Personal Note: Warren Buffett’s Advice When We Met
This weekend marks the 90th birthday of Warren Buffett who is one of the greatest investors and one of the wisest and highest-quality people I’ve met in my life. And he is one of my few role models.
Back in 2004 when I was finishing my MBA, I was fortunate to meet Warren Buffett who was speaking to us on campus and the photo below is a reminder that I have on my desk about the wisdom that Warren imparted on me.
I asked him for advice to a new MBA and I’ll never forget as he smiled and said the following (in a nutshell):
“Zorian, you’re a Harvard MBA so don’t worry too much – you will do well in anything you do and just choose a career that makes you happy so that you will tap dance to work. Work for someone you admire. Invest in yourself – read and learn as much as you can every day even when you’re a CEO of a big company. Learn from the mistakes of others and avoid making those yourself. Do just a few things right and avoid doing too many things wrong – you can be very successful just with that formula alone. Invest in what you know and patiently invest in good businesses for the long term. Get rich slowly. Surround yourself with smart and high-quality people – you will grow in that direction. And always do the right thing!”
Breaking down Warren Buffett’s wisdom:
- Choose a career that makes you happy so that you will tap dance to work.
- Work for someone you admire.
- Invest in yourself – read and learn as much as you can every day even when you’re a CEO of a big company.
- Learn from the mistakes of others and avoid making those yourself.
- Do just a few things right and avoid doing too many things wrong – you can be very successful just with that formula alone.
- Invest in what you know and patiently invest in good businesses for the long term.
- Get rich slowly.
- Surround yourself with smart and high-quality people – you will grow in that direction.
- Always do the right thing