As my long-term readers know, I am a big fan of reading business biographies. Even with the survival and hindsight biases, they unveil plenty of industry insights, often indirectly. Something that is usually missing in a typical investor presentation or annual report.
After reading a few dozen such biographies, you can spot common traits of successful companies and their founders.
Charlie Munger was a voracious reader. This is what he once said:
After reading a few dozen such biographies, you can spot common traits of successful companies and their founders.
Charlie Munger was a voracious reader. This is what he once said:
I am a biography nut myself. And I think when you're trying to teach the great concepts that work, it helps to tie them into the lives and personalities of the people who developed them. I think you learn economics better if you make Adam Smith your friend. That sounds funny, making friends among the eminent dead, but if you go through life making friends with the eminent dead who had the right ideas, I think it will work better in life and work better in education. It's way better than just being given the basic concepts.
This is probably how Charlie Munger spotted BYD more than sixteen years ago. He later described its founder, Wang Chuanfu, as “a combination of Thomas Edison and Jack Welch—something like Edison in solving technical problems, and something like Welch in getting done what he needs to do.”
One of the books I read this summer was Shoe Dog, written by Phil Knight, the founder of Nike. It is a fascinating story, and I highly recommend it. I have summarised my takeaways.
You can read the full review of this book here.
Thank you for reading this piece. I hope it was useful. Please consider sharing it with your friends who may also benefit from this.