Acting slowly on purpose
How a decision is built in stages here, and the three cases in which we move quickly instead.
Read Nº 06Essays on credit, venture, benchmarks and estates.
Each essay starts from a question in the firm’s own work, and most explain one part of how we decide. They are numbered in the order they were written.
Earlier essays
- Nº 05Underwriting private credit while capital is plentifulIn the first quarter of 2026, money for direct lending was easy to raise. With many lenders competing for sound borrowers, outcomes depend largely on how carefully each loan is underwritten.
- Nº 04Backing founders over a ten-year horizonVenture valuations follow the latest funding round. We try to judge a company by whether the business will still be sound in year ten.
- Nº 03Estate plans and the decisions that come afterMany estate plans are designed around a tax outcome and say little about how decisions will be made. The next generation notices the gap quickly.
- Nº 02Using a benchmark without following itAn index is useful for measuring results. Managed against too closely, it can change a portfolio’s risk in ways the client never agreed to.
- Nº 01Five tests before a long holdCash conversion, pricing, management, the balance sheet under stress, and an exit assumption written down on the first day.