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Anshul Khare

Capacity to Suffer

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Note: This post was originally published in the April 2018 issue of Value Investing Almanack. To read more such posts and other deep thoughts on value investing, business analysis and behavioral finance, click here to subscribe to VIA.

For many world-famous value investors, their interest in the field can be traced back to Warren Buffett.

In 1982, Thomas Russo was a business student at Stanford University when he attended Buffett’s talk. He was simply dazzled by the speed of Buffett’s mind and his knack for weaving profound investing lessons with stories and rib-tickling quotes. Russo was hooked for life and chose to pursue a career in value investing.

Tom Russo

Today, Tom Russo is a pre-eminent value investor of our times who manages over US$ 12 billion as a partner at Gardner Russo & Gardner. The most important idea that Russo talks about wherever he goes is capacity to suffer.

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Give Your Investment Ideas Some Legs

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Ever since I started writing for Safal Niveshak, I always wondered where does Vishal get his ideas for writing.

“Write more, write every day,” Vishal often recommends.

However, one of the most important (and often ignored) aspects of mastering any skill is tacit knowledge. Tacit knowledge is the knowledge that can’t properly be transmitted via verbal or written instruction.

In a master-apprentice relationship, more is caught than taught. This means a lot more can be learned by observing what good writers do because they may not explicitly verbalize when they’re asked to explain their craft.

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An Unexamined Life

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Despite being imaginary, some stories shake you up. They are unsettling because you wonder — what if this story is about me?

This is one such story.

The local goons were causing a nuisance for a shopkeeper. They would spray-paint abusive and derogatory graffiti all over his store window.

So the shopkeeper hatched a plan. The next day, he waited until the goons finished their dirty work and then he paid them Rs 1000 to thank them for their effort. The following day, he thanked them again but only paid Rs 500 this time. He continued to pay them to deface his property but the amount kept decreasing. Soon they were getting only Rs 10.

They stopped coming. Why bother doing all that work to abuse the shopkeeper for so little money?

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Where Should You Begin?

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One question that gets asked most often by Safal Niveshak readers is — As a new investor, where should I begin learning about investing?

In fact, it’s the most common question by people who are getting started with a new skill or new body of knowledge — Where should I begin? Which books to read first? Which online courses/blogs/websites should I start with?

Do you remember how you learned to walk? Probably you don’t.

Most babies take their first steps sometime between 9 and 12 months and are walking well by the time they’re 14 or 15 months old. When a child learns to walk, does it matter which leg was used first? How important is it that the toddler takes help of a wall or a walker? Whether she looks up, down, or forward while taking the first step?

My point is this — when it comes to picking up a skill or gaining knowledge about a new field, there’s no 100 percent foolproof step by step plan. What matters the most is how curious you are, and why do you want to learn.

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Spotlight: 20 Ideas to Make 2020 a Life Changing Year – Part 1

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On December 31st, as I was scrolling through the new year’s wishes, a particular message caught my eye. It was from my favourite writer Derek Sivers. He has a way of adding jolting perspectives to mundane things. He wrote —

A new day begins when I wake up, not at midnight. Midnight means nothing to me. It’s not a turning point. Nothing changes at that moment. A new year begins when there’s a memorable change in my life. Not January 1st. Nothing changes on January 1st.

Your year really begins when you move to a new home, start school, quit a job, have a big breakup, have a baby, quit a bad habit, start a new project, or whatever else. Those are the real memorable turning points — where one day is very different than the day before. Those are the meaningful markers of time. Those are your real new years.

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Bookworm: Ultralearning

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In 2012, Scott Young took upon him the challenge to complete the four year computer science curriculum of MIT and pass the exams without attending the classes. It was literally a moonshot for two reasons. First, Scott had a degree in business and no prior knowledge of computers. Second, he was planning to finish the challenge in under one year.

He did it. And that started him on the path to mastering several other hard skills like learning to speak four different languages (fluently) in one year and learning to draw like a professional in 30 days.

How does he do it — mastering hard skills in a shockingly short amount of time?
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Spotlight: Stay or Switch?

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Monty Hall problem has baffled the maths enthusiasts for decades. Mr. Monty Hall was associated with the popular game show called Let’s Make a Deal on American TV. Over his 30 years long career, Hall hosted nearly 5000 episodes of Let’s Make a Deal.

At the end of every episode, the contestants were offered to play a game called “Big Deal.” Here’s how it was structured.

A contestant was invited to stand with Monty Hall facing three big doors: Door no. 1, Door no. 2, and Door no. 3. Behind one of these three doors is a grand prize like a brand new car. The other two doors have something useless like a goat. Of course, Hall knew beforehand which door had the prize.
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Behaviouronomics: The Clustering Illusion

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During World War II, in the middle of 1944, the Allied forces were gaining ground against Germany. With the invasion of Normandy, Germany was on its back foot. In spite of this massive setback, Germany was not ready to let up.

On June 13, 1944, a week after Normandy, a loud buzzing sound rattled through the skies of battle-worn London. Seconds later, a never seen before flying object crashed and exploded on one of the civilian establishments in the city. Dozens perished.

British intelligence soon discovered that it was a new weapon developed by Germany. They called it V-1.

On its debut night, 9 more V-1s were fired across the English channel. Fortunately, only four of them managed to strike England. But that was just the beginning. Over the next few months, Germany shot 13,000 of those V-1s.
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Bookworm: Alchemy

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Post the second world war, when the western economies experienced a massive boom, the number of people living and working in high rises increased exponentially. These tall establishments became more convenient with the wide adoption of elevators.

In spite of elevators saving time and effort (that would’ve gone in climbing the stairs), people started complaining about delays and the slowness of elevators.

We, humans, are inherently discontent with what we have, aren’t we? Instead of feeling grateful for the fact that elevator saves us from the pain of trudging up floors on the foot, we get frustrated about having to wait a few extra minutes. Such is the human nature. However, it’s not the waiting that bothers us. It’s boredom.
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