Table of Contents
What kind of business does Warren Buffett like?
The really big money tends to be made by investors who are right on qualitative decisions.
-WARREN BUFFETT [CITED IN SCHROEDER, 2008, P. 265)
In a business selling a commodity-type product, it's impossible to be a lot smarter than your dumbest competitor.
-WARREN BUFFETT [BUFFETT, 1977-2013, 1990]
One of the lessons... is the importance of being in businesses where tailwinds prevail rather than headwinds.
- WARREN BUFFETT [BUFFETT, 1977-2013, 1977]
Buffett opines that between two "wonderful" businesses one should choose the least capital inten-sive. He admits that it took Charlie (Munger) and him 25 years to figure this out.
[Buffett, 1991b].
According to Bill Gates who is a close friend of Buffett, Buffett does not believe in buying businesses in which success is possible only if all the employees involved are excellent
[Gates, 1996].
Buffett's recommendation that one should buy tickets only for good shows: "The funny thing is, better shows don't cost that much more then lousy shows"
[cited in Lowe, 2007, p. 170].
In investing, there is no score multiplier for making difficult investments.
-WARREN BUFFETT [BUFFETT, 2003]
Warren Buffett’s Investment Principles
Investing Within One's Circle of Competence
If you try to predict the future of everything, you attempt too much.
-WARREN BUFFETT (CITED IN LOWE, 2007, P. 158]
"If you can't write an essay describing why I'm going to buy the entire company at the current valuation," you have no business buying 100 shares of stock"
[Matthews, 2009, p. 77].
"It’s no sin to miss a great opportunity outside one's area of competence"
[Buffett, 1977-2013, 1989]
In an interview, Buffett was once asked to advise a beginner investor on how to start inves