OUR Philosophy
Our Philosophy
Investor's Manual
WE WORK HARD TO
KEEP THINGS SIMPLE
We believe even the most complex of issues, after digging into details and comprehending their underlying nuances, can and should be distilled into the answering of two simple but fundamental questions:
1. Is the business being evaluated likely to be around 10 years from today with its vitality intact, at a minimum? Is this vitality growing, even accelerating?
2. Is the business available today at a price we deem acceptable in relation to its intrinsic value?
Read Our Investor’s Manual
We believe even the most complex of issues, after digging into details and comprehending their underlying nuances, can and should be distilled into the answering of two simple but fundamental questions:
Why We’re Different?
11 O’CLOCK: OUR TRUE NORTH
The Cycle of Capitalism
Entropy requires that most organizations ultimately fail. This is nature’s law. So, the mission to build something of value, something that can endure, is always a high, if elusive, entrepreneurial ideal.
Beginning from first principles, imagine the cycle of capitalism playing out over a clock. Success is the 12 o’clock hour. Complacence is at 3 o’clock, Failure at 6 o’clock, and Hunger at 9 o’clock. Success eventually leads to Complacency. Complacency leads to Failure. Now, to get from Failure to Hunger at 9 o’clock is rare and to get from Hunger to Success at 12 o’clock is rarer still.
Businesses that care deeply about the foundational aspects that culture can bring to bear exhibit certain inherent traits: A healthy paranoia to continuously acquire and act on knowledge; the embedding of hiring and training engines across the company; an institutionalized obligation to dissent; well thought through succession planning; and, ultimately, the ability to transition the very mantle of leadership to worthy—and hungry—successors in a timely fashion. So, even as success beckons, new milestones are embraced, pushing out any declaration of victory. Thus, the business remains an ongoing experiment.
11 o’clock is that optimal hour where hunger drives success, and where success begets hunger. At Pāri Washington, we’ve developed a tested process to identify teams and businesses that operate at 11 o’clock.
11 o’clock is our true north.