Product Description

When real money is at stake, it tends to clarify the mind, and for over a decade, Anne-Marie Fink has had literally billions of dollars resting on her assessments of companies. As an equity analyst and professional investor, she has been charged with understanding whether businesses are solid, long-term moneymakers–or rotten tomatoes–before investing with them.

She has had unusual access to an incredible variety of businesses, from entertainment conglomerates to newspapers, Internet companies, airlines, railroads, furniture manufacturers, auto suppliers, staffing agencies, and others. Well known for her ability to drill down to the details and understand what makes a business tick, she has skillfully dissected the story of many a CEO and talked with people up and down the ranks, as well as customers, suppliers, regulators, distributors, bankers, and rivals–anyone who could give her insight on a company’s operations.

The result is a book of great originality–an unusual and perceptive look at business that busts myths and conventional thinking. Based on what she and her investing colleagues have seen firsthand, Anne-Marie Fink’s The Moneymakers provides a highly pragmatic framework for thriving in our hypercompetitive world. They include:

• Shrink to grow: Why expanding a bad (low-return) business means you just have more of a problem, and how a step backward is often the best way forward.
• Good performance requires inefficiency and duplication: How maximum efficiencyproduces suboptimal results by stifling innovation.
• Don’t be a customer fanatic: How to know when to listen to and when to ignore your customers.
• Economics always trumps management: Ignore bedrock economic laws–such as supply and demand–at your peril; it is akin to ordering the tides to stay in place.
• Why happy employees don’t make for high-performance workplaces.
• Problems in business are like cockroaches–there’s never just one: How to catch problems before they infest your company.
• Avoid the trap of profitless growth: Additional profitis an illusion if it consumes too much capital.
• Megatrends start as ripples: How to position your business to ride long-term waves, not be drowned by them.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #890966 in Books
• Published on: 2009-01-27
• Released on: 2009-01-27
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

Features

• ISBN13: 9780307396303
• Condition: NEW
• Notes: Brand New from Publisher. No Remainder Mark.
• Click here to view our Condition Guide and Shipping Prices

Review
“An incredibly sharp mind, Anne-Marie offers a strong, insightful point of view on what really makes companies succeed. Her book should be read by anyone with a serious interest in how companies achieve results.”
—Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer, CBS Corporation

“Anne-Marie knows the dynamics of the marketplace and what it takes for the best managers and companies to win.”
—Sumner Redstone, executive chairman of the board and founder, Viacom

“Her knowledge of the factors underlying long-term value creation will make her book essential reading for all managers.”
—Douglas H. McCorkindale, former chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Gannett Co., Inc.

“I have long been impressed with Anne-Marie’s innate ability to understand the dynamics that drive business. . . . A must-read for all managers.”
—Kenneth W. Lowe, president and chief executive officer, the E. W. Scripps Company

“She probes persistently to determine the economic reality underneath a company’s reported numbers and presentation. Her insights on what makes companies successful will be valuable to all managers and those who evaluate them.”
—Trevor Harris, vice chairman of client services, Morgan Stanley


From the Hardcover edition.

Review
“An incredibly sharp mind, Anne-Marie offers a strong, insightful point of view on what really makes companies succeed. Her book should be read by anyone with a serious interest in how companies achieve results.”
—Leslie Moonves, president and chief executive officer, CBS Corporation

“Anne-Marie knows the dynamics of the marketplace and what it takes for the best managers and companies to win.”
—Sumner Redstone, executive chairman of the board and founder, Viacom

“Her knowledge of the factors underlying long-term value creation will make her book essential reading for all managers.”
—Douglas H. McCorkindale, former chairman, president, and chief executive officer, Gannett Co., Inc.

“I have long been impressed with Anne-Marie’s innate ability to understand the dynamics that drive business. . . . A must-read for all managers.”
—Kenneth W. Lowe, president and chief executive officer, the E. W. Scripps Company

“She probes persistently to determine the economic reality underneath a company’s reported numbers and presentation. Her insights on what makes companies successful will be valuable to all managers and those who evaluate them.”
—Trevor Harris, vice chairman of client services, Morgan Stanley

Customer Reviews

Great insight from a professional investor
Money Makers offers a very direct and concise framework to develop business strategy that will enhance sustainable and long-term value creation for investors. The book is rich and illustrative in cases, which gave me a multi-dimensional understanding of how the principles discussed were critical in the past successes and failures of companies challenged by competitive and exogenous forces, and in differentiating their value proposition.

In the current environment, where businesses across the broad economy are cyclically challenged, Money Makers provides valuable insight for identifying and assessing businesses that could potentially be the survivors and leaders of tomorrow.

Fresh perspective, well-written, great insights
Quite simply the best business book I've read in years. I couldn't put it down - wound up reading it in a weekend. The author brings a fresh perspective to evaluating and predicting business success (or lack of success). She is smart, insightful and was able to get access to a wide range of impressive leaders.

I strongly recommend this book no matter what your perspective - investor, business leader, entrepreneur, student - highly valuable to all.

Great Insider Insight
A great insider's view on what makes companies succeed and fail from a professional investor who has the time, expertise, and, most importantly, the access to many businesses and senior business leaders to truly assess good management. Using interesting, clearly written examples, this book effectively challenges many commonly-held ideas about running a business, including how listening to customers can lead one astray, how more volume won't make a business profitable, and how employee happiness doesn't create effective workplaces.

I also appreciated the book's many checklists and exercises, which are simple and focused. Instead of theoretical mission statements and strategies, Ms. Fink shows you how to boil down any business to a 3-point "value edge," that distinguishes it from competitors. She also gave me a much better understanding of why stock prices act the way they do, even when it sometimes seems irrational.

Overall, I would recommend this book to anyone who wants a fresh approach illustrated by real experiences across a wide range of companies and industries.