The Corporate Life Cycle

Business, Investment, and Management Implications

By: Aswath Damodaran

Narrated by: Jonathan Beville

THE KEY TO UNDERSTANDING COMPANY GROWTH AND DECLINE—FROM THE UNDISPUTED EXPERT ON VALUATION

Throughout his storied career, Aswath Damodaran has searched for the universal key to demystify corporate finance and valuation. Now, at last, he offers the groundbreaking answer to listeners everywhere.

It turns out there is a corporate lifecycle very much like our own—with unique stages of growth and decline. And just as we must learn to act our age, so too must companies.

By better understanding how corporations age and the characteristics of each stage of their lifecycle, we can unlock the secrets behind any businesses behavior and optimize our management and investment decisions accordingly.

In Aswath Damodaran’s The Corporate Life Cycle, listeners will learn:

• What markers tell where a company falls on its corporate lifecycle, and crucial insights for managers as they navigate the different stages
• Why the shape and timing of life cycles varies across different industries
• When transition points pose special challenges to companies—and strategies to conquer them
• How differences in investment philosophies, in particular the divide between growth and value investing, should lead investors towards companies at different lifecycle stages

As the corporate lifecycle touches virtually every aspect of business, this book is for anyone with skin in the corporate finance game—from managers to investors, from novices to seasoned pros. Aswath Damodaran’s The Corporate Life Cycle is the definitive guide to understanding businesses growth, behavior, and value.

* This audiobook edition includes a downloadable PDF containing charts, diagrams, and graphs from the book.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 Aswath Damodaran (P)2023 Penguin Audio

Critic reviews

“There is no better guide to the world of finance than Aswath Damodaran. In this wonderful contribution, he creates a readable, rigorous and provocative guide to investing across the life cycle—a great guide for readers of all ages."—Mihir Desai, Mizuho Financial Group Professor of Finance at Harvard Business School, author of The Wisdom of Finance

“Most investors and executives understand that a company’s capital allocation, cost of financing, corporate governance, and valuation are essential to making smart investments. But few fully appreciate how these drivers change through a company’s life cycle. In The Corporate Life Cycle, Aswath Damodaran provides a lucid and detailed guide to the opportunities and challenges at each stage. This book is essential reading for investors and executives who seek to create value.”—Michael Mauboussin, Head of Consilient Research at Counterpoint Global, Morgan Stanley Investment Management.

"You can't skip a single class taught by my favorite Professor, Aswath Damodaran—and when he has a new book, it's required reading for all investors!"—Meb Faber, co-founder and the Chief Investment Officer of Cambria Investment Management