The Weekend Bulletin (Vol 1. | Iss. 14)

Feb 21, 2020

Volume 1 | Issue 14 | February 21, 2020

Investing is a very interesting endeavour. There is not set formula to achieve success in investing - making it more art-like than science. Over the years, different people have adopted varied investment philosophies to achieve similar results. Below are the profile of three such unusual investors:
- The first is someone who would probably be the world’s richest man in today’s dollars. Only the Rockefeller family would come close to the wealth that this man amassed through skilled trading for his family in the fifteenth century.
- Our second investor is dyslexic, had an abusive father, would often run away from home, was sent to the navy, worked for nasa, and eventually started his own enterprise. His fortune, however, didn't come from some flash of entrepreneurial brilliance, but from a lifetime of buy-and-hold investing.
- The most interesting was saved for the end. This is someone who probably holds the unofficial record of growing money faster and longer than anyone alive. Over three decades, he turned $11mn in $1bn - not for himself but for a college that boasts of the largest endowment per student in the whole of the US. The man's intelligence and humility is reflected in the fact that Warren Buffett considers him to be the only replacement for his father!!

This mental model gains prominence in the world of social media and technology dominated business models. Specifically in India, with the rise of 'chain' businesses - modern retail, quick service restaurants, multiplexes - its important for investors to understand the concept of Critical Mass. Borrowed from nuclear physics, this model applies to most walks of life.

An activity that not only enhances your physical well-being, but is also now believed to improve your cognitive well-being: Walking. While the research on this subject may be nascent, numerous thinkers have alluded to the fact that walking improves creative thinking. This could be a good anti-dote to our sedentary lifestyle.

This word has no meaning, but a very high function in the English language. It induces specificity, power, authority - depending on the way it is used.

Of every 100 words used in the English language, this word occurs 5 times - the most any word is used. It has already been used more than once in this section.
Interestingly, men are believed to use the word far more than women.
While it is widely used in the English language, it does not exist in numerous languages around the globe.
Despite it's wide usage in modern times, its origins remain unknown.
It's the word 'THE'. This three-letter word punches well above its weight in terms of impact and breadth of contextual meaning.

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Have a wonderful long weekend!!

- Tejas Gutka.