Sunday, January 1, 2017

"Find Problems You Like to Solve"

As we start the new year, I really enjoyed reading this post and especially the thought below:

It took about a year of struggling with that sense of self-doubt before I came to terms with the inescapable nature of recurring problems. At that point, I came to appreciate the concept philosophically– there were always going to be problems to solve, no matter whether you screwed things up or batted it out of the park. And once I had that piece, I realized the next piece was to find problems you like to solve. If you’re going to deal with problems, you might as well have fun with them.

This connects to my theory of investment, as well. I believe the ideal for investment is control, ownership, being in a position to add value by being a change agent. And so from that standpoint I believe the most fundamental investment value, besides price, yield, future prospects, etc., is that you select investment problems you enjoy solving. You be an owner where you can add value with your solutions to the problems the company faces, and where you enjoy providing those solutions.
This is a great philosophy.

I think the Buffett concept that stocks are ownership interests in businesses has been pushed too far. The reality is that public market investors generally have no say whatsoever in what goes on at "their" businesses. It is really excruciating to watch managements skim money and make elementary capital allocation mistakes.

1 comment:

CP said...

"The biggest Stupid you can do is to invest in someone else’s business, or worse, work for someone else. No one got rich, or could retire handsomely from someone else’s business — unless you’re ultra-lucky. Few of us are that lucky.

http://www.technologyinvestor.com/?p=37129