。。。more
Chris Chen
，
A great book about CEOs and investing。Cash and cash metrics are king， CEOs should focus on human and financial capital allocation， and the CEO should drive strategic and capital allocation himself/herself。 Contrarian， and rational decision making are paramount - which can be difficult when having strong personal or emotional connections to individuals within an organization。 Spend less time on investor relationsneat case studies - what’s not emphasized enough is the importance of hiring a high q A great book about CEOs and investing。Cash and cash metrics are king， CEOs should focus on human and financial capital allocation， and the CEO should drive strategic and capital allocation himself/herself。 Contrarian， and rational decision making are paramount - which can be difficult when having strong personal or emotional connections to individuals within an organization。 Spend less time on investor relationsneat case studies - what’s not emphasized enough is the importance of hiring a high quality team and retaining them。 it’s mentioned as a crutual element （and incenting personal invesments into the stock） along with decentralization - although this might apply less in healthcare businesses， given the clinical threshold to centralling controlling standards and having clinicians in positions of making business deicions。 No Rules Rules does a good job of delving into how high quality teams are constructedRefreshing to read while currently deep in the operating weeds。 。。。more
My
，
Great lessons with interesting stories throughout。 Very enjoyable！
Alessandro Piovaccari
，
A Fantastic read！It flows fast and it is a great example of non-standard management practices that can give great results。
Shreyas
，
The ideas are repeated so much that rather than looking like a connection， it comes across as a copy pasting of the same content。 Structure of the book is not tight and the author doesn't create relatable characters to learn from， but makes it feel like the robots are at work。 The ideas are repeated so much that rather than looking like a connection， it comes across as a copy pasting of the same content。 Structure of the book is not tight and the author doesn't create relatable characters to learn from， but makes it feel like the robots are at work。 。。。more
Richard Edbury
，
A really interesting book that takes a basic premise， which CEOs have done best， and translates it into some very clear points。 Note that I will likely never be a CEO but I still learned a lot I can use from this book。 I enjoyed it a lot but this comes with a disclaimer。 Normally a book I rate five stars will have fairly universal appeal。 This is a fairly dry business book。 It's filled with stories but these are still stories about businesses that focus on asset allocation。 I'd recommend reading A really interesting book that takes a basic premise， which CEOs have done best， and translates it into some very clear points。 Note that I will likely never be a CEO but I still learned a lot I can use from this book。 I enjoyed it a lot but this comes with a disclaimer。 Normally a book I rate five stars will have fairly universal appeal。 This is a fairly dry business book。 It's filled with stories but these are still stories about businesses that focus on asset allocation。 I'd recommend reading The Snowball another 5-star book first and reading this if you enjoyed it。 。。。more
Ira Kraus
，
Great Book
Kaspars Koo
，
Was a bit disappointed。 Useful information but could have been a blog post。 Worth reading just a couple of those 8 stories to get the point。
Stephen
，
Different flavor than most typical business/management books。 A few takeaways。 -Very well researched， nice level of detail while maintaining the narrative non-fiction aspect and not turning into a piece of academia。-Reads like a set of case studies。 What I liked is that most of the businesses were ones which the reader was most likely very unfamiliar with。-some of the points/themes do get a bit redundant。 Repurchase stock， focus on capital allocation， run a decentralized organization。
Larkkonen
，
Interestinf business / investment book。 Reads somewhat like a collection of fictive stories。 Some survivorship bias in the CEOs imo。
Drew Johnson
，