You Don't Always Buy Assets. You Buy Vision.
- PG Geldenhuys
- 1 day ago
- 5 min read
Updated: 6 hours ago
Last weekend we went as a family to watch the Springboks take on the Wallabies at DHL Stadium. We have some new traditions: the MyCiti ride on the way in, enjoyment of the half-time antics, beers and popcorn on the stands… all new features that came with the Cape Town Stadium, and we love it. It was flags, music, Springboks entertainment, cheerleaders, and mass euphoria moments only a full stadium experience can bring.
And yet… I do miss Newlands.
For close on 40 years of my life, that stadium was a cultural cornerstone. Matches watched with my friends, my dad, my dates. Rugby braais hosted on the adjoining fields, getting stuck in the pub afterwards, getting stuck in the pub during. Great heroes and tries and memories across a lifetime… and then it was all over. Covid closed down the iconic and ageing stadium, and the teams and games shifted to the newer and sexier venue of Cape Town Stadium in Green Point.
Since then, the stadium stands neglected and abandoned. You drive past, you’ll get a sneak peek of the turf, which is overgrown and reminds one of Will Smith’s I Am Legend post-apocalypse New York. And they are in the process of finally selling it after an unseemly decade of wrangling with various interested parties. It’s prime real estate, but with a property past its prime. What will the new owners do with it? We’re all waiting in suspense.
Investment, and smart investment, really interests me. From Ryan Reynolds becoming a gin guy and a soccer club owner to Roger Federer’s winning bet on On Shoes, translating celebrity clout to free marketing that increases the value of a legacy asset is clearly a thing. Which is why the 6666 Ranch story is so compelling.
Taylor Sheridan, the actor-turned-screenwriter/producer/visionary and the guy that brought us Yellowstone and all its spin-offs, has brought back the cowboy. He’s reintroduced a global audience to the cowboy, to the simple beauty and allure of the land, to the romanticism of protecting legacy whatever it takes, to doing the right thing for the right reasons, and to being resilient above all else. He sets most of his tale in the glorious backdrop of Montana, but by the last season, he shifts focus… to Texas.
I’m a fan. Sheridan does great character arcs, sets up juicy conflicts, and has a knack for throwing obstacles at the hero or heroine that defy belief. But then hey, we are here to suspend belief, aren’t we? Along the way, he spun a great narrative of a drug-addict loser called Jimmy. Jimmy is like a country western song – he loses his job, breaks his neck, loses his girl… but a trip to Texas and the legendary 6666 cattle ranch, where men are still men and cowboys don’t cry… that sorts him out. He grows a pair, becomes a cowboy, gets the girl, and rides off into the sunset, to head his own show set on the 6666 Ranch.
Digging beyond the surface, it all makes sense now. After Kevin Costner didn’t come back for the last six episodes of Yellowstone, the entire arc was focused on wrapping up the Montana location and tying up the characters and storylines, while glorifying and building up a new set of heroes who will ply their trade in Texas on the 6666. And why? Because Sheridan OWNS that ranch. The iconic ranch, after a hundred years of generational stewardship, was up for sale in 2020… and Sheridan saw the opportunity, and made his moves.
Whattaboytjie. Here’s his playbook:
Pay your dues and get lucky: Make a thousand calls and knock on hundreds of doors until someone finally says yes to your script and your show. Work like a demon, sign up key talent, script and direct and produce with rigour and intent… and get lucky, because the show takes off.
Start creating equally successful spin-offs, set in different eras but relating to the same IP, and keep with your mandate of romantic throwback drama. Be so good they can’t ignore you, and sign up everyone from Kevin Costner to Harrison Ford to Demi Moore. Become Hollywood’s golden boy.
Understand the industry, and seize the moment. Make a cheeky bid for a legacy ranch in Texas from the estate of the deceased owner with the backing of some powerful investors, then slowly shift your narrative and your IP to be based there.
Greenlight new shows set in Texas, and rent your location out to the studio for a whopping $50,000 a week. Also, given the newfound popularity and free marketing of the ranch brand, lean into beef sales, merch, and tourism opportunities.
Sheridan didn’t buy land; he bought myth, and this is the Jim Collins flywheel in action. Overnight success starts with vision, then execution over time as each part reinforces the other until momentum becomes unstoppable.
He is expanding on a singular vision: progress is inevitable, and whether you are a legacy ranch owner or a Native American struggling to reclaim your heritage, money, greed, and progress will keep on attacking the sanctity of your environment. And you need to fight back. That is honour, that is heroic, that is being American. Like it or loathe it, he’s got the zeitgeist. He has tapped into a powerful feeling and a movement at just the right time, and he, or his ranch, or his shows, or even his beef… they are not going away anytime soon.
PG’s Pro Tip:
When you don’t have the money, bring the vision. Sheridan didn’t buy a ranch with cash; he bought it with a universe. His insight was that Paramount, fans, and consumers all needed the ranch to exist inside his storytelling. What is the future of Newlands? Apartments, a shopping centre… or can we hope and dream for a developer that has an even broader vision, and what would that look like? One can only hope.
Three ways you can apply the Sheridan model:
Spot your “Newlands” - What asset in your world looks abandoned, underutilized, or “done”? Don’t dismiss it - reframe it.
Anchor with a tenant - Just like Sheridan tied his land to Paramount, ask: who has an ongoing need for this asset?
Build the flywheel - Add reinforcing revenue layers - product, story, experience - until the asset becomes a culture carrier.
ChatGPT Prompt to Try: "Help me identify one overlooked or underutilised asset in my business or community, and brainstorm three ways to turn it into a self-reinforcing flywheel like Sheridan did with the 6666 Ranch."
The question for us isn’t, “How do I buy my own ranch?” It’s: what is my first step to start earning dues toward a vision big enough that, one day, the assets pay me back?
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