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Kindle Notes & Highlights
by
David Clark
Read between
October 20 - October 29, 2024
Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices. . . .
Charlie was introduced to the world of business at the Buffett grocery store. He learned about taking inventory, stocking shelves, pleasing customers, the importance of showing up on time for work, how to get along with others while accomplishing a joint task, and, of course, running the cash register, where money, the lifeblood of the business, flowed.
What is interesting is that in the final years of the fund Charlie was running a highly concentrated portfolio, the holding in Blue Chip Stamp alone accounting for 61% of the fund’s investments. He has never been a fan of diversification as an investment strategy.
“The desire to get rich fast is pretty dangerous.”
“Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant.”
“People are trying to be smart—all I am trying to do is not to be idiotic, but it’s harder than most people think.”
Charlie and Warren realized that some businesses have exceptional economics working in their favor that will cause their intrinsic value to increase over time.
Charlie knows that time is a good friend to a business that has exceptional economics working in its favor, but for a mediocre business time can be a curse.
“Acknowledging what you don’t know is the dawning of wisdom.”
As the saying goes, too much diversification, and we end up with a zoo. It’s much easier to keep a sharp eye on our basket if there are only ten eggs in it.
“You should remember that good ideas are rare—when the odds are greatly in your favor, bet heavily.”
“The way to get rich is to keep $10 million in your checking account in case a good deal comes along.”
“I succeeded because I have a long attention span.”
“At Berkshire there has never been a master plan. Anyone who wanted to do it, we fired because it takes on a life of its own and doesn’t cover new reality. We want people taking into account new information.”
Whenever I think of “master plans,” I remember Nebraska Furniture Mart’s founder, Mrs. B., who, in response to a question about having a business plan, replied in her thick Russian accent, “Yeah, sell cheap and tell the truth.” She was a business genius.
“Spend each day trying to be a little wiser than you were when you woke up. Discharge your duties faithfully and well. Slug it out one inch at a time, day by day. At the end of the day—if you live long enough—most people get what they deserve.”
“Three rules for a career: (1) Don’t sell anything you wouldn’t buy yourself; (2) Don’t work for anyone you don’t respect and admire; and (3) Work only with people you enjoy.”
Charlie often says that the key to being a great business manager is to have a passion for the business. For people who have that, the business isn’t a job, it’s the love of their lives.
As Steve Jobs said, “Work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
“ ‘One solution fits all’ is not the way to go. . . . The right culture for the Mayo Clinic is different from the right culture at a Hollywood movie studio. You can’t run all these places with a cookie-cutter solution.”
“In marriage, you shouldn’t look for someone with good looks and character. You look for someone with low expectations.”
“In my whole life, I have known no wise people who didn’t read all the time—none, zero. You’d be amazed at how much Warren reads—and how much I read. My children laugh at me. They think I’m a book with a couple of legs sticking out.”
“I don’t think it’s terribly constructive to spend your time worrying about things you can’t fix. As long as when you are managing your money you recognize that a terrible thing is going to happen, in the rest of your life you can be a foolish optimist.”
A man who can play all the instruments in an orchestra can write a symphony, but a man who can play only the viola, even if he is the greatest viola player on earth, can play only the viola.
