Limping On Water

Phil Beuth's autobiography of his career at Capital Cities Communications, where he ran ABC's early-morning show and worked closely with Tom Murphy and Dan Burke — the two managers Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger have repeatedly called the best managerial duo they ever witnessed. Beuth's account captures the decentralized, ownership-minded culture that made Capital Cities one of Berkshire's model acquisitions.

Buffett recommended this book in his 2015 letter: 'My friend, Phil Beuth, has written Limping on Water, an autobiography that chronicles his life at Capital Cities Communications and tells you a lot about its leaders, Tom Murphy and Dan Burke. These two were the best managerial duo – both in what they accomplished and how they did it – that Charlie and I ever witnessed.' The letter closes the passage with Buffett's broader point: 'Much of what you become in life depends on whom you choose to admire and copy. Start with Tom Murphy, and you'll never need a second exemplar.' For founders, the book is a case study in the operating culture Buffett prizes most: delegated authority, frugality at the corporate level paired with investment at the business level, and a CEO who thinks like an owner rather than an empire-builder. Murphy's Capital Cities was lean, cash-conscious, and operationally excellent — the kind of business Buffett wants to buy, and the kind a founder should want to build.