Six Books I’ve Read Recently
One topic Andrew and I don’t discuss much on the podcast are the books we’re reading. Despite that, some podcast listeners email me with requests for book recommendations. Since my interests are probably different than yours – I can’t really make recommendations.
But, I can tell you what I read when I read it.
So, here are the six most recent books I’ve read:
Limping on Water – I enjoyed this book a lot more than most people will. Capital Cities is the company I am most interested in that has been written about the least. I have read some books that touch on Capital Cities. These are basically “The Outsiders” which has a chapter on Tom Murphy, books about Warren Buffett that discuss Capital Cities, books about Disney (Disney War covers Eisner who bought Capital Cities; The Ride of a Lifetime covers Iger who came from Capital Cities), and books about ABC (which Capital Cities bought). Otherwise, I have not read much directly about Capital Cities. It’s one of the most successful public companies about which very little has been written. This is an insider’s account and covers only the jobs he had while there. It won’t give you a big picture take on Capital Cities. But, I’m definitely glad I read it.
Beating the Odds – I’m mentioning this one because Capital Cities eventually went on to buy ABC. It’s a corporate history of the ABC television network. This book basically ends at the point where Leonard Goldenson sells out to Tom Murphy (and Warren Buffett). The book runs from a period slightly before “the Paramount Decision” when U.S. movie studios (like Paramount) had vertically integrated control of U.S. movie theaters. From there, the rump of a split-up Paramount goes on to buy the fourth place U.S. TV network and expands it greatly. So, basically we’re talking about the U.S. TV business from like 1945-1985. This is an insider’s account. But, because Goldenson was at the top of the organization for decades it also might as well just be a corporate history of ABC. I liked this book a lot. However, it’s possible my background knowledge from other books about this industry during this time period is part of what makes books like “Beating the Odds” and “Limping on Water” more enjoyable for me than for others. By the way, the book starts with a short intro from Warren Buffett.
SKI Inc – A manager’s account of running different ski resorts in the U.S. Like “Limping on Water” this is basically just about the jobs he held and what he had to do. So, there is not always a ton of context about the overall industry. It is, however, a business book. It’s about the ski resort business as a business. It’s not some behind the scenes account of the resorts themselves. This isn’t an industry that gets written about much. So, it’s the kind of book I find most useful.
The Great Texas Banking Crash – Broadly, this is a topic I’m interested in. It’s about the late 1980s bank crisis in Texas that resulted in the failure or merger (with out of state banks) of 9 out of 10 of the top banks in the state. However, this is actually a narrow book. It’s an insider’s account. And it’s almost entirely about the process inside one failed bank from the day the bank approached the FDIC seeking a rescue plan till the day the FDIC ultimately closed the bank down. I’ve read better books on specific bank failures. For example, I’d recommend “Funny Money” about the failure of Penn Square and “The Lost Bank” about the failure of Washington Mutual instead of this one.
Monetizing Innovation – The author of this one works at Simon-Kucher & Partners, which is a consulting firm focused on pricing strategies. I’ve read several books from someone else at the firm (Hidden Champions, Confessions of a Pricing Man, and Manage for Profit Not for Market Share). The book’s argument is to start by figuring out the “willingness to pay” of those you are aiming to sell to and then work from there to design a product or service around that willingness to pay. In other words, don’t design your product or service first and then price it based on your costs. Start with the right price and then work backwards. It’s a solid idea. However, I think most people will get the idea just as well from an interview the author did on the “Invest with the Best” podcast. You probably don’t need to read the actual book.
Power Failure – I would guess this would be most people’s favorite. It’s a history of the decline of General Electric starting from the founding of GE. It gives a full corporate history. However, the book is really built around the contrasting CEO tenures of Jack Welch and Jeff Immelt. The book is more comprehensive and analytical in comparing what happened under Welch and what happened under Immelt than I had expected. Also, the author has a strong background writing about financial firms (much of his other writing has been about investment banks). So, he does a better job explaining GE Capital’s importance to GE both during the period when it helped the company grow earnings steadily and during the period when it caused serious problems. I have already read “Lights Out”. However, I have not read “Hot Seat”. I learned more from Power Failure than from Lights Out.
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