Warren Buffett’s legendary speech at the University of Georgia. This speech is a great piece on business, investing and life lessons. Here are some points:
1. Don’t work for your Resume – Work for someone you admire. Not to upgrade your resume. Focus on learning on the job!
2. Qualities to focus on in Life – Buffett’s Thought Experiment:
Look around in your classroom, which classmate would you choose when you could keep 10% of his earnings for the rest of your life?
Also, think about the inversion of this scenario:
Who would you sell short?
The characteristics that you focus on when answering these questions are the ones you should focus on in your own life.
3. The Best Compounders are Stable Companies –
“The internet won’t change how you chew gum.”
Buffett’s biggest successes come from companies that aren’t disruptable.
Industries that are subject to disruption are a bad spot to look for long-term investments.
4. Go Short Horses, Not Long Cars – Investing is not about spotting the disruptors.
In most cases, it’s obvious when a life-changing product comes up.
The question is, who profits from that change?
It was a matter of time before cars replaced horses.
But out of hundreds of car companies, only a handful actually succeeded.
The same happened in the airline industry.
5. Managing your Circle of Competence – According to Buffett, the key to successful investing is to manage your circle of competence.
It’s not how big that circle is.
More important is that you know your boundaries and always stay within them.
6. The Birds in the Bush – “A bird in the hand is worth two in the bush.”
However, an investor should also ask:
1. How many birds are in the bush?
2. When will they come out?
3. How sure am I?
Investing is all about answering these questions.
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