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Intelligent Fanatics: Standing on the Shoulders of Giants
Intelligent Fanatics are the world's greatest business builders. They create companies and organizations that dominate and stand the test of time. Charlie Munger was the first person to use the term Intelligent Fanatic. He described them as possessing business talents that allow them to do things that ordinary skilled mortals can't.
In our second book, we pick up where our first book Intelligent Fanatics Project left off. We help you accumulate and internalize the experiences of nine more, relatively unknown, intelligent fanatic giants. We also contrast their leadership styles against less successful companies during the time period. The intelligent fanatic blueprint holds true across every time period, continent, and industry.
You can receive wisdom in two primary ways. The first way is to learn from personal experience and your own mistakes. The second way is to learn from the successes and failures of others. Sir Isaac Newton said it best, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Our goal is to help you see further. With the right amount of effort and creativity you too will have the ability to keep up with the fast "tempo" of business, adapt with the quickly changing "harmony," or moving trends, and make it all look effortless.
In our second book, we pick up where our first book Intelligent Fanatics Project left off. We help you accumulate and internalize the experiences of nine more, relatively unknown, intelligent fanatic giants. We also contrast their leadership styles against less successful companies during the time period. The intelligent fanatic blueprint holds true across every time period, continent, and industry.
You can receive wisdom in two primary ways. The first way is to learn from personal experience and your own mistakes. The second way is to learn from the successes and failures of others. Sir Isaac Newton said it best, "If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants."
Our goal is to help you see further. With the right amount of effort and creativity you too will have the ability to keep up with the fast "tempo" of business, adapt with the quickly changing "harmony," or moving trends, and make it all look effortless.
217 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 18, 2017
31 people are currently reading
328 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
April 9, 2020
How does a great company sustain and grow profits for decades? Many people are familiar with Warren Buffett’s analogy of a moat: various defenses to thwart competition. But moats are fleeting; they are here today and gone tomorrow. The more important question is, who builds and maintains moats?
Intelligent fanatics do. These leaders build high-performance organizations that can dominate for decades.
While it was Charlie Munger who came up with the term “intelligent fanatic” to describe individuals with large ideas and a fanatical drive to build sustainable competitive advantages over time. These are precisely the type of individuals most likely to found companies that deliver amazing results over many decades.
Ian Cassel’s book “Intelligent Fanatics”, a book that attempts to help readers find intelligent fanatics at an early stage by providing case studies of known intelligent fanatics who have already succeeded in compounding wealth at high rates over many decades. By studying the past and the common elements and themes that have helped these intelligent fanatics succeed, investors may be able to spot the next big thing.
Intelligent Fanatics looks at the stories of eight intelligent fanatics who built dominant and enduring businesses. A $1,000 investment with each of these intelligent fanatics would, on average, have been worth $3.4 million thirty-seven years later—a 24.6% compounded annual return. They operated in a wide array of industries, in different time periods, on different continents, and against different economic backdrops, yet their leadership styles, strategies, corporate cultures, and values were similar. Interestingly, they have also covered one intelligent fanatic from India i.e. ‘Dr. Devi Shetty” of “Narayana Health”
Intelligent fanatics are what every entrepreneur aspires to be and what every long-term investor dreams of finding and investing in early. Sean Iddings and Ian Cassel examine the common traits of these intelligent fanatics, to help both the investor and the entrepreneur generate extraordinary returns.
“ Intelligent Fanatics” is a nice, fast and easy read. The book advocates that culture is probably the most enduring and powerful force of the business. Competitors can copy the business models but not the culture. The characteristics of this high-performing culture are, in my own take:
1) Decentralised organisation structure to create an entrepreneurial environment (even after companies have grown big) with lots of experimentation, no extensive detailed business plan and paranoia about productivity.
2) Employee culture: great incentive system that attracts the high-quality (not qualification) people, results in owner mindset and and has generally very low employee turn-over. Vision and purposes of the company need to be communicated well so that employees will "own" this vision. Employee first vs shareholder first. Treat employee well so that they will, in turn, treat customers well.
3) Strong founder who inspires and leads by example, who is frugal and imposes frugality across the firm, and has large founder ownership that results in long-term focus.
None of these CEOs have any significant industry experience before. Firstly, the experience is over-rated. Secondly, with no experience, these CEOs are not weighed down by the industry dogma.
This is a good book to start learning about businesses with high-functioning cultures.
Intelligent fanatics do. These leaders build high-performance organizations that can dominate for decades.
While it was Charlie Munger who came up with the term “intelligent fanatic” to describe individuals with large ideas and a fanatical drive to build sustainable competitive advantages over time. These are precisely the type of individuals most likely to found companies that deliver amazing results over many decades.
Ian Cassel’s book “Intelligent Fanatics”, a book that attempts to help readers find intelligent fanatics at an early stage by providing case studies of known intelligent fanatics who have already succeeded in compounding wealth at high rates over many decades. By studying the past and the common elements and themes that have helped these intelligent fanatics succeed, investors may be able to spot the next big thing.
Intelligent Fanatics looks at the stories of eight intelligent fanatics who built dominant and enduring businesses. A $1,000 investment with each of these intelligent fanatics would, on average, have been worth $3.4 million thirty-seven years later—a 24.6% compounded annual return. They operated in a wide array of industries, in different time periods, on different continents, and against different economic backdrops, yet their leadership styles, strategies, corporate cultures, and values were similar. Interestingly, they have also covered one intelligent fanatic from India i.e. ‘Dr. Devi Shetty” of “Narayana Health”
Intelligent fanatics are what every entrepreneur aspires to be and what every long-term investor dreams of finding and investing in early. Sean Iddings and Ian Cassel examine the common traits of these intelligent fanatics, to help both the investor and the entrepreneur generate extraordinary returns.
“ Intelligent Fanatics” is a nice, fast and easy read. The book advocates that culture is probably the most enduring and powerful force of the business. Competitors can copy the business models but not the culture. The characteristics of this high-performing culture are, in my own take:
1) Decentralised organisation structure to create an entrepreneurial environment (even after companies have grown big) with lots of experimentation, no extensive detailed business plan and paranoia about productivity.
2) Employee culture: great incentive system that attracts the high-quality (not qualification) people, results in owner mindset and and has generally very low employee turn-over. Vision and purposes of the company need to be communicated well so that employees will "own" this vision. Employee first vs shareholder first. Treat employee well so that they will, in turn, treat customers well.
3) Strong founder who inspires and leads by example, who is frugal and imposes frugality across the firm, and has large founder ownership that results in long-term focus.
None of these CEOs have any significant industry experience before. Firstly, the experience is over-rated. Secondly, with no experience, these CEOs are not weighed down by the industry dogma.
This is a good book to start learning about businesses with high-functioning cultures.
November 7, 2018
En kollektion av flera framgångsrika företagsledare i diverse branscher. Roligt att få läsa om personer man tidigare inte hört talas om. Blir ofta de klyschiga exemplen med Jobs, Gates, Singleton m.fl.
Framgångsfaktorerna för människorna i denna boken liknar den tidigare boken, därav ges inga nya insikter tyvärr. I fokus är fortfarande långsiktigheten, rätta incitament för hela företaget, risktagande och decentralisering.
Ledarna som tas upp:
Henry Wellcome - Burroughs Wellcome & Company
Clessie Cummins & Irwin family - Cummins
Peter Kiewit - Peter Kiewit Sons Inc
Roger Milliken - Milliken & Company
Hank Rowan - Inductotherm Corp
Jack Henry & Jerry Hall - Jack Henry & Associates
Harold & Dan Leever - MacDermid Inc
Bob Johnson - Black Entertainment Television
Dr. Devi Shetty - Narayana Health
Framgångsfaktorerna för människorna i denna boken liknar den tidigare boken, därav ges inga nya insikter tyvärr. I fokus är fortfarande långsiktigheten, rätta incitament för hela företaget, risktagande och decentralisering.
Ledarna som tas upp:
Henry Wellcome - Burroughs Wellcome & Company
Clessie Cummins & Irwin family - Cummins
Peter Kiewit - Peter Kiewit Sons Inc
Roger Milliken - Milliken & Company
Hank Rowan - Inductotherm Corp
Jack Henry & Jerry Hall - Jack Henry & Associates
Harold & Dan Leever - MacDermid Inc
Bob Johnson - Black Entertainment Television
Dr. Devi Shetty - Narayana Health
June 26, 2020
It's a little harsh to give this book three stars. If it wasn't being compared to the first Intelligent Fanatics volume, it'd probably be four stars, but it was tough to follow volume one.
While some of the case studies included helpful details, like Johnson's pushback on his executives' stock options at BET, there were others that seemed to paint vague pictures. The case study ended before I felt like I learned anything meaningful.
That said, I'd still recommend giving this book a read, if only to be reminded how important it is to get culture right!
While some of the case studies included helpful details, like Johnson's pushback on his executives' stock options at BET, there were others that seemed to paint vague pictures. The case study ended before I felt like I learned anything meaningful.
That said, I'd still recommend giving this book a read, if only to be reminded how important it is to get culture right!
February 26, 2018
I really enjoyed this very readable business book. It speaks to various business leaders and their organizations that they as "intelligent fanatics" lead to the top of their fields. I particularly enjoyed reading about the Cummins Engine Co and of Jack Henry and Associates. Nine different organizations featured in this quick, enjoyable read.... and as a bonus... plenty of inspiration and ideas that could be practicably applied to your situation investing or working.
May 23, 2018
A collection of various business stalwarts who have delivered great results. They are not in the limelight and that's what makes the book interesting. It shows different leadership styles, decision making frameworks that one can adapt in their lives. Lessons can be incorporated so that we need not repeat.
May 16, 2019
It is inspiring to read such books. The commanlity is 'How all those leaders built a people centric organization and got the right balance between intrinsic and extrinsic incentives'. Many companies have incentives and only some serve the purpose and a very few get it right. Those few go ahead and create a competitive advantage through PEOPLE even in a boring, commodatized industry.
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August 7, 2019Good book
One of those book that focuses on traits of great leaders. Building culture and focus on HR was the most imp criteria. Most Intellegent Fanatics believed in working on process, and results will take care of itself
One of those book that focuses on traits of great leaders. Building culture and focus on HR was the most imp criteria. Most Intellegent Fanatics believed in working on process, and results will take care of itself
March 30, 2018
Not as good as the previous book "The Intelligent Fanatic Project". This book is about 9 under the radar great business founder / ceo (intelligent fanatics):
Henry Wellcome - Burroughs Wellcome & Company
Clessie Cummins & Irwin family - Cummins
Peter Kiewit - Peter Kiewit Sons Inc
Roger Milliken - Milliken & Company
Hank Rowan - Inductotherm Corp
Jack Henry & Jerry Hall - Jack Henry & Associates
Harold & Dan Leever - MacDermid Inc
Bob Johnson - Black Entertainment Television
Dr. Devi Shetty - Narayana Health
The blueprint for these intelligent fanatics are similar to the 8 in the previous book so there's is not much new ideas to learn but it's still nice to learn more about high functioning businesses. The writing (story telling ability) is not very good though.
Henry Wellcome - Burroughs Wellcome & Company
Clessie Cummins & Irwin family - Cummins
Peter Kiewit - Peter Kiewit Sons Inc
Roger Milliken - Milliken & Company
Hank Rowan - Inductotherm Corp
Jack Henry & Jerry Hall - Jack Henry & Associates
Harold & Dan Leever - MacDermid Inc
Bob Johnson - Black Entertainment Television
Dr. Devi Shetty - Narayana Health
The blueprint for these intelligent fanatics are similar to the 8 in the previous book so there's is not much new ideas to learn but it's still nice to learn more about high functioning businesses. The writing (story telling ability) is not very good though.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews