Intellectual Capital/Stewart 32-36

34 It is characteristic for knowledge companies to strip their balance sheets of fixed assets.

The knowledge company doesn’t care about owning assets. In fact, the fewer assets the better; so long as it has intellectual capital, the company can get the revenues without the burden and expenses of managing and paying for assets.

36 Knowledge companies don’t want assets.

The more differentiated and proprietary the work, the more likely you should own the assets it requires.

For a lot of asset-intensive businesses, like real estate, chemicals, or steel, making money will be tougher because they have so much money tied up in their physical assets.