Sunday 22 February 2009

The Genie of Warren Buffett

I have been reading this book, The Snowball: Warren Buffett and the Business of Life by Alice Schroeder. It is the biography of Warren Buffett, in my opinion, the greatest investor of all time. A hefty read — over 800 pages — but well worth it. I’m interested in investing so the book is a great resource of ideas. 

The Snowball
Alice Schroeder

But investing is only one side of the book. The other is, as suggested by the title, the business of life. And as a young and very inexperienced in life man I must say this side of the book has had the biggest impact on me. Just recently I have been going through another chapter and I came across a fascinating passage. The passage consisted almost entirely of a direct quote from Warren Buffett. This quote I want to share today...

Friday 6 February 2009

Stay Hungry, Stay Foolish


I remember the day I bought my iPod, it was the 30GB 5th generation video one. I was so excited. I couldn’t wait and went out to the nearby electronics shop during lunch break at work to get it – I couldn’t wait until after I finished. When I finally got the shiny little thing I just could not stop playing with it. I mean I was a music addict already, but it played video as well!

The same week I kept wondering, what will the next iPod look like? Speaking with one IT engineer at work we concluded that it would probably have a touch screen, just like the phone that this engineer had. The PHONE you idiot! We were close, yet we didn’t get it. Anyway, that was three years and one month ago. Today, ladies and gentleman, I got the iPhone!

But why?

I wanted to buy the Phone-of-the-i for a as long as the general public has known about it. The unbeatable functionality (let’s face it, one and a half years after the launch and there is still not a device in this world to beat the iPhone’s user interface) combined with incredible looks was what I have longed for in a mobile device for as long as I can remember. I was tired of having phones that could do this, but could not do that etc. I wanted an all in one device. Most of all, however, I wanted the access to information whenever and wherever I needed it. The fact is that living in a huge city like London is stressful enough by itself and the iPhone, with maps, internet browser, e-mail and up-to-date weather forecast among others, pretty much solves a lot of logistic problems, more so, it does it better than its rivals.

Happy iPhone owner

Luxury item

Whatever rational justifications I have given it, the fact remains that the iPhone is a luxury item, an item that I can perfectly live without. And this single argument was probably the most important reason why I had waited for so long to get it. What made me change my mind then? It was The Big Boss himself – Apple CEO and founder, Steve Jobs.

Stanford speech

In 2005 Steve Jobs delivered a commencement speech to the graduates of Stanford University. In this speech Mr. Jobs tells three stories from his life giving an incredibly inspirational message to the audience. Among many very interesting points he makes, a somewhat dramatic remark struck me the most. He said that “remembering that you were going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to loose” and “there is no reason not to follow your heart” in what you do in life. He concluded his speech with the words – “stay hungry, stay foolish”.

After watching the video I thought to myself – wow! I want to test this thing! I am going to do this! I will wake up each day and try something new, something I have not done before! Yes, EACH SINGLE DAY!

So one day, I came back from work and suddenly this idea struck me – why the hell don’t I get an iPhone? Go for it, I said to myself. It wasn’t that easy, though. I kept reminding myself – you cannot afford it, you need to save money. Then I realised that the more rational arguments I was making the more foolish the decision was becoming. BINGO! I made it! Ramming through the final bits of hesitation I rushed to my Apple Store and bought the phone. I was foolish and so happy.

The lesson

What this whole thing taught me was the same idea that “I shouldn’t have club” embraces (see one of the posts below). It is the idea of going for it, the idea of getting up, jumping out of a helicopter and diving through the sky! Well, yes, buying an iPhone wasn’t exactly as risky but there was a financial component that made it a bit unsafe. Going through that barrier made me much more confidant, and now, I feel much more secure with a lot of other, much smaller decisions that I make. As a result, my life is better now, not just because I can find my way around London easier or because I know the weather for the next couple of hours. It is better because now I know that whether it rains or snows, whether I can’t find the place I have been looking for or I am completely lost, I will handle it and will make it through! I know I will!!!

Thank you Apple.