Talking Billions with Bogumil Baranowski

Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger’s 2023 Berkshire Hathaway Meeting I got up and stood on a platform — a microphone in front of me, a beam of bright light in my face. Warren Buffett just called me to ask a question in front of tens of thousands of people around me and millions watching worldwide. I was in the middle of Berkshire Hathaway’s Annual Meeting – the Woodstock for Capitalists held in Omaha, Nebraska, each year. It was my turn to speak; I said: “Thank you for making our lives better.” My words echoed back, confusing me for a moment; I proceeded with the question, nonetheless! Before I share with you what followed, I must thank everyone who asked me if I’m going to Omaha this year. There were many of you, many more than usual: Guy Spier, William Green, Adam Mead, Gautam Baid, Phil Ordway, Christopher Tsai, Robert Karas, Saurabh Madaan, Jeff Henriksen, Ninad Shinde, Jake Taylor, Gillian Zoe Segal, Eugene Ng, Tyler Howell, John Mihaljevic, Alex Wetterling, Tilman Versch, and many others. Special credit goes to Lauren Templeton, though, who, in our podcast conversation, finally convinced me to pack up and head over on this very special pilgrimage, my first in a long time. Thank you, Lauren! Read here or listen to the episode. ---- ⁠⁠⁠⁠Crisis Investing: 100 Essays⁠⁠⁠⁠ - My new book <-- check it out on Amazon. To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the book. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

In the world of investing, we keep looking for an edge; everyone wants to be smarter, and faster, I often say I’m probably more patient than most. My guest today might know of a secret edge worth sharing.   Carl Honoré is a bestselling author, broadcaster and the voice of the Slow Movement. His two main-stage TED Talks have racked up millions of views. His TED Course is entitled How to slow down. Carl travels the world to deliver powerful keynotes that put time and tempo in a whole new light. His counter-intuitive message is simple but game-changing: To thrive in a fast world, you have to slow down. Carl’s first book, In Praise of Slow, chronicles the global trend toward putting on the brakes in everything from work to food to parenting.   Carl’s second book, Under Pressure explores how to raise and educate children in a fast world and was hailed by Time as a “gospel of the Slow Parenting movement.” Carl’s third book, The Slow Fix, explores how to tackle complex problems in every walk of life, from health and relationships to business and politics, without falling for superficial, short-term quick fixes. Carl’s latest book, Bolder: Making The Most Of Our Longer Lives, explores ageing – how we can do it better and feel better about doing it. It’s a spirited manifesto against ageism. We talked about the following ideas: 1.      Speed is not always the best – that idea that it’s the fittest that survive, not the fastest! 2.      The biggest challenge to the slow movement is alleged price, the sacrifice we need to pay if we dare to slow down – Carl shares his perspective. 3.      Boredom is a modern invention. 4.      A contradiction, and contrast of sorts, where we could both praise speed and slowness. How do we strike a balance between the fast and slow?  5.      Being time rich and being time poor, how do become time rich in this ever-faster world we live in?  6.      The curiosity in slowness is growing also in the industry that is speeding us up – tech industry! 7.      We touch on remote work, and how it’s changing the work, life, and speed dynamic. 8.      Leisure is not more than escape from work. 9.      Demographics, and aging, and Carl’s other book - Bolder 10. Stay tuned until the end where we talk about how we can get started on this path to slowness, how kids are growing up under lots of pressure. Carl Honore -- Books. Carl's - Website. TED Talk. ---- ⁠⁠⁠Crisis Investing: 100 Essays⁠⁠⁠ - My new book. To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the book. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

John Soforic is the owner of a real estate business and enjoys total financial freedom. He wrote The Wealthy Gardener: Lessons on Prosperity between Father and Son to distill his own wisdom on money and success for his ambitious son who was entering adulthood. John’s book became a huge success, a best-seller, and an instant classic. He has lived in Mount Pleasant, Pennsylvania, with his wife, Patti, for over 30 years. He has a daily wealth blog at wealthygardener.com We talk about 1)       John’s childhood and upbringing and how those days influenced his relationship with money 2)      The unique storytelling shared in the book, a parable of a Wealthy Gardener, and John’s own intimate stories of struggles and success 3)      John explains how financial freedom is a way of life 4)      We learn from John that “prosperity is the power to take a walk in the woods on a weekday, pay for college tuition, and live with choices, options, and power.” 5)      We have a fascinating discussion about how we spend our time and the need for impact activity in our days. 6)      John shares his experience with stock market investments and how real estate investment resonated better with his personality and expertise. 7)      We talk about the discomfort and the pursuit of wealth 8)      The importance of relationships and alone time 9)      Last but not least, we touch on John’s own definition of success. John and I had a really fun conversation that continued after we stopped recording. I shared my last book with him, and he was kind enough to contribute to my new book, Crisis Investing. I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I did. Please help me welcome John Soforic. ---- ⁠⁠Crisis Investing: 100 Essays⁠⁠ - My new book. To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the book. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

Welcome to the special episode of Talking Billions. It’s Berkshire Hathaway week, and some of you might be heading to Omaha for the company’s annual meeting. I’ll be there, and I might see some of you. Many of you might be following the event online. Others might be new to Buffett and his company. As a special treat this week, I have an episode with Adam Mead for you. Adam wrote an incredible, almost 800-page book about the history of Berkshire Hathaway. I read it all, and I highly recommend it. Berkshire is an investment vehicle managed by Warren Buffett and Charlie Munger, two legends in the investing world. There are many books about them and the company, but this one is unique. Adam did an incredible job researching the history of Berkshire long before Buffett’s arrival at the helm, leaving us with hints about the future beyond Buffett. If you are a Buffett fan, I think you’ll greatly enjoy hearing stories you might be hearing for the first time, or at least how we discuss them might offer a new perspective. If you are new to Buffett and Berkshire, it’s a great primer in the history of a very successful investing duo, a one-of-a-kind company, and over 150 years of economic and industrial change in the United States. We start with the whaling fortunes of the northeast, we talk about Hetty Green, a legend of Wall Street of the late 1800s, to a story of the textile industry in America, to Buffett’s arrival, and Berkshire’s prosperous growth to a giant it is today holding a stake in Apple among others. We’ll talk both about the success and some massive mishaps, too. Stay tuned until the end, where we talk about Buffett’s lesser-known involvement with Amazon soon after the dot com bubble burst. Our conversation is a lesson in economic history seen through the experience of one company that changed and evolved and continues to flourish today. Adam J. Mead is a life-long student of business and capital allocation. He is the CEO and Chief Investment Officer of Mead Capital Management, LLC. Adam is also the founder of watchlistinvesting.com, a value investing newsletter. Adam spent over a decade in banking in commercial credit, including observing first-hand the after effects of the Great Recession and the long credit expansion afterward. Adam has been investing in public securities markets since 2004. Adam holds a Master of Business Administration from Southern New Hampshire University. Twitter: @BRK_Student LinkedIn YouTube Blog: http://www.theoraclesclassroom.com Newsletter: http://watchlistinvesting.com The Complete Financial History of Berkshire Hathaway: ---- ⁠Crisis Investing: 100 Essays⁠ - the new book. To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up to my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ - the book. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

Gillian Zoe Segal is the author of “Getting There: A Book of Mentors” and “New York Characters.” She received a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Michigan and a law degree from the Benjamin N. Cardozo School of Law.  We talk about her book Getting There, and we explore the stories of many successful people. We discuss some of the themes and lessons from their experience: 1)     We start with Gillian’s own childhood and upbringing 2)      Gillian shares how none of the characters featured in her book had a smooth and steady ride to the top 3)      She shares a story of young Warren Buffett’s fear of public speaking and how he managed to overcome it 4)      We learn how the mentors in Gillian’s book had blind faith in future success despite countless rejections. 5)      We hear about the importance of treating everyone with respect. 6)      Gillian shares a lesson from Sara Blakley, the billionaire founder of Spanx how it helps to protect and nurture new ideas. 7)      We talk about how great schools and degrees are not an indispensable ingredient to success and how getting fired might have helped many of the heroes in the book succeed. 8)      We discuss the dead-ends, plateaus, and even rock bottoms in the lives of the many accomplished people that Gillian features in the book. 9)      Stay tuned until the end if you are curious to know what a big wave surfer can teach us about goals and more. I had a lovely time chatting with Gillian and learning more about many people we all admire. Her book introduces them from a whole new perspective. I think there might be a lesson there or two for all of us. I certainly found some valuable takeaways for myself. ---- To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: My Handbook: My complete collection of principles on investing, finding work & life balance, and preserving family wealth. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

It's a bonus episode where I introduce all the previous 20+ episodes. It's a short listen, and you can choose and pick which episodes you might have missed but would enjoy listening to. Enjoy, subscribe, follow, rate, and most of all, share with your family and friends; warmly, Bogumil To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up to my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠

My guest today is Robert Karas. He is a partner and a chief investment officer at Bank Gutmann in Vienna Austria. He is a fellow Guy Spier’s ValueX attendee. He calls himself an investor on a lifelong journey. I’m a big fan of his newsletter, which you can find on LinkedIn, the link is in the notes. Robert has a way of presenting familiar ideas in a new fresh, and thoughtful way. I think that any seasoned and new investor would benefit from reading them. I highly recommend checking out his earlier posts, especially the ones written in midst of last crisis, the global COVID pandemic.   Today, we talk about Robert’s childhood, and upbringing, his investing journey. He shared with me his experience working at 100-year old institution, and how that influences the type of clients he works with, and the type of investment philosophy that his firm pursues. We discuss the benefits of writing, and how writing can make us better investors. Robert likes to call himself an outsider, and he explains why that helps in his work.   I especially like how he refers to the life of an investor as being monk like. He shares how an investment team resembles monks and nuns in a monastery. Stay tuned until the end to find out why Robert believes that it doesn’t pay to get completely out of the market at any point in time, no matter what’s happening.   I greatly enjoyed our conversation, I hope to continue to learn from Robert, and follow his writing.   After we stopped recording, I shared with Robert that Vienna was the first Western European city I saw as a kid. Poland, where I grew up, was just ending its failed experiment with a centrally planned Soviet-style economy. I have vivid memories of Vienna as being colorful, and alive compared to my early childhood Poland, which was gray, but about to dramatically change as the Cold War came to an end, and the Iron Curtain just fell.    Without further ado, please help me welcome Robert Karas from Bank Gutmann in Vienna, Austria.    https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertkaras/ ---- To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠: My Handbook: My complete collection of principles on investing, finding work & life balance, and preserving family wealth. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

My guest today is Jeff Henriksen. He is the CEO and founder of Thorpe Abbotts Capital, LLC. He is also an Associate Fellow at the University of Oxford and a contributor to Forbes.   Over the last ten years, Jeff has gained knowledge and experience as a private investor with a focus on behavioral finance. Although his investment style is rooted in the teachings of traditional value-oriented thinkers, Jeff’s philosophy centers on understanding the behavioral factors behind mispricing to unlock the core building blocks of the value premium. Using knowledge of these core building blocks, Jeff seeks to adapt traditional value investing philosophy to 21st century financial markets.   Jeff earned his MBA from the University of Oxford where he received the Dean’s Commendation Award. He also holds a master’s in finance from the University of Colorado Denver and a Bachelor of Arts from the University of Colorado Boulder, where he graduated magna cum laude in History. He is a member of the Phi Beta Kappa Society.   Today, we start with some childhood stories, and Jeff’s first entrepreneurial experience.   We dive deep into the concepts behind behavioral finance and economics in search of the new frontier or maybe the last edge in the investment world. Jeff has a gift for explaining difficult concepts in a very relatable way.   All investors read, many write, some publish, and others also teach on top of it all, Jeff tells us what he learned teaching investing at Oxford.   Jeff shares his recent memories of crisis investing while navigating through the global pandemic and tells a story of a stock trader who lived through the Cuban Missile Crisis… a story I didn’t know, but a story that gave me a new way of looking at extremely uncertain moments in time.   We have a longer discussion about obliquity, a concept that’s been on my mind lately, it’s the idea of indirectly arriving at the goal we chose.   Stay tuned to the end, one more time, my guest surprises me with a new take on the definition of success. It involves a Hollywood movie and more.   Find Jeff here: www.thorpeabbottscapital.com ---- To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: ⁠https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠⁠: My Handbook: My complete collection of principles on investing, finding work & life balance, and preserving family wealth. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

Christopher Mayer is the founder of Woodlock House Family Capital and author of several books, including 100 Baggers. Before starting Woodlock House (which went live in January 2019), Mayer worked with Bonner & Partners and the Bonner family office. He was the editor of Capital & Crisis, published by Agora Financial from 2004-2015. He was a corporate banker from 1994-2004 and graduated magna cum laude with a degree in finance from the University of Maryland. He also has an MBA from the same institution. He is the author of Invest Like A Dealmaker: Secrets of a Former Banking Insider (2008), World Right Side Up: Investing Across Six Continents (2012), 100 Baggers: Stocks that Return 100-to-1 and How to Find Them (2015) and How Do You Know? A Guide to Thinking Clearly About Wall Street, Investing and Life (2018). Dear Fellow Time-Binder: Letters on General Semantics. We focus our discussions mostly on the 100 bagger book, and I hope to have Christopher back on the show to talk about the other books. We talk about the idea of finding and investing in stocks that could go up 100 times. Chris shares the story behind the inspiration for the book. We talk about building a portfolio of 100x stocks, market timing, and so much more. I would encourage you to stay tuned until the end, when Chris sheds more light on his definition of success. To me, Chris’ book and this conversation continue to expand my imagination when it comes to what’s possible in investing in stocks. (www.woodlockhousefamilycapital.com). Author Page on Amazon https://twitter.com/chriswmayer ---- To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Follow me on Twitter: https://twitter.com/bogumil_nyc Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠⁠: My Handbook: My complete collection of principles on investing, finding work & life balance, and preserving family wealth. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.

Lauren C. Templeton is the founder and president of Templeton & Phillips Capital Management, LLC; a value investing boutique located in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Ms. Templeton currently serves on the Board of Directors at Fairfax Financial Holdings, the Board of Directors at Fairfax India Holdings Corporation, and the Board of Directors of Canadian Solar.   Ms. Templeton is the great-niece of Sir John M. Templeton and serves on the Board of Trustees of the John Templeton Foundation. She is also a current member the Templeton World Charities Foundation and a Trustee of Templeton Religion Trust. Ms. Templeton is the co-author of Investing the Templeton Way: The Market Beating Strategies of Value Investing’s Legendary Bargain Hunter. She received a B.A. in Economics from the University of the South.   We talk about:  1)      Lauren’s childhood and upbringing, and growing up around investing 2)      Sir John Templeton’s optimism, and the concept of maximum pessimism 3)      Sir John’s respect for thrift, and the importance of saving 4)      Making a positive difference in clients’ lives 5)      The benefits of being a student of history 6)      Sir John’s worldly views shaped by travel   We cover so many stories from Lauren's life, and her memories of Sir John, her great uncle.   Stay tuned until the end, when we talk about Berkshire Hathaway and Lauren’s recent email exchange with Warren Buffett.   Links:  Investing the Templeton Way: The Market-Beating Strategies of Value Investing's Legendary Bargain Hunter Templeton & Phillips Capital Management ---- To get regular updates and bonus content, please sign-up for my substack: ⁠https://bogumilbaranowski.substack.com/⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠Talking Billions⁠⁠ Learn more about ⁠⁠Bogumil Baranowski⁠⁠ Read ⁠⁠Money, Life, Family⁠⁠: My Handbook: My complete collection of principles on investing, finding work & life balance, and preserving family wealth. NEVER INVESTMENT ADVICE.