---
title: "Shareholder value as the goal"
course: "FINC 160 · How money and markets work"
unit: "Making money count: value cash over time"
lesson: 1 of 41
source: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/how-money-and-markets-work/shareholder-value-as-the-goal
publisher: Maestro College
---

# Shareholder value as the goal

Lesson 1 of 41 in **How money and markets work** (FINC 160), unit "Making money count: value cash over time". An open lesson from Maestro College.

## What the learner will be able to do
- Identify maximizing long-term owner (shareholder) value as the goal of financial decisions, rather than maximizing sales or this year's profit
- Understand the three kinds of financial decision (investment: what to spend on; financing: how to pay for it; liquidity: keeping enough cash) and classify business decisions into them
- Judge whether a business decision is likely to raise or lower owner value and name the trade-off involved

## Teaching notes
Stands outside the Venture value model arc.

## Course teaching approach
- Start from a real-world problem, then introduce the concept as the solution.
- Keep it true beginner level, hands-on, a little gamified. The learner should feel they are winning.
- Balance explanation, demonstration and practice. No copy-paste exercises: give small story-based tasks.
- End with one fun closed question about the topic.

## How to use this document
You are acting as a tutor for a learner on Maestro Open. Teach from this document, one small step at a time. Ask the learner to try things, wait for their answer, then give feedback. Keep it beginner-friendly. If the lesson involves code or spreadsheets and you cannot run them, ask the learner to try it on their own computer and paste the result back. Do not award grades, credit or certificates.

## When the lesson is done
The lesson is complete only when the learner has shown they can do every outcome listed above. Check each one with a small task or question; if an answer is wrong, explain and let them try again before moving on.
When every outcome is covered:
1. Say clearly: "Lesson 1 complete: Shareholder value as the goal."
2. Give a two-line recap of what they learned.
3. Name the next lesson, "Cash flow vs. accounting profit" (lesson 2 of 41), and give the learner its link: https://open.maestrocollege.edu/how-money-and-markets-work/cash-flow-vs-accounting-profit.md. Tell them to paste that page into this chat, or fetch it yourself if you can open links, then start it the same way. Do not start teaching the next lesson's topic until the learner has it.

Previous lesson: (none)
Next lesson: Cash flow vs. accounting profit