Steve Ross

Strategic Concepts & Mechanics

Cornerstone MoveEquity Stakes for Distribution Leverage Competitive AdvantageCableLabs Royalty-Free Standards Play Cornerstone MoveStock Architecture to Lock Control Competitive AdvantageBlackout as Franchise Leverage Capital StrategyTax-Sheltered Growing Annuity Capital StrategyInsurance Company Capital Over Banks Signature MoveNever Bet the Whole Farm Strategic PatternWarrants as Industry Coordination Currency Decision FrameworkEmpathy as Negotiation Architecture Signature MoveThrow the Keys on the Table Signature MoveOwn a Small Piece of a Winner You Can't Run Operating PrincipleDecentralized Cowboys with Centralized Benchmarks Risk DoctrineWhat If Not as Decision Filter Strategic PatternScale Economics as Survival Doctrine Signature MoveAsk One Sharp Question to Crack Open Intel Signature MoveCash Flow Not Earnings as Currency Cornerstone MoveBuy the System, Pay With Its Own Cash Flow Identity & CultureIntrovert's Edge Through Listening Operating PrincipleDenial as Quality Control Identity & CulturePrincipal or Employee, No Middle Ground Signature MoveInstinct Over Data as Decision Doctrine Cornerstone MoveOne Dumb Step Then Course-Correct at Speed Operating PrincipleCreative Conflict as Decision Engine Decision FrameworkSerendipity as Career Navigation System Cornerstone MoveControl Hardwired or Walk Away Signature MoveHire Sparky Blank Slates Over Credentialed Veterans Competitive AdvantageContrarian Counterprogramming as Market Entry Strategic PatternScreens as Interactive Commerce Surfaces Cornerstone MoveSeize Mismanaged Clay and Sculpt It Capital StrategyCash the Lucky Check Immediately Signature MoveMaterial First, Never the Package Identity & CultureFearlessness Borrowed from Greater Terror Operating PrincipleDrill to Molecular Understanding Before Acting Signature MoveSpin Out What You Build, Never Hoard Scale Signature MoveTorture the Process Until Truth Rings Strategic PatternProfitable Service Over Growth for Growth Operating PrincipleIncorporating Problem Causers Into Solutions Capital StrategyMoral Obligation Bond Innovation Strategic PatternBear Hug Takeover Strategy Signature MoveRelationship Banking Over Transaction Focus Signature MoveGovernment Partnership During Business Crisis Signature MoveTheater in High-Stakes Negotiations Decision FrameworkSquare Pegs Into Round Holes Signature MoveCrisis Action Before Complete Data

Primary Evidence

"As word got out I was looking, I got a call from Steve Ross at Warner. He was an impeccably dressed and roguishly charming media visionary charging against the Big Three television networks (ABC, CBS, and NBC) that dominated broadcasting with unprecedented news and entertainment choices. Ross had parleyed his early start in the funeral parlor business into what would one day become one of the largest entertainment companies in the world, Time Warner."

Source:Born to Be Wired

"So, I turned down Steve Ross’s offer of $150,000 a year and lots of perks, and Irving’s offer to run the largest cable operator in the U.S., to join Bob Magness, a down-on-his-luck cable operator whose company was running fast but deep in debt. Starting pay: $60,000 a year. I look back on that decision, and I smile at how naive I was at the time. You are unafraid of what you don’t know."

Source:Born to Be Wired

"From Steve Ross, the dealmaker who built Time Warner, I learned how posturing for no reason other than his worry about maintaining his supreme self-image could hold up a deal: he once kept me in my office in the deep of winter, after they had turned off the heat, until I agreed to something he hadn’t even yet offered—because it would only be offered officially if he could count on my saying yes to it. His ego couldn’t stand the possible rejection."

Source:Who Knew

"General David Sarnoff, the chairman of RCA. Two of the general’s cousins, Steve Ross and Eddie Rosenthal, wanted our help with an acquisition. Through their company Kinney National, the Rosenthal family owned funeral parlors as well as garages, parking lots, and building service concerns. As part of their funeral business, they also operated a fleet of limousines and were now hoping to acquire Avis Rent-A-Car. The fit, the Rosenthals were convinced, would be a logical one for Kinney."

Source:Dealings

"At its roots, the investment banker’s craft, I was beginning to learn, was very much a challenge to fit disparate pieces together. Completing the puzzle required not simply diligence and strategy, but at times an iron will. To make the deal, you had on occasion to be willing to shove square pegs into round holes. And so it was when I teamed up once again with my old friend from the back room of the Riverside Funeral parlor, Steve Ross. This time, Steve had set his sights on a much bigger prize—he was determined to conquer Hollywood."

Source:Dealings

Appears In Volumes

Born to Be Wired Who Knew Dealings