Choosing cash flows years out over results this quarter, and telling investors so in advance.
A platform that lets others earn on it grows faster than one that captures every dollar; the forgone revenue is the investment.
Platform strategy, take-rate questions, and any marketplace where the company could raise its share of the transaction.
From Shopify's 2015 IPO letter from Tobi Lütke · Tobi Lütke
Tell investors in advance that you will optimise long-term cash flows over reported earnings, then do it, so the market can price the choice rather than be surprised by it.
Any growth company valuation, any founder letter, and the interview question of how to value a company that reports no profit.
From Amazon's 1997 letter to shareholders · Jeff Bezos
A founder-controlled company should say what control is for and what investors give up; the 2004 letter is the template for saying it plainly.
IPO process questions, governance debates about dual-class shares, and any founder letter that cites this one.
From Google's 2004 IPO founders' letter, "An Owner's Manual" · Larry Page and Sergey Brin
Being distinctive is not a state but a cost paid continuously; stop paying it and the drift to typical begins.
Questions about culture, moats that depend on behaviour rather than assets, and personal career choices.
From Amazon's 2020 letter to shareowners, Jeff Bezos's last as chief executive · Jeff Bezos