Curiosity@Intelsense
Weekly dose of learning
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1.
Expand your circle of competence
Refusing to dive into a new industry because you have no experience is a very static way of looking at your own skill set. What you ideally want as an investor is to continuously build your circle of competence so that it includes more and more areas where you are no longer a novice.
If you aren’t really focused on your evolution as an investor falling back on a circle of competence can lead to stasis, even laziness.
Specifically, consider whether a security or industry fits within your circle of competence, or not. Be intellectually honest about it. If the answer is or no or even maybe, be willing to pass. Your odds of success are higher if you stick to what you know and understand. But you can’t stop there. Evolution is a must for survival in the investing game. The willingness to take the time to slowly and methodically expand the number of companies you feel comfortable analyzing is a good way to distinguish yourself as an investor.
2.
Longevity of business
The oldest balsamic vinegar that’s commercially attainable on the market is typically 100 years old (yes, as in, it’s been aged for 100 years!), and only a handful of companies have the ability to manufacture it.
Imagine the process: not only must you have been able to survive on the market for over a century, but you must possess resources that allow you to keep your product in fermentation for that long. That privilege indicates long-term success and trust from the consumers.
And no company producing balsamic vinegar of Modena can claim more success on that front than Giuseppe Giusti.
Established in 1605, Giuseppe Giusti is the oldest surviving company manufacturing balsamic vinegar.
3.
70-hour work week
In the last few days, there has been a lot of discussion on Narayana Murthy’s comment where he suggested a 70-hour work week for “youngsters” to make the country competitive globally.
A lot of people have diverging views on this. My view is simple. I have always “worked” more than 70 hours a week. While I had a full-time job, I was spending 40-50 hours a week on official work. Additionally, I was practically devoting 30-50 hours per week to my investing “work”. Even today, when technically I don’t have a full-time job, I am still “working” 70-90 hours a week. The trick for me always has been to do something which does not seem like work. Ask yourself, what your favourite activity is. Let’s say watching movies or web series is your favourite activity. Or cooking. Or watching cricket. Now, if someone paid you to do it, how long do you think you can do it per week? The moment you frame it this way, you will realise that you will happily do your favourite activity for more than 70-80 hours a week.
So, the trick is not in obsessing about the number of hours, but in finding out activities which you will enjoy doing for as long as you want.
Thought of the Week
No matter what you tell the world or tell yourself, your actions reveal your real values. Your actions show you what you actually want.
Video of the Week
Intelsense Insights
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What about your health (work till drop dead)? Do your remember Late Rakesh Jhunjhunwala?