Today, we're running a replay of my 2019 conversation with legendary investor Chuck Akre. Chuck founded Akre Capital Management in 1989, which now manages approximately $14B dollars. We discuss his investing style and his “three-legged stool” for evaluating companies. Please enjoy this great conversation.

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For the full show notes, transcript, and links to mentioned content, check out the episode page here.

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Invest Like the Best is a property of Colossus, LLC. For more episodes of Invest Like the Best, visit joincolossus.com/episodes.

Past guests include Tobi Lutke, Kevin Systrom, Mike Krieger, John Collison, Kat Cole, Marc Andreessen, Matthew Ball, Bill Gurley, Anu Hariharan, Ben Thompson, and many more.

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Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant (https://thepodcastconsultant.com).

Show Notes:

[00:00:00] Welcome to Invest Like the Best

[00:01:06] First Question – Advantage of being in Middleburg, Virginia

[00:02:11] What a day looks like for Chuck

[00:03:06] Why imagination is more important than knowledge

[00:03:38] Difference between curiosity and imagination

[00:04:38] The origins of the Nirvana Three-Legged Stool concept

[00:10:14] First leg of the stool, extraordinary business and ROE’s with a focus on Bandag

[00:14:36] How his evaluations of value have changed over the last 10-15 years

[00:16:10] A look at recent businesses that he’s bought and why they are interesting

[00:19:56] Why they keep things simple

[00:21:35] Second leg of the stool, the people involved and characteristics of managers he has invested in

[00:23:20] Role of capital allocation in the people he focuses on

[00:29:34] Third leg of the stool, reinvestment

[00:21:09] How does he think about diversifying across an investment area

[00:33:32] Great businesses wrapped in a bad balance sheet

[00:37:35] What would cause him to sell

[00:38:52] What does he look for in people

[00:43:27] How curiosity has impacted his interest in land conservation

[00:43:51] Advice for investors, especially younger ones

[00:46:14] Kindest thing anyone has done for him

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