Companies
Meeting management: the questions we actually ask
Less about strategy, more about character and how people get paid.
A management meeting is theatre unless you ask something the rehearsal did not cover. Strategy questions get strategy answers: polished, prepared, close to useless. We try to get underneath that.
We ask what they would do with the business if they owned all of it and could never sell. We ask which competitor they respect, and why. We ask about the worst year they have had and what it changed. We ask how they are paid, then we ignore the answer and read the proxy.
Mostly we are testing for two things. Candour, and alignment. Will this person tell us something true that does not flatter them? Do they win when we win, or only when the share price wins this year? A capable manager who is misaligned will eventually use that capability against you.
We have walked away from excellent businesses because the people running them answered these questions badly. We have not once regretted it.
The views above are the firm's own and are provided for information only. They are not investment advice, nor an offer or solicitation to invest. Capital at risk; the value of investments can go down as well as up, and past performance is not a guide to future results.
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