Princeton

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Signature MoveOblique Messaging for Direct Truths

Cornerstone MoveFlip the Frame Before Solving the Problem

Signature MoveClever and Lazy Beats Clever and Busy

Competitive AdvantageBrands as Non-Shitness Guarantees

Operating PrincipleSerendipity as Engineerable Asset

Signature MoveKill Anxiety Before Building Preference

Signature MoveSatisficing Over Maximising as Default Lens

Strategic PatternSocial Embarrassment as Purchase Governor

Cornerstone MoveFind the Missing Third That Logic Won't Tell You

Signature MoveTransaction Cost as Hidden Competitor

Competitive AdvantageOverheard Signal Beats Direct Message

Decision FrameworkPath Dependency Precedes Brand Choice

Cornerstone MoveSteal From Adjacent Fields, Not Your Own

Risk DoctrineNaked Greed Destroys Brand Value

Strategic PatternSmall Can Charges More Than Big Can

Identity & CultureIdeals Outlive Strategies

Signature MoveSavén: Educate the Market Before You Can Sell To It

Operating PrincipleClear-Cut Forestry vs Regrowth Capitalism

Signature MoveJonsson: Wallenberg Network as Entry Ticket

Signature MoveMix: Shotgun Weddings Then Velvet-Rope Fundraising

Strategic PatternDeregulation as Deal-Flow Gold Rush

Capital StrategySecondaries: Passing Companies Between PE Funds

Cornerstone MoveDouble Profitability or Don't Enter

Cornerstone MoveHunt Corporate Orphans After Deregulation

Competitive AdvantageCanadian Pension Model: Kill the Middleman

Identity & CultureSwedish Hero Immunity for Visible Founders

Signature MoveKarlsson: Ratos as the Anti-Fund — Hold Seventeen Years If Needed

Risk DoctrineShort-Termism Trap: Five-Year Horizon vs Ten-Year Payoff

Signature MoveDahlström: Low Leverage, Family Businesses, Patient Capital

Cornerstone MoveDebt as the Engine, Company Pays Its Own Ransom

Signature MoveAhlström: Copenhagen Office to Dodge Swedish Capital Controls

Cornerstone MoveFee Airbag: Get Paid Win or Lose

Primary Evidence

"Einstein posted a sign in his office at Princeton which read, “Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.”"

Source:Rory Sutherland

"Later that spring, Mix heard the rumor that Feder’s counterpart at Harvard would come to Stockholm to meet competitor Nordic Capital. Mix acted lightning fast. He called up and invited Peter Dolan to dinner in one of Operakällaren’s secluded smaller dining rooms upstairs. The dinner went well, and Harvard also chose to invest in Altor’s first fund. In May 2003, in the record time of three months, Mix had gathered the 650 million euros that was the target; in addition to the pension foundations of Harvard and Princeton, he also brought along Yale’s university endowment, a total of about fifty investors. – At IK, we worked a lot with “shotgun wedding” when looking for investors, meaning we marketed ourselves very broadly. When I started Altor, I did the opposite, he says. Altor has stuck to that strategy. It works as long as things go well; you call old investors when setting up a new fund and ask if they want to join, and if they are satisfied, they say yes. Therefore, it is difficult for new investors to get into the best venture capital firms, their funds quickly become “pre-booked”."

Source:The Finance Princes - The Story of the Swedish Venture Capitalists

Appears In Volumes

Rory Sutherland The Finance Princes - The Story of the Swedish Venture Capitalists