Warren Buffett: Inside the Ultimate Money Mind

by Robert G Hagstrom

In Warren Inside the Ultimate Money Mind , Hagstrom breaks new ground with a deep analysis of Buffett's essential wisdom, an intricate mosaic of wide-ranging ideas and insights that Buffett calls a Money Mind. What exactly is a Money Mind? At one level, it's a way of thinking about major financial issues such as capital allocation. At another level, it summarizes an overall mindset for successfully investing in today’s fast-paced stock market, a mindset that depends on a commitment to learning, adapting, and facing down irrelevant noise. This is not a method book. It is a thinking book. Warren Inside the Ultimate Money Mind explains the philosophies of self-reliance, stoicism, rationalism, and pragmatism and their contributions to making intelligent investment decisions. It also outlines the evolution of value investing, discusses how to develop a business-driven investing mindset, and describes the defining traits of successful active management. Lastly, it examines the surprising aspects of a Money Mind – sportsman, teacher, and artist. In short, Warren Inside the Ultimate Money Mind helps readers understand the building blocks that go into making a Money Mind so they can begin to incorporate its principles in the service to a life of value. Testimonials  "An erudite masterpiece..."
–Lawrence A. Cunningham , author; professor and director, Quality Shareholders Initiative, George Washington University "It's another must-read…"
–Bethany McLean , journalist and Contributing Editor, Vanity Fair , author, Saudi America and co-author The Smartest Guys in the Room "Pure Genius! This is a game changer in investment books..."
– Robert P. Miles , author; Executive in Residence, University of Nebraska at Omaha, Executive MBA Program, 'The Genius of Warren Buffett' "Effervescence and thoughtful analysis of Buffett's life and work..."
– Tom Gayner , Co-chief Executive Officer, Markel Corporation "Hagstrom's books always enable readers to think about the world in new ways…"
– Tren Griffin , author, Charlie The Complete Investor

Genres: Business, Audiobook, Finance

272 pages, Hardcover

Published March 9, 2021

Reviews

[Sanford Chee · Rating 2 out of 5]

Bill Miller's reading list but it’s Robert Hagstrom’s worst book. Boring read.

What is a Money Mind?
Rationality + right temperament
Be a business owner; frugal
Long term compounding
Money Mind is self-reliant. Knows what it owns and why which reinforces a stoic attitude towards stock market emotions of greed & fear.
A Money Mind seeks to acquire worldly wisdom using mental models from different discipline to build a Latticework of mental models. A Money Mind is rational & pragmatic. Practicing to do what works and discarding what doesn't work.

CFA feat.
https://www.cfainstitute.org/research...

[Sarka B · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book deals with philosophy of investing of Warren Buffet and the concept of his Money Mind. The book is interesting and is useful to read it if you are interested in investing in the stocks.

[J. F. "Thriller Ghost Writer" · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 Stars.

After going through some generally known facts about Mr. Buffett's entrepreneurial spirit in his early years along with tidbits of Berkshire Hathaway Wiki-grade public domain matters, by a quarter of the book it becomes clear that the novel isn't about any special insights into the "money mind" of Mr. Buffett - who wasn't even interviewed for the book, but rather about the author's own dissertations on investing and financial markets, his personal concepts of what a "money mind" might be.

Mr. Hagstrom does segue back every now and then to Warren Buffett but more of an aside than as the focal topic, as he walks the reader through capital allocations, value vs. growth investing and applicable hybrids, financial ratios and valuations, intangibles, off-balance sheet valuations and the rise of e-commerce.

He does proffer some pretty deep and commendable background stuff as he touches on Waldo's essays (Ralph Waldo Emerson) on wealth and the money mind and takes Francis Bacon's empiricism juxtaposed against Rene Descartes rationalism with Immanuel Kant and his "Critique of Pure Reason" as the catalyst in between.

Quite interesting per se, if you're into these things.

But what I thought was bannered were Warren Buffett's thoughts, decision-making strategies and processes, to delve directly "inside the ultimate money mind" of the Oracle of Omaha and get to know what makes one of the greatest investors of all time tick, and not just be fed text book and lecture hall theoretical postulations by the author citing a whole bunch of soi-disant gurus, and, above all, be enticed to read a book through a bit of a bait and switch ruse by surreptitiously featuring Mr. Buffett's photo prominently on the cover.

[Michael MacRae · Rating 4 out of 5]

Don’t let the title throw you off, this is a surprisingly thorough read covering mostly Buffets environment. Enjoyable and inspiring!

[Matt Gosney]

Money mind is the term that Warren Buffet coined. All of the other reviews seem to fixate on the fact that the author did not interview Warren about his methods, well what about the books about businessmen who have already passed? I doubt you will be able to interview them. If someone says they have an inside scoop with Steve Jobs or Michael Jackson you might want to raise an eyebrow. Do you want to know how Warren started businesses at the age of 6, read extensively (and the books he read), started investing at 11, made decisions like not going to college or turning down money to learn at his father's firm, well its all here. Maybe the book is too broad for 'students' of Warren but as a casual observer, its an excellent read. Hagstrom also includes titbits from Warren's mentors, such as Minacker's book. One that stuck with me was essentially 'the first hurdle to owning your own business is getting out there and doing it', a common mantra but it was also followed up with the fact that you should do your research and scan your market, something that many small business owners fail to do. It also notes that 'there is no need to invest thousands upon thousands of dollars if you can read about someone who won or lost before you'. So yes, some good information in here.

[David Casas · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book telling you to be more of a business-driven investor who thinks like a business owner and makes the connection that the stock you own is owning a part of the business for the long term. Tracking the businesses progress in their goals while ignoring the daily news noise and price fluctuations of the market.

I enjoyed the different phases/stages of the evolution of value investing that were walked through towards the beginning of the book. All the phases went back to the underlying principle of “Valuing a business is summing of all of its future cash flows discounted back to the present value to determine its intrinsic value, and buying with a margin of safety.” How the future cash flows have been determined in each of these phases (and eventually future phases) is an artform that continues to evolve and requires deep knowledge of a business and the right temperance to withstand market noise.

A worthy read if you are on the continual learning path of value investing.

[Mark · Rating 4 out of 5]

Warren Buffett has recognized that outside of making gobs of money, he doesn't have a very interesting life. But, that doesn't mean that those who dont share his life goals have nothing to learn from him. This book chronicles how he stayed at the top of his game through the decades, outlasting all competitors to date, all with a bit of luck but also by evolving and adapting his money mindset at key intervals. He cut his teeth with Benjamin Graham at Columbia, who reluctantly gave him a job but then wouldn't deploy or develop his analytical and decision-making talents. Buffett eventually parted amicably and moved light years past his mentor, who once said “In the short run, the market is a voting machine, but in the long run, it is a weighing machine.”

青出於藍，而勝於藍

[Oscar Dent · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book swings back and forth between a guide to Warren's methods and a profile on him and his career. It never fully accomplishes either. It took me a long time to realise this really is trying be be about the process of developing a "money mind", with reference to various philosophies and schools of thought, set against the backdrop of Warren's career.

The author has clearly researched well, citing a variety of excellent books and essays, often from the man himself; but didn't actually interview Warren for the book.

While I enjoyed this a lot, and it gave me a variety of useful information and ideas, the context of Warren is almost unnecessary here, and almost feels glued on. Very enjoyable and useful, but it wasn't exactly what I thought it would be.

[Mark Bidwell · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is rare to find new material about Warren. I enjoyed learning about his early entrepreneurial activity and the book that guided him, as well as Robert’s insights about other people, philosophies and experiences that shaped and defined the arc of Warren’s career. The discussion on active share was very good: not sure I have seen this concept gone into detail in this context before. Well worth a read.

[Nasih Saifullah · Rating 2 out of 5]

Warren Buffett’s photo on the cover is almost like a smoke screen. This book isn’t about Buffett’s great strategies, thinking or thoughts per se. It is just an elaboration of author’s view of what Buffett says in the annual Birkshire Hathaway meetings, what other prominent figures have wrote in their books and how it relates/comes back to what Buffett does as an investor.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Should be added to the investment canon. One thing that bothered me was that when the author talked about Bill Miller‘s investing record he left out his abject failure during the financial crisis.Later in the book he mentions he was friends and worked with Miller..can’t help but think the author has some cognitive bias associated with this relationship.

[Bram · Rating 5 out of 5]

Warren buffet is unique since almost all theory in the field of investing emerged during his lifetime. The book covers Warrens beliefs and the way he contrasts his ideas with those taught in universities and most commonly applied. The last part changed my views on investing as it is most likely more comparable to sports than to a science

[Liana · Rating 3 out of 5]

Not really a book about Warren Buffet, though he is mentioned. It’s more about a bunch of people that the author considers to have a money mind but as Warren is the most successful his name is on the cover.

[Hansel · Rating 5 out of 5]

He makes clear the essence - Investment is most intelligent when it is most businesslike - by delving deep but relatively short essay about the very essence of investing.

A follower of Buffett might not finding anything new, but it helps clarify what investment about as opposed to speculation.

[Gurudatt Rao · Rating 5 out of 5]

A complete insight into how the Oracle of Omaha has developed the thought process of investing through his childhood till date. A must read for any individual who believes in investing to build wealth.

[Dang Tran · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cuốn sách nói về tư duy kinh doanh và ứng dụng nó trong việc đầu tư. Quá trình phát triển triết lý đầu tư của Warren giúp người đọc hiểu được rõ được nguồn gốc và cụ thể tư duy kinh doanh là gì. Từ đó áp dụng không chỉ vào đầu tư mà có thể là công việc kinh doanh hay công việc của bản thân.

[FarEastValue · Rating 5 out of 5]

Enjoyed a book. This book is about Warren Buffett and other people who (cloud) have influenced him, with a concise explanation and background on each.

[hong · Rating 5 out of 5]

Investing is a game. Truly marvellous.

[Dan Zwirn · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent examination of the Graham/Buffett/Munger value investing perspective‘s underpinnings in behavioral psychology and philosophy; great bibliography

[Liam Polkinghorne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Some really good sections, but Warren Buffett Way and Warren Buffett Portfolio remain Hagstrom’s best books on Buffett.

[Stefan Todorovic · Rating 2 out of 5]

Expected a lot more from the book. Lots of irrelevant or unnecessary or just stupid information. Very disappointed

[Herman Østensen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Enjoyable analysis of Buffet’s mindset

[Neo · Rating 5 out of 5]

this book solidates my investment way in 2023/3
I'm adding more position on NVDA
it's a great book!

[Mika Javanainen · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book about Warren Buffett to me, so some interesting information of his youth. Also, some good pondering about investors and speculators, etc.

[Jitariu Catalin · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some good information inside. If you are a Buffet fan and share his vision, you will know a lot of information already.

[Jason Buckley · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was interesting although it'll not make you a killer investor

[Bradley Hill · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting and enlightening for someone that didn’t truly understand the stock market, now at least I feel I can understand the movements of the market and how to think about investments.