I told myself when I started writing the newsletter that I would give myself 6 months of runway to try things out (in the arena you might even say) and then review from there.
Well, here we are.
If you don’t know by now, I don’t, and have never, worked in finance. I work in software, spending a good portion of my time on the road managing almost 200 government accounts, 1000s of SMB clients, and generally securing new business. It’s a lot of fun, and I really enjoy the people I get to work with.
Naturally this spurs the question: well, why are you so interested in all of this? In my opinion managing one’s own money is a natural extrapolation of one’s career in business proper:
I’m a better business man because I’m an investor, and I’m a better investor because I’m a business man.
Warren Buffett
I suspect my life would have been a lot duller if I had spent my professional career to date as a professional investor. That’s not to say that it’s not a worthwhile career path; just that it wouldn’t have been for me. I wanted to see the whites of people’s eyes during a negotiation, observe how a company develops from the inside, and experience the thrill of making a deal.
What’s even better, is that a lot of this practical experience can be turned into profitable investment decisions - and sometimes even unprofitable ones! My personal finance philosophy has been to save heavily, and then swing for the fences with the proceeds. I look for the best business models on the planet, and when their shares become attractively priced I back them with every resource. The results so far have been acceptable.
Writing has been an excellent accompaniment to my investment research, and also to my investing network. I have found no shortage of like-minded investors both here and on the Twitter/X. When you put your ideas out there, you open the door for all kinds of opportunities. This element has been priceless. If you are passionate about something, I would highly recommend the benefits of doing the same. You never know what will come back.
I enjoy writing, and think I am a decent written communicator. As anyone who does this regularly will know, its excruciating but rewarding. I spent much of high school and university writing persuasive essays, and this has translated well. I have always worked best in a team of 1. That’s why I’m a salesperson, and why I have always enjoyed writing.
I found the inspiration for this article in a 2019 Scutttleblurb update. The premise of that piece is the same as this one: anyone who pays to read what I write is a partner of mine, and so they are entitled to updates about operations from time to time.
After some trial and error I have settled into a regular pattern of writing at least one long form (from 3000 - 6000 words) piece almost every week. The content has been varied - anything from interesting updates in public companies, more long form and analytical pieces on a single company, historical lessons in business, as well as a newer series on my personal investment philosophy. I toyed around with podcasting, but I must admit that the modality is an entirely different beast. Much like with dogs, I have enjoyed being on other’s podcasts more than hosting my own. Below are appearances I have made this year
Interview with The Salty Investors
Podcast with Chit Chat Money on Fair Isaac Corporation
Podcast with Chit Chat Money on Verisign
Interview with Tristan Waine of Hurdle Rate
As Andrew Walker of Yet Another Value Blog wrote about last week, I have been trying to keep anything value added exclusively for paid subscribers. This has included virtually all company related research or insights. If I can do a bit of self promotion (and who is going to stop me?) my coverage of developments at Verisk Analytics, Fair Isaac Corporation, and Amazon earlier this year and last have all handily outperformed the market with very little business risk. Although the purpose for writing this newsletter is not explicitly as a stock picking service.
My coverage of companies has narrowed significantly to focus on the highest quality business models in the world at a time when they are experiencing underappreciated inflections in their business performance. This approach was entirely copied from Buffett’s early tenure at Berkshire Hathaway (1970s-1980s), Joel Greenblatt’s investment in Moody’s in the early 2000s, and the significant fortunes made by Newspaper barons in the 20th century.
I have plagiarised a simple principle from Buffett and made it my investing North Star:
Even though this simple idea has been known to the investment community for over 45 years now, it is still widely underappreciated. Over 10 people took the time to argue with the above post, even though simple mathematics can prove it. Some people questioned whether companies like this even exist. My only reply is a quote from the Upanishads:
As is your intention, so is your will. As is your will, so is your deed. As is your deed, so is your destiny.
We currently add about 7-11 new subscribers a month, and that number has been trending up since I started charging more (maybe we have that pricing power thing I harp on so much about?). We’re pushing on 60 paid subscribers and 1200 free subscribers. Articles focused on company research generated the most amount of paid interest, free articles focused on philosophy generate the most amount of free sign ups. We lose about 2-3 paid subscribers a month - although some have decided to rejoin us later. They are more than welcome.
Over half of our paid subscribers signed up on a yearly basis. For these lovely human beings, I am grateful. The feedback I get from new subscribers is interesting. Many are investment professionals who I assume invest along similar lines as myself, while some people subscribe simply because they enjoy my memes on Twitter/X. I have always said: come for the memes, stay for the quality investing discourse.
My plans for the future are to continue on much the same way as we have been going. At this stage, this would not be viable as a full time career for myself. I certainly hope to grow the readership over time and continue to provide enjoyable, if not entirely useful writing going forward.
As always, I’m always very approachable. You can comment here, DM me on Twitter/X, and email me.
Larry.
Great stuff Buyback, keep it up