The Institute publishes four kinds of work. Each does a different job for the reader.
Here's the architecture — and how to know which one to grab.
When Steve Jobs returned to Apple in 1997, he replaced dozens of overlapping product lines with a single 2×2 grid: Consumer vs. Pro on one axis, Desktop vs. Portable on the other. Four products, total clarity, no overlap.
The Baratelli Institute has the same architecture. Two interlocking 2×2 grids define everything we publish. Once you see them, the whole Library clicks.
The Institute now serves a wide audience — from the Federal Reserve Chair to the high-school athlete signing his first NIL deal, from the Family Office CFO in Greenwich to the CPA at a strip-mall firm in Tulsa, from the principal investor to the parent of a special-needs child. Same Library. Different doors.
What the four kinds of work actually are.
Case Study
A 30–50 page deep-dive on one named public company. Methodology applied with every number traced to the 10-K.
Guide
A 100–500 page reference work on an entire domain. The full methodology taught end to end.
Field Note
800–1,500 words on one observation. What the author noticed this week and why it matters.
Brief
15–25 page topical synthesis across 10 companies or themes on one analytical lens.
Same Library. Two doors. Pick the one that fits your seat.
CFO & Controller's Guide · Family Office Reference · PE Guide · Estate Planning Documents · Trust Administration · Business Buyer's Guide · Liquidity Event Playbook
Athletes' Wealth Playbook · Money Reality (HS / College / First Job) · Wealth Psychology · Treasure Assets · Special Needs Reference · First Principles · Decide. Act. Now.
NOL Brief · PE Brief · Search-Fund Brief · valuation case studies (Lyft, CLF, Fiserv) · practitioner Field Notes
Classic-car Brief · family-facing Field Notes · athlete-facing Field Notes · family-office observations
Read a Guide when you're stepping into a role, refreshing a plan, or preparing for a decision you'll live with for years — a new controllership, a family-office hire, an estate-plan refresh, a business-buying decision, an athlete's first contract. The Guides are the foundation. Every other product cross-references them.
Examples: Family Office Reference Guide · CFO & Controller's Guide · Private Equity Guide · Estate Planning Documents · First Principles of Investing · Athletes' Wealth Playbook · Special Needs Family Planning Reference.
Read a Case Study when you want to watch the analytical method work on a stock you've heard of — to verify the methodology isn't theoretical, to learn by example, to see what workpaper-grade analysis looks like from cover stats to closing disclaimer. Every number traces to a 10-K page. The author owns the stock and discloses it.
Examples: Lyft · Cleveland-Cliffs · Fiserv · SpaceX (pre-IPO) · Herbalife.
Read a Brief when you want to see how one analytical lens — NOLs, PE acquisitions, search funds, classic-car buying — plays out across 10 companies or themes, not just one. Briefs are the pattern-recognition work that no single Case Study can deliver. The author looks across the market, not just inside it.
Examples: NOL Brief (Top 10 NOL companies across industries) · PE Brief (Every Company a PE Firm) · Search-Fund Brief · Corvette Brief.
Read Field Notes for the author's current thinking — what caught his eye in this week's filings, what an athlete-NIL ruling actually means, what the sell-side missed in a buyback disclosure. Field Notes are short, fresh, and frequent. They prove the author is still working, still observing, still putting opinions on paper with his name attached.
New observations published continuously.
The 31+ practitioner guides span four price tiers, each written for a different reader. Not every guide fits every buyer — the tier tells you at a glance whether it’s for you.
Short PDF-only guides written in plain English for the reader who has never encountered the topic before. Money Reality (High School, First Job, College), free Creator’s Money Playbook, and Spanish plain-English editions.
For: Students, first-time earners, parents introducing a child to money, and readers who want a topic explained without prerequisites.
Single-topic references — the GAAP↔IFRS Bridge, First Principles of Master Investing, Retirement Income Decoded, Wealth Psychology, Treasure Assets, Business Operator’s Blueprint. Excel workbook where the topic warrants it.
For: The practitioner who needs one specific topic in operational depth without a full flagship investment.
Mid-length practitioner references across a full domain — the Business Buyer’s Guide, Cross-Border Wealth Playbook, International Tax, Insurance & Risk Architecture, Liquidity Event Playbook, Real Estate Decoded, Trust Administration, Athletes’ Wealth Playbook. PDF + Excel workbook.
For: The advisor or operating professional who works inside the domain regularly.
400+ page practitioner references — the Family Office Reference Guide, CFO & Controller’s Guide, Practitioner’s Guide to Private Equity, Estate Planning Decoded. PDF + Excel workbook + matter-workflow playbooks. The deep, hold-in-your-hand reference for the seat.
For: The practitioner in the seat: family office CFO, controller/CFO, PE professional, estate attorney or family office advisor.
Excel workbooks ship with the flagship anddomain-reference tiers where the topic warrants it. Money Reality and free playbooks are PDF-only.
Every piece of work the Institute publishes fits exactly one cell of one of these grids. There's no overlap, no confusion, no orphan content. If you can name your seat and your question, the Library can route you to the right answer.