(Note: This course is the successor to the GSB's long-running Family Business course.) In the modern corporation, everything is rented: owners, capital, C-suite, labor, assets, even the legal system. In such a world, it appears pointless to build an institution- a social arrangement that is stable and long-lived, created and maintained to serve a shared purpose that cannot be achieved by individuals acting alone. Indeed, in a world transfixed by the allure of new technology, institutions are viewed as obstacles that must be routed around. Or disrupted. Or destroyed. This course takes a different view: institutions are essential to a well-functioning society. In the commercial world, institutions are what we refer to as enduring enterprises. The course will explore why and how to turn a company into an institution, whether that company is a family firm (the primary form of enduring enterprise), startup, growth business, professional services partnership, or legacy corporation. It is co-taught by Leo Linbeck III, Lecturer since 2005 at the GSB and President and CEO of Aquinas Companies, LLC, and Thomas Brenninkmeijer, a leader in his family business Cofra Holding. The course is intended for three main audiences: (1) Students from a family firm who may or may not want to work at that firm. (2) Students who are interested in building or leading or buying an enduring non-family firm. (3) Students who want to explore a view of business that is markedly different from the 'Silicon Valley model.' The course uses a combination of case studies, guest speakers, lectures, readings, movies, projects, and reflections because the instructors hate being bored and so do their best to help their students avoid that fate.
3 units · GSB Letter Graded
(Note: This course is the successor to the GSB's long-running Family Business course.) In the modern corporation, everything is rented: owners, capital, C-suite, labor, assets, even the legal system. In such a world, it appears pointless to build an institution- a social arrangement that is stable and long-lived, created and maintained to serve a shared purpose that cannot be achieved by individuals acting alone. Indeed, in a world transfixed by the allure of new technology, institutions are viewed as obstacles that must be routed around. Or disrupted. Or destroyed. This course takes a different view: institutions are essential to a well-functioning society. In the commercial world, institutions are what we refer to as enduring enterprises. The course will explore why and how to turn a company into an institution, whether that company is a family firm (the primary form of enduring enterprise), startup, growth business, professional services partnership, or legacy corporation. It is co-taught by Leo Linbeck III, Lecturer since 2005 at the GSB and President and CEO of Aquinas Companies, LLC, and Thomas Brenninkmeijer, a leader in his family business Cofra Holding. The course is intended for three main audiences: (1) Students from a family firm who may or may not want to work at that firm. (2) Students who are interested in building or leading or buying an enduring non-family firm. (3) Students who want to explore a view of business that is markedly different from the 'Silicon Valley model.' The course uses a combination of case studies, guest speakers, lectures, readings, movies, projects, and reflections because the instructors hate being bored and so do their best to help their students avoid that fate.
Offered in Winter 2026 at Stanford University.