8/52: Think — and do — different
#CapitalAtRisk
The 2010s was the decade of the Entrepreneur.
The 2020s will be the decade of the Investor.
“You will not be right simply because a large number of people momentarily agree with you. You will not be right simply because important people agree with you.”
Warren Buffett
Think — and do — different
In case the text in the photo, above, is difficult to read I’ve copied it out below, slightly reformatted:
“In the great majority of cases the lack of performance exceeding or even matching an unmanaged index in no way reflects lack of either intellectual capacity or integrity. I think it is much more the product of:
(1) group decisions — my perhaps jaundiced view is that it is close to impossible for outstanding investment management to come from a group of any size with all parties really participating in decisions;
(2) a desire to conform to the policies and (to an extent) the portfolios of other large well-regarded organizations;
(3) an institutional framework whereby average is ‘safe’ and the personal rewards for independent action are in no way commensurate with the general risk attached to such action;
(4) an adherence to certain diversification practices which are irrational; and finally and importantly,
(5) inertia”.
Warren Buffett
Accepted norms
Read those again: Group decisions, conforming, being institutionalised, irrational diversification, inertia. Warren was writing in 1965 but if I’d told you he wrote it last year you’d probably have believed me.
So how the heck are investors going to outperform if most are still going about things in the same way Warren was criticising in the 1960s?
Do you, or an investor you know, do anything that’s unconventional?
Some things I’ve learned to do
Here are some practices I think might give me an edge:
I don’t buy when someone is selling1. If I meet a founder for the first time and they’re fundraising, well, they’re selling shares. So I just try to be non-stupid rather than a clever picker and so I say ‘no’ to everything. It makes that so-called difficult investment decision really easy.
I host a meal with 9others each month. Over 5,000 people have been to a meal with 9others and they get an awful lot more from meeting each other than meeting me. If someone comes along thinking it would lead to funding then they’ll leave disappointed. I just try to help out, see how they respond and conduct themselves.
I hang out with Value Investors, not VCs. I’ve been to VALUEx for the last two years and have booked in again for 2026. I want to learn from different minds and hanging out with Guy, Bogumil, Aiden, Elena and others is a joy. They talk about companies with mountains of free-cash-flow, compounding returns, and steady-as-she-goes CEOs. Maybe some of my portfolio will be like that one day.
As you can see above, and as mentioned here, I’m making my way through Warren Buffett’s Partnership letters. Of course I’ve learned a great deal from venture capital investors like Richard, Marc, Chris and many others but I am loving the measured yet ambitious approach that’s obvious from the typewriter of a 1950s 20-odd year old Warren.
It’s my preference to wait and meet in-person, not to have calls. I’d much rather wait a month or two to meet someone new in-person than ‘jump on a quick call’ this week. In a world where we’re supposed to be super-smart, super-quick I like letting things settle in my mind. It’s inefficient, sure, but I think there’s value in that. It helps me notice patterns as well as anything unusual2.
My friend Sithan and I do ‘High Density Interval Thinking’ (HDIT) sessions. These sessions are an hour long and are like High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) but for your brain. We do exercises at ‘stations’ and, yes, thinking is really hard work!
And I have mostly long, empty days. A lot of my work is done walking Ralph the dog or when I’m out running. I usually walk and run without my phone so the real job is remembering the two or three ideas I had!
Those are some of mine. It’s a bit easier now, but in the past it’s been hard not to do the same stuff as everyone else, especially if they were large well-regarded organizations — no one got fired for buying IBM, right?
Guaranteed?!
Of course not. Remember, this is just a theory. I think that there’s long-term value in the unusual things I’m doing, but I don’t know it.
That’ll become clear in, say, the next decade or two.
I hope you hang around and find out.
In other news
🎧 Two excellent podcasts for you that I’ve listened to this week:
🏕️ William Green interviewed Pico Iyer on the Richer, Wiser Happier podcast, here, in which Pico recommended intentional disconnection and regular digital detoxes (paging Unplugged).
🤖 John Mihaljevic and Elliot Turner talked to Eric Markowitz on This Week in Intelligent Investing, here, in which Eric warns about the perils of using too much AI.
📰 Emma Trimble has been doing an excellent job for Laura, founder of (portfolio company) Seep, so I was all too pleased to share her work in Network News from 9others, here.
🎙️ And Nadya Birca was kind enough to interview me about my career & its various changes as well as my investing & what I’m excited about in the (my) future. Listen to the Future Skills podcast here.
More from me?
If you like my writing you can get more by buying my book, ‘Find your 9others’. It’s on Amazon here.
And if you’ve already read ‘Find your 9others’ please leave an Amazon review here.
Q&A
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Important: None of these posts are investment advice. If you are thinking about investing you should seek the advice of a suitably qualified independent advisor.
#CapitalAtRisk
This is my Rule #1: If I meet you for the first time and you are raising investment then I will not invest in this round. More on that here.
And, like your favourite TV detective, I like asking myself, “What, in that interaction/pitch/conversation/email/interview was unusual?”.