Warren Buffett: Investor and Entrepreneur

This is another excellent book that I would highly recommend. Previously, I feel I made an absolutely right choice to take Dr. Finkle's classes and now I have chances to read his books. The other book that I read and would also highly recommend is "Lessons Learned From Leading Entrepreneurs". I am a technical person and these books have significantly changed my thoughts in a much more flexible and positive way when I approach many matters in life. For sure, I will wait for more books written by Dr. Finkle.

This "National Award Winning Book" is one of the most up-to-date biographies on Warren Buffett. It has been translated into 13 languages and is published by Columbia Business School Publishing.The popular book focuses on Buffett's childhood and entrepreneurial ventures throughout his life, his investment methodology and how Buffett has altered it over time, behavioral biases and how they contributed to Buffett's investment mistakes, Berkshire Hathaway's Shareholder's Meetings, Dr. Finkle's trips to visit Buffett and his three lunches with him, the people that influenced Buffett and lessons Buffett shares with us, the history of Berkshire Hathaway, and Fintech (digital currencies, blockchain, cryptocurrencies).The book has made a significant impact on my finances and has made me a better person. Dr. Todd Finkle grew up in Omaha with the Buffetts. He went to high school with Peter, his brother knew Howard, and he interviewed Susie Buffett for the book. This, in addition to taking three groups of students to visit Buffett and have a Q&A session with him and go out to lunch with him three times. Dr. Finkle has gathered quite a bit of quality first-hand information previously not released in the public domain.Dr. Finkle examines the Buffett family's roots going back to Europe. He then examines Warren Buffett's childhood. He also examines how the Great Depression had such a negative impact on the Buffett family...especially Warren. Throughout the book, Dr. Finkle integrates information about entrepreneurship, investments, and Buffett's values on how to live a better life.Dr. Finkle emphasizes that people don't realize that Buffett is indeed an entrepreneur. The book examines how Buffett utilized his entrepreneurial behavior through the various ventures throughout his life. From selling coke and gum door-to-door, to co-founding a pinball company, to ventures in college, to founding an investment partnership, to creating innovative investment deals through Berkshire Hathaway. Entrepreneurship has been a centerpiece of his life. As an added bonus, Dr. Finkle, who is an expert in entrepreneurship, coaches readers how they can become an entrepreneur like Buffett. He also examines the motivations for being an entrepreneur and what the most successful entrepreneurs did.Another valuable aspeect of the book is how Dr. Finkle talks about the people that had the biggest impact on Buffett's life; His wife, Susie, his father Howard, grandfather, Earnest, Dale Carnegie, Ben Graham, Phil Fisher, Charlie Munger, Tom Murphy and others. There are great lessons for all of us about the importance of having positive role models in your life.Dr. Finkle wrote three chapters on value investing and Buffett's "Secret Sauce" or the things he looks at before investing in a stock or business. He uses Apple and GEICO as "real world" examples. He takes readers through a step-by-step process on how to do this. Looking at the qualitative and quantitative aspects of a company. He defines all of the ratios Buffett looks at and shows readers how to calculate a discounted cash flow model (DCF), which Charlie Munger says he uses in valuing a company. This is a cricial part of the book.There is also an in-depth chapter on Charlie Munger, which I really enjoyed. He reviews Charlie's background, education, entrepreneurial ventures, keys to success, investment philosophy and philanthropy.Perhaps one of the most valuable chapters in the book is where he examines Behavioral Finance (Biases). According to Buffett & Munger, this is more important than valuation. They call it temperament. Dr. Finkle reviews the history of Behavioral Finance and gives readers seven examples of the most prevalent forms of biases (e.g., herding, talking heads, loss aversion, etc.). He discusses them, gives real world examples, and shares with the reader how to overcome each of these to increase your financial returns.Another very important chapter is on Buffett's investment mistakes. While most people think Buffett is a genius and he certainly is, Finkle examines 21 of Buffett's biggest investment mistakes. He also talks about the behavioral biases that contributed to them. This allows readers to learn from Buffett's mistakes.Other topics in the book include two chapters on the history and growth of Berkshire Hathaway, a chapter on Dr. Finkle's six personal visits with Buffett and his experiences attending the past 14 Shareholder's Meetings, lessons on how to live your life, philanthropy, and happiness.The final chapter looks at fintech, cryptocurrencies (Charlie's favorite) and digital currencies. It also discusses the critiques of Buffett and talks about the returns of Berkshire over the past decade versus the S&P 500.In summary, this is an excellent well thought out and well-written book that should be part of anyone's library, especially for people who have a desire to learn about investments, entrepreneurship, and how to live a better life and become more financial independent.

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A great book that covers everything from Buffett’s early years and investment journey to the techniques behind Warren’s valuations methods, as well as a comprehensive list of investment successes and mistakes; explaining the psychological bias’ all investors face. Well worth reading!

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