Excellent article. I especially resonate with point 3 as it's something I feel I'm discovering for myself now. I tried to put in the hours and stock screen through many companies trying to find winners, however I'm realizing my best picks have come from reading about them through my network & then doing my own due diligence on top of that leading to taking up a position. A healthy mixture of both is something I'm aiming for now.
It has never been easier to come across good ideas if you have a decent network. I think the mistake I have made is trying to borrow conviction in someone else's ideas. Doing the additional work like you mentioned helps build the necessary conviction.
I especially agree with the idea that spending more time doesn't necessarily lead to higher output. I used to exhaust myself chasing the feeling of 'working hard' but looking back, it only made my judgment slower
Thanks for the comment. I found it to be quite a conundrum. Parts of society seems to put value on quantity (number of hours) over quality. It was only after I had been so far over the line of reasonable was I able to see that more hours didn't equal a better outcome.
I picked up a sense of fatigue in both of your takes. Not the physical kind, but the kind where your judgment slows down and you still think you're being focused. I'm curious how you realized it was time to stop
I wish I could say it was completely organic or something that I have better systems in place for, but it's usually something more random. Sometimes it's having thoughts creep in while I'm doing something completely different like resting between sets, showering, driving, etc or I will pre-occupied with things when I should be more present. This will nudge me to take a more birds eye view of things. Hope that makes sense.
That makes sense. I've found that the most genuine signals often appear when you're not consciously thinking, as if your brain steps aside for a moment and something else comes through.Do you tend to act on those signals right away, or do they linger in the background for a while?lol
Great post, Dean! I can relate to the point on comparison you made. Substack tends to have that environment. Including when it seems there’s a person for every possible niche and you can’t figure out if you fit in a slot.
Great article! Completely agree with you, especially with the difficulty to exhaustively cover an entire investment universe. I think what many fail to understand is that sourcing ideas takes time, you need to build your own knowledge, find the analysts/people you trust to initiate new companies/sectors. This is the difficulty for individuals vs institutional money managers. But I think Substack gives you the tools to build this network. I know that this is what I am trying to do, bring great research and ideas to investors, and I have found many others with great expertise on here!
Thanks for the comment. Substack has many high quality investors and analysts covering pretty much every industry, market cap and geography. It can be a overwhelming when first starting.
I think giving back to the community/network is the best way to get ideas and feedback on your process. The reason I started my blog over a decade ago was that there was nobody in my personal life that I was able to talk to about investing so I had no way of learning without seeking help from the internet.
I've been going through valuation (math) methods, trying to find what works best for me. I believe it's crucial to understand the math behind valuation, yet it's often unnecessary to build overly complicated models.
This is such an interesting comment. Finding what works best for you is hard as it can be different than what the market values. I know I have changed many times how I value a business over the years. And I'm sure I'll change in the years ahead.
I agree with all the points. Unless you're a professional investor with a team of analysts, you can review every rock and go from A to Z (as Peter Lynch and his team did).
But doing it individually is very difficult, and time is quite limited.
Excellent article. I especially resonate with point 3 as it's something I feel I'm discovering for myself now. I tried to put in the hours and stock screen through many companies trying to find winners, however I'm realizing my best picks have come from reading about them through my network & then doing my own due diligence on top of that leading to taking up a position. A healthy mixture of both is something I'm aiming for now.
Thanks for commenting.
It has never been easier to come across good ideas if you have a decent network. I think the mistake I have made is trying to borrow conviction in someone else's ideas. Doing the additional work like you mentioned helps build the necessary conviction.
I especially agree with the idea that spending more time doesn't necessarily lead to higher output. I used to exhaust myself chasing the feeling of 'working hard' but looking back, it only made my judgment slower
Thanks for the comment. I found it to be quite a conundrum. Parts of society seems to put value on quantity (number of hours) over quality. It was only after I had been so far over the line of reasonable was I able to see that more hours didn't equal a better outcome.
I picked up a sense of fatigue in both of your takes. Not the physical kind, but the kind where your judgment slows down and you still think you're being focused. I'm curious how you realized it was time to stop
I wish I could say it was completely organic or something that I have better systems in place for, but it's usually something more random. Sometimes it's having thoughts creep in while I'm doing something completely different like resting between sets, showering, driving, etc or I will pre-occupied with things when I should be more present. This will nudge me to take a more birds eye view of things. Hope that makes sense.
That makes sense. I've found that the most genuine signals often appear when you're not consciously thinking, as if your brain steps aside for a moment and something else comes through.Do you tend to act on those signals right away, or do they linger in the background for a while?lol
Great post, Dean! I can relate to the point on comparison you made. Substack tends to have that environment. Including when it seems there’s a person for every possible niche and you can’t figure out if you fit in a slot.
Thanks for the comment. I'm glad the post resonated with you.
Number series summation and polynomial math are simple but helpful in valuation.
Great article! Completely agree with you, especially with the difficulty to exhaustively cover an entire investment universe. I think what many fail to understand is that sourcing ideas takes time, you need to build your own knowledge, find the analysts/people you trust to initiate new companies/sectors. This is the difficulty for individuals vs institutional money managers. But I think Substack gives you the tools to build this network. I know that this is what I am trying to do, bring great research and ideas to investors, and I have found many others with great expertise on here!
Thanks for the comment. Substack has many high quality investors and analysts covering pretty much every industry, market cap and geography. It can be a overwhelming when first starting.
I think giving back to the community/network is the best way to get ideas and feedback on your process. The reason I started my blog over a decade ago was that there was nobody in my personal life that I was able to talk to about investing so I had no way of learning without seeking help from the internet.
I've been going through valuation (math) methods, trying to find what works best for me. I believe it's crucial to understand the math behind valuation, yet it's often unnecessary to build overly complicated models.
This is such an interesting comment. Finding what works best for you is hard as it can be different than what the market values. I know I have changed many times how I value a business over the years. And I'm sure I'll change in the years ahead.
Thanks for commenting.
I agree with all the points. Unless you're a professional investor with a team of analysts, you can review every rock and go from A to Z (as Peter Lynch and his team did).
But doing it individually is very difficult, and time is quite limited.
Great post. Agree on all from 1-5!