Startup Lessons from The Snowball
I resisted Warren Buffet for a long time, namely because 2 friends worshiped the ground he walked on.
"He was an anomaly, lucky, blah blah blah..." I'd say dismissively as they quoted Buffet business nuggets.
But the story was too sexy for me to ignore. There was so much money, made out in the middle of nowhere and the consistency. My God the consistency. Temptation won, I read tidbits here and there, skimmed a partnership letter on occasion. I'm not sure when it happened, but I caved and turned into a Warren Buffet fanboy.
I had a few books about him on my radar, but never picked one up. At Borders one afternoon, I came across a new, thousand page monster on Warren called "The Snowball" by Alice Schroeder. I made a note to check it out online - it was getting great reviews, but I balked. Then I found myself at the airport a few weeks ago with a brand new Kindle 2, a 4-hour flight and nothing to read. Geek cliche no? So I grepped for something on my wishlist in the Kindle store and found The Snowball.
A third of the way through, I can't recommend this book enough. Ms. Schroeder tells a story so well that I have to pull myself away from it. That means a lot coming from me because I rarely have the interest or patience to slog through a biography.
Enough plugging and back to the title. I found myself clipping little bits from the book and was amazed at how familiar it sounds.
Here's a quote about Charlier Munger, who ultimately becomes Warren's partner:
"Charlie, as a very young lawyer, was probably getting $20 an hour. He thought to himself, 'Who's my most valuable client?' And he decided it was himself. So he decided to sell himself an hour each day. He did it in the morning, working on these construction projects and real estate deals. Everybody should do this, be the client, and then work for other people, too, and sell yourself an hour a day."
How about this one:
"Even Buffet realized by now that his growing collection of files, phone bills, and stock trades had reached the limits of what he could handle working in a home office. He disliked taking on overhead, but he could afford it."
That's Warren Buffet, at age 30, already a millionaire, long past ramen profitable still handling the grunt work himself and fighting to stay lean. Given that it's easier and cheaper than ever to start and run a company, how can this not fire you up?
And my favorite quote so far:
"Intensity is the price of excellence."
Warren was a machine. As a young boy, he worked hard and smart. But once he started investing with frequency, he took it to another level. The man was constantly reading/studying/analyzing/prowling to get an edge. His personal life suffered, but it was a price he was willing to pay. We're bombarded with overnight success stories and most of the time they're bullshit. It take passion, dedication and sacrifice to reach lofty heights. Get used to it, because things don't get easier.
Enough for tonight. If you're running a business or day-dreaming about one, GO GET THIS BOOK. I'm sure it'll goose me for another post or 2 in the future.
