Richard John Koch (born 28 July 1950 in London) is a British management consultant, venture capital investor and author of books on management, marketing and lifestyle. He is best known for popularizing the application of the Pareto principle, also known as the "80/20 rule", in business and personal life through his book The 80/20 Principle (1997,2022). He has written more than 25 books on business, strategy and lifestyle, which have been published in over 44 languages.
Koch was born in London. He studied at Wadham College, Oxford University (M.A.) and later earned an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. In 2024 he was appointed a Visiting Fellow of Wadham College, Oxford.
Koch began his career as a consultant with the Boston Consulting Group and later became a partner at Bain & Company. After leaving Bain in 1983 he co-founded L.E.K. Consulting with Iain Evans and James Lawrence.
Koch retired from consulting when he was 39 to focus on writing and investing.
After leaving consulting, Koch invested his own capital in more than 20 companies, many of which he founded or co-founded. Businesses owned or co-owned by Koch have included Filofax, Plymouth Gin, Belgo Restaurants, Betfair, iPulse, FanDuel, Auto1, and Grind.
He is known for applying his âÂÂStar Principleâ to venture investments, focusing on high-growth niche leaders. Many of his investments have returned between 5àand 53àhis original stakes, and over a multi-decade period his portfolio has reportedly achieved a compound annual return of about 22 percent.
He has also been a non-executive director of several of these companies, including Filofax and Betfair, and has advised private equity firms such as Advent Limited (UK) and Brait SA, and the supermarket chain Pick 'n Pay in South Africa.
KochâÂÂs flagship work, The 80/20 Principle (1997), extended the Pareto principle to business, time management and personal life and has sold more than a million copies worldwide.
In Unreasonable Success, published by Piatkus/Entrepreneur Press, Koch identifies nine âÂÂlandmarksâ of extraordinary achievement including Self-belief, Olympian Expectations, One Breakthrough Achievement, Thrive on Setbacks, Acquire Unique Intuition and Distort Reality.
Recurring themes in KochâÂÂs writing include the 80/20 principle, the Star Principle, simplicity, and the strength of weak links. He has also written forewords for related works, such as 80/20 Sales and Marketing by Perry Marshall.