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Topic Cluster

Capital

‘Capital’ is a shorthand for ‘factors driving business finance and economic climates’, which is one of the three legs of triad mental model of business expertise. If you don’t know what that is, read this page first.

Broadly speaking, the Capital leg of the business expertise triad covers things like: P&L style thinking, capital allocation, capital structure and the relationship businesses have with capital markets. It also has to do with the ‘capital cycle’ (more broadly known as the market cycle).

It is this Capital aspect of expertise in business that Warren Buffett was referring to when he said “I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am an investor.”

Series and Guides

There is really one big series here:

Historically, Commoncog has alluded to but not focused on capital as a topic. That should change in the coming months.

‘Capital’ is a shorthand for ‘factors driving business finance and economic climates’, which is one of the three legs of triad mental model of business expertise. If you don’t know what that is, read this page first.

Broadly speaking, the Capital leg of the business expertise triad covers things like: P&L style thinking, capital allocation, capital structure and the relationship businesses have with capital markets. It also has to do with the ‘capital cycle’ (more broadly known as the market cycle).

It is this Capital aspect of expertise in business that Warren Buffett was referring to when he said “I am a better investor because I am a businessman, and a better businessman because I am an investor.”

Series and Guides

There is really one big series here:

Historically, Commoncog has alluded to but not focused on capital as a topic. That should change in the coming months.

This topic overview was last updated .

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Articles //  Page 1

Feature image for How Reliance Won

How Reliance Won

How the Ambanis became the richest family in Asia. This is the third case on the rise of a tycoon, and the last one before we start talking about the core pattern in all of these Asian Tycoon’s lives. Part 6 in the Asian Conglomerate Series.

 Members only
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Activist Investing in Asian Conglomerates

How do Asian conglomerates play in capital markets, given pliable governments and weak regulators? We examine the career of one activist investor, to see what that tells us about the Asian tycoons we’ve been studying.

Feature image for Let’s Talk Corruption

Let’s Talk Corruption

How to think about corruption when talking about Asian businesses. Part 4 of the Asian Conglomerate series.

 Members only
Feature image for The Study of Asian Tycoons

The Study of Asian Tycoons

What can we learn from the study of Asian conglomerates, and the small group of tycoons that control them?

Feature image for Power and Asian Business

Power and Asian Business

The culmination of the Power in Business mini series. What it’s like doing business without the Rule of Law.

 Members only
Feature image for How to Use Power

How to Use Power

How do you gain power, use power, and identify those who have power, so that you may protect yourself against them? Part two of three in a series on power in business.

 Members only
Feature image for What is Power?

What is Power?

Understanding how power works in business is necessary to understanding business in developing markets. A members-only mini series.

 Members only
Feature image for Businesses as Ecosystem Organisms

Businesses as Ecosystem Organisms

What we can learn from seeing businesses as organisms in an ecosystem ... using the particularly odd example of HEICO as the barnacle to TransDigm’s whale.

 Members only
Feature image for Getting Burnt by Business Expansion

Getting Burnt by Business Expansion

A recurring pattern that seems to show up again and again in business: expansion is dangerous, and everyone really only learns this through pain.

 Members only
Feature image for Running a Fine Dining Restaurant in a Recession

Running a Fine Dining Restaurant in a Recession

How Eleven Madison Park survived the 2008 Global Recession ... and what this tells us about operating through the capital cycle.

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