Yep, the story he tells about Warren Buffett is also (afaik) not true (this is common for basically all stories that are told about Buffett in SV). By the time

Yep, the story he tells about Warren Buffett is also (afaik) not true (this is common for basically all stories that are told about Buffett in SV). By the time that Buffett worked for Graham, he had already studied at Columbia with Graham and worked for a few years at his dad's brokerage business. He worked for Graham for a couple of years, he took a salary (over $100k/year in today's terms), and literally the year after Buffett was running money for other people. He was not a rube who needed Graham's wisdom, he was already Buffett. It is a very odd and specific story to make up. Interestingly, there is a more well know story in the Berkshire lore on this subject about Mozart (google Munger Mozart story). But yes, you are right. The idea that you need to sit at the feet of some guru, and that is the only way you will ever learn is utter horseshit (and likely self-serving). There isn't some secret book with the answers, you have to work it yourself, and build up expertise yourself...you can't borrow expertise (btw, this is something that is kind of common in Asian culture...if you go to a Berkshire Hathaway meeting, you overindex to these cultures that have respect for elders/"guru" culture...if you want to be an entrepreneur, I can't think of a worse attribute).