Once I read the article it finally clicked into place. I now understand the importance of capital allocation. I was reminded of several examples of successful empires built from a single business. EF Education is a private Swedish company which is 100% family owned by the Hult family. Started by the father in 1965, they followed the “internal business” playbook to build a huge empire.
There was almost no luck involved. They harvested cash flows to grow several brands under the umbrella of educational travel and English schools abroad (especially China) The sons are now running the business 100% though they did have professional CEOs at some point. EF Education First - Wikipedia
Another example is the financial services company I work for now Alvarez and Marsal. Started in 1984 as a way to help businesses with restructuring and turnaround services, they’ve now build a very successful global empire offering just about anything related to financial services. Their claim to fame was handling the restructuring of Lehman Brothers in 2008. Alvarez and Marsal - Wikipedia