The Education Of A Value Investor

The Education Of A Value Investor is the story of how Guy Spier turned away from his greedy, morally corrupted investment banking environment and into a true value investor by modeling his work and life after Warren Buffett and his value investing approach.

Investment banks are known for their ruthless salesmanship and dubious strategies to make money. They’re playing with other peoples’ money and assume zero risk in case of losing it, so they know they can be aggressive.

The company Guy worked at would always make their deals seem more profitable than they actually were to get investors on board. What would you do if you found out? Would you start asking questions? Or would you keep your head down?

Especially when you’re new, it’s easy to say you wouldn’t play along, but when actually faced with the dilemma, the decision gets a lot tougher.

Managers expect all of their employees to go with it, and if you’re the only one that hasn’t closed a deal, because all of your colleagues resort to sneaky tactics, would you just quit? Chances are, you’d feel immense pressure to perform and to prove to yourself that you can do it.

It’s very hard to even spot moral fraud when it’s happening, and even harder to point your finger and say: “No! To hell with this. Not under my watch!” But even if you’ve already fallen into this trap, don’t do it again. Come back out. Be honest. You know it’s the only way to do what’s right. No job in the world is worth sacrificing your morals, so if you’re in such a dilemma right now, take the leap. The world will be there to take care of you.

Investing your money is one thing, but if you think of the people in your rolodex like a vampire thinks of his victims, there’ll soon be no money left to suck out, because people will ignore you. A great investor doesn’t just invest her money, she also invests her time in the people that helped her get to where she is. When Guy started becoming a value investor, he decided to write “Thank you!” cards to all the people that had helped him professionally in the past. A simple “Thank you!” goes a long way and over time, people started to respond and to invite him to events. If you treat people well, if you show them gratitude, if you’re a good friend, if you care, give them respect, and are authentic, honest and helpful, they will remember your name and they’ll be there for you when you need help too. Over time, this not only helps you in business, it also changes…