The Prince
His Highness Has a Business Plan
Entrepreneurs, investors, and the conduct of power
Roberto Balbino · English · First edition
PDF: 333 pages · EPUB
Every empire has a weakness. The modern ones can hide it behind a rising share price.
A brilliant product can leave its inventor dependent on someone else’s platform. A charismatic founder can attract billions while making his company dangerously dependent on his judgment. An investor can recognise the future and still lose money buying it.
Power runs through all these stories.
In The Prince — His Highness Has a Business Plan, Roberto Balbino brings Machiavelli into the worlds of entrepreneurship, technology and investment. Territories become markets. Fortresses become competitive advantages. Armies become capabilities, infrastructure and capital. The court becomes a boardroom where the most expensive mistake may be the truth nobody dares to tell.
Through the businesses and decisions associated with Mark Zuckerberg, Elon Musk, Jeff Bezos, Jensen Huang, Warren Buffett, Jamie Dimon and Larry Fink, Balbino examines how modern power is built, financed, defended and lost. Voting rights, debt agreements, distribution channels and access to cash reveal who can act freely—and who remains dependent on another person’s permission.
The analysis is unsparing. Markets can reward a compelling story long before its promises are fulfilled. Cooperation can create strength while concealing an unequal distribution of risk. A successful leader can become the greatest obstacle to the institution he built. And the investor who imitates a founder’s boldness may discover that he owns none of the founder’s control.
Across 26 chapters, supported by primary sources, charts and worked examples, the book explores judgment under pressure: recognising traps, preserving alternatives, choosing allies, managing liquidity, hearing unwelcome information and preparing for succession.
For entrepreneurs, investors and readers of economic power, this is a demanding examination of what ambition requires once applause gives way to obligations.
Who controls the decision? Who can afford to wait? Who absorbs the loss? What survives when the leader leaves?
His Highness has a business plan. The difficult part begins when reality refuses to follow it.