#295 I had dinner with Charlie Munger

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Differentiation is Survival: Lessons from Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet

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The advice from Jeff Bezos and Warren Buffet is to only bet or play games where you have the advantage and the odds are in your favor. This is similar to the concept of differentiation is survival, which means that in order to survive, you need to have a unique and distinct advantage. Warren Buffet demonstrated this by shutting down his hedge fund when he could no longer find cheap investment opportunities, while Charlie continued to invest and suffered losses during the stock market crash. Warren, on the other hand, had cash available and was able to take advantage of the crash by investing in undervalued companies. The key takeaway is that differentiation and the ability to recognize and act on favorable odds are essential for survival and success.

What I learned from having dinner with Charlie Munger and rereading The Tao of Charlie Munger.

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(5:45) The blueprint he gave me was simple: Forget what you know about buying fair businesses at wonderful prices; instead, buy wonderful businesses at fair prices.

(8:48) He has never forgotten the importance of having friends in high places.

(9:04) Most people systematically undervalue their time. — Peter Thiel

(11:08) Franklin & Washington: The Founding Partnership by Edward Larson. Founders #251)

(12:23) Meet You in Hell: Andrew Carnegie, Henry Clay Frick, and the Bitter Partnership That Changed America by Les Standiford. (Founders #284)

(15:02) Charlie took the excess capital out of Blue Chip Stamp and invested it in profitable businesses.

(16:56) Charlie started seeing the advantages of investing in better businesses that didn't have big capital requirements and did have lots of free cash that could be reinvested in expanding operations or buying new businesses.

(17:38) Go for great.

(21:33) In everything I’ve done it really pays to go after the best people in the world. —Steve Jobs

(27:15) If you're in a good business just know that it's human nature to mess it up. Don't mess it up. Just stay there and let time do its work.

(27:34) One truly great business will make your unborn grandchildren wealthy.

(28:08) All I Want To Know Is Where I'm Going To Die So I'll Never Go There: Buffett & Munger – A Study in Simplicity and Uncommon, Common Sense by Peter Bevelin. (Founders #286)

(34:39) I did not succeed in life by intelligence. I succeeded because I have a long attention span.

(34:54) Charlie Munger on how he made $400 or $500 million by reading Barron’s for 50 years.

(35:11) One of the reasons Charlie and Warren have never worried about anyone mimicking their investment style is because no other institution or individual has the discipline are the patience to wait as long as they can.

(35:47) Wisdom is prevention.

(36:50) Only play games where you have an edge. — A Man for All Markets: From Las Vegas to Wall Street, How I Beat the Dealer and the Market by Ed Thorp. (Founders #222)

(38:31) Wise people step on big and growing troubles early.

(44:51) I am continually amazed at the number of people who are presented with an opportunity and pass. There’s your basic dividing line between the people who shoot up in their careers like a rocket ship, and those who don’t — right there. — Marc Andreessen's Blog Archive (Founders #50)

(46:28) The most inspiring biography I’ve read so far: Born of This Land: My Life Story by Chung Ju-yung. (Founders #117)

(47:11) Invest Like The Best #204 Sam Hinkie Find Your People

(42:42) Rober Caro’s Books:

The Power Broker

The Path to Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson I

Means of Ascent: The Years of Lyndon Johnson II

Master of the Senate: The Years of Lyndon Johnson III

The Passage of Power: The Years of Lyndon Johnson IV

(48:46) We just got after it and we stayed after it. — Sam Walton: Made In America by Sam Walton. (Founders #234)

(52:39) Some brand names own a piece of consumer's minds and they do not have any direct competition.

(55:30) We are individual opportunity driven.

(57:08) Size and market domination can create their own kind of durable competitive advantage.

(56:15) Jony Ive: The Genius Behind Apple's Greatest Products by Leander Kahney. (Founders #178)

(1:01:57) Extreme specialization is the way to succeed. Most people are way better off specializing than trying to understand the world.

(1:04:44) Wise people want to avoid other people who are just total rat poison and there are a lot of them.

(1:05:35) Charlie and I have seen so much of the ordinary in business that we can truly appreciate a virtuoso performance.

(1:09:00) Am I Being Too Subtle?: Straight Talk From a Business Rebel by Sam Zell. (Founders #269)

(1:10:15) Charlie looks at nearly everything through the lens of history. You aren't changing human nature. Things will just keep repeating forever.

(1:13:13) There should be more willingness to take the blows of life as they fall. That's what manhood is, taking life as it falls. Not whining all the time and trying to fix it by whining.

(1:14:40) Hard Drive: Bill Gates and the Making of the Microsoft Empire by James Wallace and Jim Erickson. (Founders #290)

(1:17:00) Arnold Schwarzenegger autobiographies and episodes:

Total Recall: My Unbelievably True Life Story by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #141)

Arnold: The Education of a Bodybuilder by Arnold Schwarzenegger. (Founders #193)

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