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I always run across great quotes from Warren Buffett, but I never spent any time actually reading any of his writings or anything written about him. What's the

I always run across great quotes from Warren Buffett, but I never spent any time actually reading any of his writings or anything written about him. What's the best place to start to absorb some of his wisdom? Anything that's applicable to startups, tech, and life in general, beyond being the CEO of a holding company?

Spooky23 1y ago
His shareholder letters are on the Berkshire website and are excellent.
xNeil 1y ago
Not by Buffett, but you'll love Poor Charlie's Alamanack, by Charlie Munger, his lifelong business partner. https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover
- cromulent 1y ago
  Buffet said of Munger: > “In terms of managing money, there wasn’t anybody better in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie.” Buffet gets all the press, but he acknowledges Munger as a huge part, if you listen.
  - nabla9 1y ago
    Munger really gave Buffet wings. They did it together.
- _uoud 1y ago
  For Buffett I recommend Essays of Warren Buffett. Regarding Munger’s Almanack, I wrote a nice summary just before his death: ”A real estate investment of $24 by the Dutch to buy the island of Manhattan would today be roughly equivalent to $3 trillion. Across 378 years, that’s about a seven percent annual compound rate of return…” https://www.lostbookofsales.com/notes/poor-charlies-almanack-the-wit-and-wisdom-of-charles-t-munger/ https://www.lostbookofsales.com/notes/poor-charlies-almanack...
- KajMagnus 1y ago
  It's a great book (I think), reading it now. It's the only book this far that I've brought with me to the gym (because I wanted to continue reading it, in between the exercises)
tchalla 1y ago
Start here - The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville https://business.columbia.edu/cgi-finance/chazen-global-insights/superinvestors-graham-and-doddsville https://business.columbia.edu/cgi-finance/chazen-global-insi...
- TheAlchemist 1y ago
  I still remember the feeling I got when I first read the first paragraph and especially this phrase: "For one thing, if (a) you had taken 225 million orangutans distributed roughly as the U.S. population is; if (b) 215 winners were left after 20 days; and if (c) you found that 40 came from a particular zoo in Omaha, you would be pretty sure you were on to something." Compared to anything in finance I've read up until then, it felt like I just found the right guy.
edouard-harris 1y ago
Somewhat dated (10 years old), but a classic and probably the best single place to get started: https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Warren-Buffett-Lessons-Corporate/dp/1611637589 https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Warren-Buffett-Lessons-Corpora...
andsoitis 1y ago
Beside the various books he’s written, there’s also his writing on Berkshire Hathaways’ website: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/
- tim333 1y ago
  He didn't write a book. Maybe he will now he has more time.
  - andsoitis 1y ago
    You’re right. I stand corrected.
dehrmann 1y ago
Not to diminish any of his accomplishments, but read his quotes and story as being a product of his time. He famously missed out on a lot of solid tech investments because of his background as a value investor. Value investing doesn't exist the same way it did when Berkshire started making a name for itself. Tech investing also isn't them same as 1997, 2004, or 2010.
- nabla9 1y ago
  Berkshire has outperformed Nasdaq and SP500 from the IPO (May 9, 1996), 10y, 5y, 1y time periods and he has now $340B in cash. All this with low risk holding lots of cash. He has not missed anything.
  - dehrmann 1y ago
    Just because it beat indexes doesn't mean it couldn't have done better. From 2017: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/06/warren-buffett-admits-he-made-a-mistake-on-google.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/06/warren-buffett-admits-he-mad...
    - nabla9 1y ago
      "Not to diminish the accomplishments of Magnus Carlsen , but he has lost many games." "Not to diminish the accomplishments of the world's best poker player, but he did lose many hands."
      - dehrmann 1y ago
        My point is that you have to put all of his wisdom and stories in the context of what he's good at and the environment he was in. He tried to apply his value investing playbook to early Google, and it looked like a bad investment. He later realized this (see my link), but that gets talked about less than value investing in its heyday. Aside: for debated reasons, value investing, which used to outperform, has been in a slump for a long time. It's east to hear his story and think if you do the same thing, you'd be successful. If you did the same thing in 1970, you might be! And some of his wisdom is generally applicable, but reading his story as a guide for investing today isn't the right approach.
DontchaKnowit 1y ago
Honestly his ex wifes book about how he reads 10k reports is really good. Cant remember the name.
- TheAlchemist 1y ago
  Never heard about it, and can't find a trace on google. If you remember, please post here.
  - DontchaKnowit 1y ago
    Warren Buffett and the interpretation of financial statements by Mary Buffett
    - TheAlchemist 1y ago
      Thank you ! Ps. That's not his ex wife though, it's his son's ex wife
- vmurthy 1y ago
  If you’re talking about Mary Buffett, it is his ex daughter-in-law. How to read financial reports like Warren Buffett is the book (I think)
  - DontchaKnowit 1y ago
    Thats the one, thank you
iancmceachern 1y ago
Watch YouTube videos of old Berkshire meetings, especially ones with Charlie.
- DavidPiper 1y ago
  For the lazy, "1994 - 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meetings" will get you started :-) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7aFD7bbigjgjUt0L2LWk3yr6YO9G3M5o https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7aFD7bbigjgjUt0L2LWk...
Animats 1y ago
"The Intelligent Investor", by Benjamin Graham. He was Buffett's mentor, and contributed to that book. It's straight value investing. Never buy a startup. There are biographies of Buffett. I read one of them years ago. It goes into great detail about the early deals that got him started. I never did quite understand the deal that moved him into the big leagues, the takeover of GEICO insurance.
jxjnskkzxxhx 1y ago
I downloaded his letters to shareholders to an ebook reader, starting I believe in 1971 or so. Read all of it to the present, about 1500 pages (there's a lot of repetition) What sticks out the most is what a clear thinker he is.
- bluocms 1y ago
  Would be possible for you to share it? I think would be a very interesting read. Thanks
physicles 1y ago
For his personal background, the history of his companies, and insight into his overall investment philosophy, the Aquired podcast did a three part series on Berkshire Hathaway back in 2021. They also interviewed Charlie Munger just before he passed away. They’re good overviews and enjoyable listens.
mayankkaizen 1y ago
Read his annual letters to shareholders. Fantastic writings.

Spooky23 1y ago

His shareholder letters are on the Berkshire website and are excellent.

xNeil 1y ago

Not by Buffett, but you'll love Poor Charlie's Alamanack, by Charlie Munger, his lifelong business partner. https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover https://www.stripe.press/poor-charlies-almanack/cover

cromulent 1y ago
Buffet said of Munger: > “In terms of managing money, there wasn’t anybody better in the world to talk to for many, many decades than Charlie.” Buffet gets all the press, but he acknowledges Munger as a huge part, if you listen.
- nabla9 1y ago
  Munger really gave Buffet wings. They did it together.
_uoud 1y ago
For Buffett I recommend Essays of Warren Buffett. Regarding Munger’s Almanack, I wrote a nice summary just before his death: ”A real estate investment of $24 by the Dutch to buy the island of Manhattan would today be roughly equivalent to $3 trillion. Across 378 years, that’s about a seven percent annual compound rate of return…” https://www.lostbookofsales.com/notes/poor-charlies-almanack-the-wit-and-wisdom-of-charles-t-munger/ https://www.lostbookofsales.com/notes/poor-charlies-almanack...
KajMagnus 1y ago
It's a great book (I think), reading it now. It's the only book this far that I've brought with me to the gym (because I wanted to continue reading it, in between the exercises)

tchalla 1y ago

Start here - The Superinvestors of Graham-and-Doddsville https://business.columbia.edu/cgi-finance/chazen-global-insights/superinvestors-graham-and-doddsville https://business.columbia.edu/cgi-finance/chazen-global-insi...

TheAlchemist 1y ago
I still remember the feeling I got when I first read the first paragraph and especially this phrase: "For one thing, if (a) you had taken 225 million orangutans distributed roughly as the U.S. population is; if (b) 215 winners were left after 20 days; and if (c) you found that 40 came from a particular zoo in Omaha, you would be pretty sure you were on to something." Compared to anything in finance I've read up until then, it felt like I just found the right guy.

edouard-harris 1y ago

Somewhat dated (10 years old), but a classic and probably the best single place to get started: https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Warren-Buffett-Lessons-Corporate/dp/1611637589 https://www.amazon.com/Essays-Warren-Buffett-Lessons-Corpora...

andsoitis 1y ago

Beside the various books he’s written, there’s also his writing on Berkshire Hathaways’ website: https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/ https://www.berkshirehathaway.com/

tim333 1y ago
He didn't write a book. Maybe he will now he has more time.
- andsoitis 1y ago
  You’re right. I stand corrected.

dehrmann 1y ago

Not to diminish any of his accomplishments, but read his quotes and story as being a product of his time. He famously missed out on a lot of solid tech investments because of his background as a value investor. Value investing doesn't exist the same way it did when Berkshire started making a name for itself. Tech investing also isn't them same as 1997, 2004, or 2010.

nabla9 1y ago
Berkshire has outperformed Nasdaq and SP500 from the IPO (May 9, 1996), 10y, 5y, 1y time periods and he has now $340B in cash. All this with low risk holding lots of cash. He has not missed anything.
- dehrmann 1y ago
  Just because it beat indexes doesn't mean it couldn't have done better. From 2017: https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/06/warren-buffett-admits-he-made-a-mistake-on-google.html https://www.cnbc.com/2017/05/06/warren-buffett-admits-he-mad...
  - nabla9 1y ago
    "Not to diminish the accomplishments of Magnus Carlsen , but he has lost many games." "Not to diminish the accomplishments of the world's best poker player, but he did lose many hands."
    - dehrmann 1y ago
      My point is that you have to put all of his wisdom and stories in the context of what he's good at and the environment he was in. He tried to apply his value investing playbook to early Google, and it looked like a bad investment. He later realized this (see my link), but that gets talked about less than value investing in its heyday. Aside: for debated reasons, value investing, which used to outperform, has been in a slump for a long time. It's east to hear his story and think if you do the same thing, you'd be successful. If you did the same thing in 1970, you might be! And some of his wisdom is generally applicable, but reading his story as a guide for investing today isn't the right approach.

DontchaKnowit 1y ago

Honestly his ex wifes book about how he reads 10k reports is really good. Cant remember the name.

TheAlchemist 1y ago
Never heard about it, and can't find a trace on google. If you remember, please post here.
- DontchaKnowit 1y ago
  Warren Buffett and the interpretation of financial statements by Mary Buffett
  - TheAlchemist 1y ago
    Thank you ! Ps. That's not his ex wife though, it's his son's ex wife
vmurthy 1y ago
If you’re talking about Mary Buffett, it is his ex daughter-in-law. How to read financial reports like Warren Buffett is the book (I think)
- DontchaKnowit 1y ago
  Thats the one, thank you

iancmceachern 1y ago

Watch YouTube videos of old Berkshire meetings, especially ones with Charlie.

DavidPiper 1y ago
For the lazy, "1994 - 2024 Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meetings" will get you started :-) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7aFD7bbigjgjUt0L2LWk3yr6YO9G3M5o https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7aFD7bbigjgjUt0L2LWk...

Animats 1y ago

"The Intelligent Investor", by Benjamin Graham. He was Buffett's mentor, and contributed to that book. It's straight value investing. Never buy a startup. There are biographies of Buffett. I read one of them years ago. It goes into great detail about the early deals that got him started. I never did quite understand the deal that moved him into the big leagues, the takeover of GEICO insurance.

jxjnskkzxxhx 1y ago

I downloaded his letters to shareholders to an ebook reader, starting I believe in 1971 or so. Read all of it to the present, about 1500 pages (there's a lot of repetition) What sticks out the most is what a clear thinker he is.

bluocms 1y ago
Would be possible for you to share it? I think would be a very interesting read. Thanks

physicles 1y ago

For his personal background, the history of his companies, and insight into his overall investment philosophy, the Aquired podcast did a three part series on Berkshire Hathaway back in 2021. They also interviewed Charlie Munger just before he passed away. They’re good overviews and enjoyable listens.

mayankkaizen 1y ago

Read his annual letters to shareholders. Fantastic writings.