The School of Knowledge delivers practical frameworks for business owners and investors who need to make real decisions.
Welcome.
This newsletter exists because I couldn’t find what I was looking for—something that bridges the gap between big ideas and daily execution. Not theory for its own sake. Not motivation dressed up as strategy. Just useful systems, clearly explained, ready to use.
We are a community of 12,000+ business owners, founders, and decision-makers who believe that the map is not the territory. We don’t care about what “should” work in theory. We care about what actually works on Monday mornings.
I’m Karl.
I co-run a construction company in the UK. Before that, I served in the Royal Marines.
The military taught me that plans are worthless the moment reality hits. What matters is how fast you adapt. Construction teaches me the same lesson every week—except now the consequences show up on a balance sheet.
I write The School of Knowledge because I need these frameworks as much as anyone. Every essay, every tool, every template started as something I built to solve my own problems and because it’s helped me, I believe it might help you too.
What to expect
The newsletter covers business strategy, multi-disciplinary thinking, and the mechanics of actually running things. We take ideas from books, case studies, and hard-won experience—then break them down until they’re useful.
Some of what we publish:
The Weekly: A short curation of links, lessons, and updates. Arrives every week. Always free.
The Lab: Essays on systems, mental models, and ways of thinking. The big ideas that sharpen how you see the world, or as Charlie Munger would call it—worldly wisdom.
The Case Library: Deep research on concepts, businesses and operators. The kind of analysis that takes weeks to produce.
The Toolkit: Templates, checklists, and prompts. Things you download and use, not just read.
The Nuts and Bolts: Operating manuals for business fundamentals. Accounting, SOPs, the unsexy stuff that not only keeps companies alive—but thrive.
The Reading Room: Condensed insights from important books, shareholder letters and scientific research. The core ideas without the 400 pages.
On Quality: Essays on philosophy, craft, and the questions that don’t have easy answers. Inspired by Robert Pirsig’s Metaphysics of Quality.
*Operator Interviews: Conversations with people building and running things. No influencers. Just practitioners. (Coming 2026)
The School of Knowledge+
Free subscribers receive The Weekly and selected essays from The Lab and On Quality. It’s a good way to see if this is for you.
Paid members unlock everything else—the research, the tools, and the implementation guides.
For just £15/month (or £120/year), you get:
The Case Library: Deep dives on how businesses and operators do the things they do.
The Toolkit: Calculators, templates, and checklists to stress-test your own thinking.
The Nuts and Bolts: Operating manuals for the fundamentals—accounting, systems, decision-making frameworks.
The Reading Room: Book syntheses that distil complex ideas into actionable insights.
Operator Interviews: Conversations with practitioners who’ve done it, not just written about it.
For the price of a Netflix subscription, you’ll get access to business fundamentals, tools to improve your decision making and a community of like-minded learners.
Why join The School of Knowledge+
1. Stop collecting ideas and start using them. Most business content gives you something to think about. This gives you something to do. Every framework comes with the tools to implement it—calculators, templates, checklists. You’ll finish reading and actually change how you operate.
2. Learn from people who’ve done it, not just studied it. Our interviews are with operators—people who’ve built companies, survived downturns, and made decisions with real money on the line. No influencers. No career academics. Just practitioners sharing what actually worked.
3. Get the research you don’t have time to do yourself. Running a business doesn’t leave much time for reading 400-page books or analysing case studies. We do that work for you and distil it into what matters. Consider it leverage on your learning.
4. Make better decisions under uncertainty. The diagnostic tools and frameworks aren’t theoretical—they’re the same systems I use to allocate capital and stress-test decisions in my own business. If they keep my ship afloat, they might help with yours.
5. Join a community that doesn’t waste your time. No fluff. No engagement bait. No “10 mindset hacks” nonsense. Just 12,000+ business owners and investors who value clarity over cleverness. The kind of people you’d actually want to do business with.
6. Help build something independent. The School of Knowledge has no sponsors, no ads, and no venture capital. Paid members are what keep it running and shape what gets built next. You’re not just subscribing—you’re backing the work.
How to get The School of Knowledge+ for free
Professional development is a legitimate expense, and at £15 a month should be an easy approval. If you’re your own boss it’s a no brainer. If you have a boss to answer to, download my “Expense Request” form below, fill it in and send over to your boss.
Still not sure yet?
Start free. Read a few issues. If it’s useful, stick around. If it’s not, no hard feelings.
The goal is simple: I want to help you think more clearly and act more effectively. Everything else follows from that.
See you on the inside.
Karl.
