Warren Buffett
Investor and Entrepreneur
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4.3 • 6 Ratings
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- $26.99
Publisher Description
Warren Buffett is perhaps the most accomplished investor of all time. The CEO and chair of Berkshire Hathaway has earned admiration for not only his financial feats but also the philosophy behind them. Todd A. Finkle provides striking new insights into Buffett’s career through the lens of entrepreneurship. This book demonstrates that although Buffett is thought of primarily as an investor, one of the secrets to his success has been running Berkshire as an entrepreneur.
Finkle—a Buffett family friend—shares his perspective on Buffett’s early life and business ventures. The book traces the entrepreneurial paths that shaped Buffett’s career, from selling gum door-to-door during childhood to forming Berkshire Hathaway and developing it into a global conglomerate through the imaginative deployment of financial instruments and creative deal making. Finkle considers Buffett’s investment methodology, management strategy, and personal philosophy on building a rewarding life in terms of entrepreneurship. He also zeros in on Buffett’s longtime business partner, Charlie Munger, and his contributions to Berkshire’s success. Finkle draws key lessons from Buffett’s mistakes as well as his successes, using these failures to explore the ways behavioral biases can affect investors and how to overcome them.
By viewing Buffett as an entrepreneur, this book offers readers a fresh take on one of the world’s best-known financial titans.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
This ho-hum paean to Warren Buffett covers well-trod ground about the investor's life and career. Finkle (Lessons Learned from Leading Entrepreneurs), an entrepreneurship professor at Gonzaga University, begins with Buffett's upbringing as the son of a stockbroker and describes his first moneymaking ventures, including an enterprise that took in money from pinball machines Buffett placed in local stores while he was in high school. Progressing through Buffett's early career, the author discusses the investor's 1965 purchase of textile manufacturer Berkshire Hathaway, its transformation into a holding company in 1969, and the contributions of right-hand man Charlie Munger, who masterminded successful investments in Geico, Coca-Cola, and Gillette. Finkle outlines Buffett's investment philosophy, which includes valuing legacy companies over startups, holding on to investments "indefinitely," and collecting firsthand knowledge about companies before investing (Buffett invested in American Express in 1963 despite a recent plummet in its stock value because he noticed shoppers were still using the company's credit cards). The biographical background is well-researched, but Finkle's uncritical treatment frequently indulges in hagiography and brings little new to the table about the "Oracle of Omaha." The result is a serviceable if overly adulatory account of Buffett's life.
Customer Reviews
Awesome book
Ive read a few from this author and he does a very good job of communicating the information to readers at all levels of investing and entrepreneurship.
New perspective!
I loved reading about Finkle's Omaha connection to Buffett and his personal perspective on the world's greatest investor. No author before this has looked at Buffett through an entrepreneurial lens and Finkle does it beautifully. This is a must-read for those who want to learn more about Buffett's investment methodology, the equally important area of behavioral finance, and Buffett's personal philosophy on creating a rewarding life. Finkle reminds us that when making investment decisions, valuing a company is not enough. Behavioral biases can lead an investor to make mistakes. Finkle identifies these biases and shares the key lessons Buffett learned from his mistakes. Finkle provides the reader with a fresh perspective about Warren Buffett, the person, and how his background and mentors led him down an entrepreneurial path. You'll enjoy this book!
National Award-Winning Book on Warren Buffett Changed My Financial and Personal Life
Dr. Todd A. Finkle wrote this book over a period of 14 years. It’s part Biography, Investment Methodology, and Lessons Learned on how to be a better person.
Dr. Finkle grew up with the Buffetts in Omaha and went to high school with Peter Buffett. Dr. Finkle has been out to lunch with Warren Buffett three times and attended the last 14 Berkshire Hathaway Shareholder’s Meetings. He actually presented at three conferences during the 2023 Meeting and one of his talks was streamed to 500,000 people.
Dr. Finkle states that he wants to make a difference in people’s lives by helping them financially. He does this in the book by reviewing Value Investing and Valuation (Benjamin Graham & Phil Fisher) in three chapters. What is especially valuable is he takes you through a step-by-step process of Berkshire Hathaway’s initial purchase of Apple, Inc. He then takes you through all of Buffett’s investment strategies including all of his qualitative and quantitative factors. In the process of doing this he defines all of the ratios and explains what they mean. He finishes with the actual valuation of Apple. The beauty of this is its relatable to everyone with any background.
Dr. Finkle also has an entire chapter devoted to Warren Buffett’s “21 INVESTMENT MISTAKES.” He combines this with another chapter that focuses on the history of Behavioral Finance and seven of the most prominent biases that hinder our investment decision making. He applies the biases to Buffett’s mistakes so we can all learn from them.
Perhaps the biggest takeaways in the book are how to live a better life. Dr. Finkle integrates Dale Carnegie, Charlie Munger, Benjamin Franklin, Tom Murphy and Buffett’s own lessons he’s learned throughout his life.
Entrepreneurship is also a theme throughout the book. He takes you through the entrepreneurial ventures from his childhood to his partnership years and using corporate entrepreneurship to grow Berkshire Hathaway.
Dr. Finkle’s last chapter examines FinTech, digital currencies, blockchain and cryptocurrencies. He also looks at some of the critiques of Buffett especially the more recent performance versus the S&P 500. Succession is addressed as well as the Board of Directors and what the future holds.
All in all an excellent book, well written, excellent publisher (Columbia University Press) with extremely valuable information.