Clarksville Capital

Rules and PrinciplesRules:
Rule #1: Don’t lose money.
Rule #2: Never forget Rule #1.
Rule #3: Incentives are the most powerful force in the universe. Never think about something else when you should be thinking about the power of incentives.
Rule #4: Integrity is everything. Lose money for the firm and we will be understanding. Lose a shred of reputation for the firm, and we will be ruthless.
Rule #5: Embrace your inner pirate. It’s better to be a pirate than join the navy!Principles:
• We are an equal partnership.
• A partnership doesn’t work without transparency among partners – a problem shared is a problem halved.
• If we tap dance to work, we’re winning.
• Be kind, listen before speaking, have fun, and do the right thing – most importantly, trust your gut.
• Stay in your circle of competence.
• We are not tethered to corporate constraints or investment mandates.
• If you see a snake, kill it. Don’t form a committee on snakes.
• The clear, unmistakable sign of a bureaucrat is someone worried about whether he has a window.
• Fight procrastination with a passion; if it can get done now, get it done. (A good plan finely executed today beats a perfect plan next week.)
• Live without ego; shed your shame.
• We have a strategic plan – it’s called “doing things.” Make a decision and do it like hell!
• Don’t confuse a bull market for brains.
• Things that have never happened before happen all the time. (Few have the imagination for reality.)
• Anyone who does you dirty – well, you should never forgive them for that. - Mrs. B
• There are times when certain cards sit unclaimed in the common pile – when certain properties become available that will never be available again. A good businessman feels these moments like a fall in the barometric pressure. A great businessman is dumb enough to act on them even when he cannot afford to.
• Well done is better than well said. A man cannot build a reputation on what he is going to do.
• Authenticity outruns the competition.
• The road to success is paved with problems well handled. Every problem, no matter how extreme, has a rational solution if you keep your wits and focus clearly.
• To try is scary – you can lose it all! But otherwise, what’s the point?
• There is always room at the top.
• Familiarity breeds contempt, while rarity breeds admiration.
• Resist the path of least resistance (at first, at least).
• All good meetings happen at 11am – that is the best and only time for a company meeting. Anything before 11am is unreasonable. Then it’s lunch, 2-4 is a lull, and after 5pm is offensive.
• We use the oxford comma.
• Forced consistency is the hobgoblin of little minds.
• Not everything that can be counted counts, and not everything that counts can be counted.