#101 Warren Buffett (The Tao of Warren Buffett)

What I learned from reading The Tao of Warren Buffett by David Clark and Mary Buffett. 

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[0:01]The more I heard Warren speak, the more I learned. Not only about investing, but about business and life. 

[4:02] The great personal fortunes in this country weren’t built on a portfolio of fifty companies. They were built by someone who identified one wonderful business. 

[5:45] It is impossible to unsign a contract, so do all your thinking before you sign. 

[8:35] I don’t try to jump over seven-foot bars; I look around for one-foot bars that I can step over. 

[14:27] The chains of habit are too light to be felt until they are too heavy to be broken. 

[19:00] My idea of a group decision is to look in the mirror. 

[22:14] When management with a reputation for brilliance tackles a business with a reputation for poor fundamental economics, it is the reputation of the business that remains intact. 

[23:07] Managing your career is like investing—the degree of difficulty does not count. So you can save yourself money and pain by getting on the right train. 

[24:55] There is a huge difference between the business that grows and requires lots of capital to do so and the business that grows and doesn’t require capital. 

[27:00] I look for businesses in which I think I can predict what they’re going to look like in ten or fifteen year; time. Take Wrigley’s chewing gum. I don’t think the Internet is going to change how people chew gum 

[28:50] You want to learn from experience, but you want to learn from other’s people’s experience when you can. 

[29:20] The really good business manager doesn’t wake up in the morning and say, ‘This is the day that I am going to cut costs,’ any more than he wakes up and decides to practice breathing. 

[30:07] A public-opinion poll is no substitute for thought / A story from a young Steve Jobs 

[31:55] The business schools reward difficult, complex behavior more than simple behavior, but simple behavior is more effective. 

[32:42] If you let yourself be undisciplined on the small things, you will probably be undisciplined on the large things as well. 

[35:15] George Lucas unapologetically invested in what he believed in the most: Himself. 

[41:15] No matter how great the talent or effort, some things just take time: You can’t produce a baby in one month by getting nine women pregnant. 

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