Rangers: hunting and harvesting, all year round

What investors are buying

It isn’t a company’s past. It’s the assets it has, the journey it’s on, and any inflections in the business that haven’t been priced in yet. In short: why now? Why will the business be worth more in 12 months than it is today?

That’s the IR job. As we’ve been talking about, you need to do it at the big events (hunting) and five days a week on-market (harvesting).

The legends master both

There are plenty of natural hunters and plenty of natural harvesters. The greats are the listed leaders who master one of these. The legends master both. I call them Rangers.

A Ranger lives off the land all year round. They look after it, know every corner of it, and head out on the hunt when the time is right. They don’t pick one. They read the season and do the work that suits it, even when it isn’t their natural instinct.

Reading the season

Listed companies have some set seasons and some variable ones. Sometimes you need to focus on the business, sometimes on the market. Sometimes you want to tell everyone your story, sometimes you need to be quiet. Sometimes you have money, sometimes you need money.

You go through changes during the year, and the business changes over the years.

Rangers plan for all of it. They know how to hunt and make the most of that time, but they also live off the land between hunts. They keep both going at once and aim for a surplus they don’t need to touch, rather than living hand to mouth.

Generating demand for your stock is much the same. Very often it can feel like you’re living pay cheque to pay cheque, when it would feel so nice to have a bank of demand that unfolds each and every day.

Build the Ranger outcome across the team

Aiming to be a Ranger is a worthy goal. If you can master it, it will set you and the business up for the long run. The catch is that it’s very, very hard and takes a lot of time. Time you probably don’t have.

So rather than taking it all on yourself, the goal should be to build the Ranger outcome across the team: replace the requirements with a mix of people and processes, not one person carrying everything.

1. 01CommitCommit to building demand for your stock and driving on-market buying.
2. 02Map your teamMap your current team with a skill and time matrix, and identify the gaps.
3. 03Fill the gapsFill the gaps with people, partners or systems, then monitor and adjust as the seasons change.

The team and I are putting together a skill matrix and assessment tool. If you’d like to be part of our inaugural assessment, get in touch and let us know.

So, in summary

Hunters make the big moments count: the event, the roadshow, the conference, the announcement. Harvesters make every day count: capturing the data, keeping content alive, and following up long after the fun is done. Rangers do both, and read the season to know which one it’s time for.