This book is a detailed account of how Henry Singleton created and built the Teledyne Corporation. Written by George A. Roberts, who was with Singleton every step of the way, it describes the first decade of aggressive acquisitions and diversification, the addition of financial institutions to the company's technical mix, and the controversial program of aggressive stock buy-backs. The memoir also covers the spin-off of certain entities to shareholders, whistle blower suits, hostile takeover attempts, and the friendly merger with Allegheny Steel Company. The book includes a CD with stories intended to explain the company's technologies to non-technical shareholders.
In 'Clear Thinking', Shane Parrish provides a comprehensive manual for improving decision-making and personal growth. The book highlights how most people operate on autopilot, driven by behavioral defaults shaped by biology, evolution, and culture. Parrish offers strategies to recognize and capitalize on pivotal moments between stimulus and response, using stories, mental models, and a 4-stage decision process (define, explore, evaluate, execute). The book aims to help readers build self-knowledge, self-control, and self-confidence, and to make better decisions by balancing emotions with rational thinking and gathering high-quality information.
In 'The Outsider,' Colin Wilson examines the psyche of the Outsider through the lives and works of various literary and cultural figures such as Albert Camus, Jean-Paul Sartre, Ernest Hemingway, Hermann Hesse, and Fyodor Dostoyevsky. The book delves into the Outsider's experience of dislocation and his struggle to find meaning and purpose in a world that seems devoid of it. Wilson argues that the Outsider is a metaphysical man who seeks a transcending meaning and purpose for human existence, often feeling isolated and disconnected from society. The book is both a study of the Outsider's predicament and an impassioned call for a new form of existentialism that could provide a satisfying and objective religious understanding of life.
If Warren Buffett is the king of capital allocation—Henry Singleton is the ghost. Singleton built one of the most successful conglomerates in American history, transforming business while remaining virtually unknown. While Wall Street chased fads, Singleton, who could play chess blindfolded, quietly turned industrial conglomerate Teledyne into a business juggernaut with 20.4% annual returns over nearly three decades—outperforming Buffett, outmaneuvering rivals, and outlasting the hype. Dive into the mind of a man who Charlie Munger said had "the best operating and capital deployment record in American business—bar none." This is a masterclass in disciplined capital allocation and long-term thinking on the most underrated business genius of the 20th century.
If you're building a business, allocating capital, or simply trying to think more clearly in a noisy world, you cannot afford to miss this one.
(03:16) Prologue
(05:59) PART 1: THE MAKING OF A MAVERICK
(07:48) After MIT
(10:24) Founding of Teledyne
(14:04) The Future is Semiconductors
(17:18) What to Acquire?
(19:12) Integrating into the Teledyne System
(21:49) Vasco Metals and George Roberts
(23:40) PART 2: MASTER CAPITAL ALLOCATOR
(28:10) Entering Insurance
(29:44) The Great Buyback Revolution
(32:46) Teledyne Operating Systems
(34:56) Thinking Local
(37:41) Building Knowledge
(39:59) PART 3: PEAK PERFORMANCE
(42:51) Planning for Retirement
(44:09) Passing the Torch
(46:45) End of an Era: Singleton Retires
(47:41) Teledyne After Singleton
(48:46) Singleton’s Legacy
(51:05) SHANE’S REFLECTIONS
This episode is for informational purposes only and most of the research came from reading Distant Force: A Memoir of the Teledyne Corporation and the Man Who Created It, with an Introduction to Teledyne Technologies by Dr. George A. Roberts with Robert J McVicker and The Outsiders by William N. Thorndike, Jr.
Additional source: 1979 Interview with Forbes
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Check out highlights from these books in our repository, and find key lessons from Singleton here —https://fs.blog/knowledge-project-podcast/outliers-henry-singleton/
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The Knowledge Project with Shane Parrish 
