“The Partnership” by Charles D Ellis

This is about the forming and running of Goldman Sachs.

• Goldman Sachs (GS) had a rough start then took off when the families stepped back
• Running small for so long let them learn what to do right
• Being small also let them pivot and experiment
• “Something well bought is half sold”
• “Doing thousands of little things, day after day, inching along as consistently as you can in the right direction as best as you can tell is ‘management’. And motivating or inspiring everyone to work together for long-term purposes is ‘leadership’.”
• We are “long-term” greedy
• “No great plans to change… just improve.”
• “Fix it, right away.”
• “Research is like a parking lot at a movie theater. You have to have it but it’s not the business you are in.”
• “The boss needs to lose [some] arguments.” (This is powerful to foster employee engagement.)
• “Would you put your mom’s money there?”
• Do they reward your integrity?
• “Everyone has two reasons for doing something: a ‘good’ reason and the real reason.” JP Morgan
• Liquidity evaporates as consensus is gained
• “The markets can take longer to become rational than you can remain solvent.” John Maynard Caines