Eight operator-CEOs framed as capital allocators. Thorndike's argument is that the discipline of capital allocation, which buyers spend most of their time on, is also the discipline that produces the businesses buyers are most willing to pay for.
The Outsiders is the most-cited modern book on operator-CEO discipline. For founders thinking about the third year of preparation work, the chapters on Henry Singleton (Teledyne) and Bill Anders (General Dynamics) are the most directly applicable; both demonstrate the kind of decision-making the buyer’s diligence team will look for evidence of, in a business they are pricing.
Read for: the framework chapters and the Singleton and Anders profiles. Read past: nothing, the cuts are clean.