The archive

Writing on Charlie Munger’s Quality School of Value Investing

Long-form analysis on the businesses I study, the framework I use, and the behaviour required to hold quality through quiet years and noisy ones.

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21 September 2026

The Greatest Investment Risk May Be the Trade You Feel You Cannot Afford to Miss, Part Three

Pre-planned selling rules, the Micron case study, the Barber and Odean overtrading study, and why a portfolio should become more robust as the market becomes more excitable.

Behaviour
19 September 2026

The Greatest Investment Risk May Be the Trade You Feel You Cannot Afford to Miss, Part Two

The leverage feedback loop, why de-risking is a portfolio decision rather than a market prediction, and why boring anti-bubble businesses can become beautiful.

Behaviour
16 September 2026

The Greatest Investment Risk May Be the Trade You Feel You Cannot Afford to Miss, Part One

Why long-term value investors should be wary of both FOMO and overconfidence. On Nick Sleep's anti-bubble concept and the 2026 KOSPI crash.

Behaviour
14 September 2026

The Business Is the Investment, the Stock Price Is the Scoreboard, Part Three

The Wonderful-Companies-at-a-Fair-Price philosophy, why precise price targets mislead, and the investor's real scorecard.

Framework
12 September 2026

The Business Is the Investment, the Stock Price Is the Scoreboard, Part Two

Capital allocation, the balance sheet as a strategic asset, the mathematics of sustained compounding, and why owners ask different questions than spectators.

Framework
10 September 2026

The Business Is the Investment, the Stock Price Is the Scoreboard, Part One

Why long-term investors create more wealth by following earnings, cash flow, and competitive strength annually than by watching the market every day.

Framework
8 September 2026

The Shortest Window in Long-Term Investing, Part Three

Why the best opportunities often feel uncomfortable. On the investor's real edge and why the market gives you thousands of prices but far fewer opportunities to invest.

Framework
6 September 2026

The Shortest Window in Long-Term Investing, Part Two

Why compounding makes patience economically powerful. On the watchlist as a form of optionality, and why the hardest part of investing is often psychological.

Framework
4 September 2026

The Shortest Window in Long-Term Investing, Part One

Why great businesses are often available at their best prices for only a brief moment. On Pulak Prasad's Darwin-inspired investment philosophy and why the starting valuation matters enormously.

Framework
2 September 2026

A Type of Mistake Involving Self-Blindness Regarding the Investments We Never Made, Part Three

Building a process that prevents future regret. On the opportunity radar, why great investors are prepared rather than omniscient, and turning regret into progress.

Behaviour
31 August 2026

A Type of Mistake Involving Self-Blindness Regarding the Investments We Never Made, Part Two

Why long-term investors must master attention allocation. On hindsight bias, why great investments rarely feel obvious when available, and the danger of chasing yesterday's winners today.

Behaviour
29 August 2026

A Type of Mistake Involving Self-Blindness Regarding the Investments We Never Made

Why long-term investors must master attention allocation, opportunity cost, and the psychology of missing exceptional businesses. On AMD, the circle of competence paradox, and errors of omission.

Behaviour
27 August 2026

The Company Defense Shield You Cannot See, Part Three

How multiple compensating strengths can create a strong business without a classic economic moat. On business strength versus stock quality, and a durable four-question framework.

Framework
25 August 2026

The Company Defense Shield You Cannot See, Part Two

How multiple compensating strengths can create a strong business without a classic economic moat. On brand, why the shield is emergent, and an eight-question practical framework.

Framework
23 August 2026

The Company Defense Shield You Cannot See, Part One

How multiple compensating strengths can create a strong business without a classic economic moat. On the Compensatory Interlocking Defense Shield, with a detailed case study of Haidilao.

Framework
21 August 2026

When Very High Intelligence Meets Excessive Concentration, Extreme Leverage and the Unknowable Future, Part Three

Very high intelligence and a correct view of a trend still cannot eliminate valuation risk. On the greatest investment edge: knowing what you don't know, and building a portfolio that does not require you to know it.

Behaviour
19 August 2026

When Very High Intelligence Meets Excessive Concentration, Extreme Leverage and the Unknowable Future, Part Two

Very high intelligence and a correct view of a trend still cannot eliminate valuation risk. On margin of safety, epistemic humility, and designing a portfolio around what you cannot know.

Behaviour
17 August 2026

When Very High Intelligence Meets Excessive Concentration, Extreme Leverage and the Unknowable Future, Part One

Very high intelligence, strong conviction, and a potentially correct view of a long-term trend still cannot eliminate valuation risk, timing risk, concentration risk, leverage risk, and uncertainty. On the Situational Awareness collapse.

Behaviour
15 August 2026

Finding Tomorrow's Small-Cap, Mid-Cap Multi-Baggers Before They Become Obvious

Why experienced investors can gain an edge by identifying future multi-baggers before the market recognises their true potential. On Buffett's capacity problem and a personal case study of identifying iFAST Corporation in 2015.

Framework
13 August 2026

Cash Is King, Not Accounting Profits (Final Part)

From accounting earnings to owner earnings — a complete six-step framework for identifying high-quality stocks, combining free cash flow, capital allocation, stock-based compensation, and the economic moat.

Framework
11 August 2026

Cash Is King, Not Accounting Profits, Part Three

The hidden cost of stock-based compensation. Why investors must treat excessive equity dilution as a real economic expense, even though accounting rules classify it as non-cash.

Framework
9 August 2026

Cash Is King, Not Accounting Profits, Part Two

Why free cash flow determines long-term intrinsic value. On cash as economic freedom, good businesses versus great businesses, and why sustainable cash generation matters more than the current amount.

Framework
7 August 2026

Cash Is King, Not Accounting Profits, Part One

The difference between accounting profits and economic reality. On why free cash flow, not net income, ultimately determines shareholder wealth, cash conversion as a quality signal, and why revenue growth alone creates no wealth.

Framework
4 August 2026

The Cardinal Sin of a Value Investor

When the pursuit of the perfect price costs you extraordinary returns. A case study on Palantir Technologies, the behavioural trap of demanding the perfect entry price, and why greed sometimes disguises itself as patience.

Case Study
2 August 2026

When Momentum Turns Against You, Part Two

The historical danger of leverage at the peak of secular bull markets. On Buffett's derivatives warning, the behavioural trap of extrapolation, the mathematics of recovery, and why survival matters more than maximizing returns.

Markets
31 July 2026

When Momentum Turns Against You, Part One

The historical danger of leverage at the peak of secular bull markets. On reflexivity, margin calls, nonlinear crashes, and what the 2026 KOSPI decline and the 2015 China margin crash teach long-term investors about survivability.

Markets
29 July 2026

The Life-Long Learning Investor: What Sam Walton's Origins Teach Us About Investing

Overcoming the intimidation of financial jargon by studying real businesses and embracing the beginner's mind. On Sam Walton, inversion, and why competitive analysis is the real work of evaluating a moat.

Behaviour
27 July 2026

When Great Companies Stop Compounding, Part Two

Why exceptional businesses can remain high-quality cash machines yet no longer create exceptional shareholder returns. On the shift from creating to preserving value, why growth can destroy shareholder value, and why multiples compress.

Framework
25 July 2026

When Great Companies Stop Compounding, Part One

Why exceptional businesses can remain high-quality cash machines yet no longer create exceptional shareholder returns. On the reinvestment runway, Return on Incremental Invested Capital, and why more growth is not always better.

Framework
23 July 2026

From Small-Cap, Mid-Cap High-Quality Business to Large-Cap, Mega-Cap True Compounder — Part Two

How exceptional businesses scale without losing what made them exceptional. On the challenges of scale, reinvestment discipline, culture as a moat, and a practical checklist for evaluating a business's compounding runway.

Framework
21 July 2026

From Small-Cap, Mid-Cap High-Quality Business to Large-Cap, Mega-Cap True Compounder — Part One

Understanding how exceptional businesses begin their journey toward decades of value creation. A practical framework for evaluating whether a young small-cap or mid-cap company can evolve into a large-cap true compounder.

Framework
17 July 2026

The Retail Investor's Hidden Superpower, Part Two

Why freedom, patience, and independent thinking can beat size, resources, and prestige in investing. Part Two covers time as the retail investor's greatest asset, the freedom to hold cash and concentrate, and why most retail investors still underperform.

Behaviour
15 July 2026

The Retail Investor's Hidden Superpower, Part One

Why freedom, patience, and independent thinking can beat size, resources, and prestige in investing. On the principal-agent problem, career risk, benchmarking handcuffs, and why size can become a disadvantage for institutions.

Behaviour
13 July 2026

The Anatomy of a True Compounder, Part Five (Final)

The final part of the series. Valuation, margin of safety, a seven-step investment process, and a concluding summary of all seven pillars from the complete five-part essay.

Framework
12 July 2026

When Nobody Knows What Comes Next

Why long-term investors should focus on process instead of predictions during bull markets, bear markets, and possible bubbles. On Tom Lee, Howard Marks, and Ray Dalio, dry powder, and why outcomes contain uncertainty but process does not.

Markets
11 July 2026

The Anatomy of a True Compounder, Part Four

The concluding part of the series. Eight common mistakes investors make when evaluating compounders, and a practical seven-pillar checklist to close the four-part essay.

Framework
9 July 2026

The Anatomy of a True Compounder, Part Three

The concluding part of the series. Pillars Six and Seven — exceptional management and business resilience — and how all seven pillars reinforce one another to create a compounding advantage competitors struggle to replicate.

Framework
7 July 2026

The Anatomy of a True Compounder, Part Two

Turning business quality into long-term shareholder value. Part Two covers superior financial economics, long-term growth runway, and outstanding capital allocation.

Framework
5 July 2026

The Anatomy of a True Compounder, Part One

The seven timeless characteristics of exceptional businesses that create long-term shareholder wealth. Part One covers durable competitive advantages and exceptional customer economics.

Framework
3 July 2026

Behind Great Businesses: Understanding the Economic Moats That Create Exceptional Long-Term Investments

Applying Pat Dorsey's four-pillar framework to separate truly durable competitive advantages from ordinary business excellence. On intangible assets, switching costs, network effects, and cost advantages.

Framework
2 July 2026

The Hidden Price Behind Extraordinary Success: What Elon Musk, Peter Lynch and Warren Buffett Teach Us About the Cost of Greatness

Why exceptional achievement usually demands sacrifices most people never see. On Lynch's retirement at 46 and Buffett's decades of obsession, and why the better question is not what success you want, but what price you're willing to pay.

Behaviour
1 July 2026

The Hardest Part of Investing Is Not Finding Great Companies — It Is Holding Them Long Enough

The mathematics of compounding and the psychology of compounding are two entirely different disciplines. Almost every investor understands the mathematics. Far fewer can endure the psychology. On 9 multi-baggers in 36 holdings and what they have taught.

Behaviour
30 June 2026

Crash Buying Is Not Catching a Falling Knife

Understanding the critical difference between temporary price declines and permanent business deterioration. On Mr. Market, margin of safety, and the P/E mathematics that separate a market dip from a falling knife.

Framework
28 June 2026

The Four Decisions That Determine Investment Success

Why knowing what to buy is only the beginning. Successful investing is the result of four separate decisions — and the last two often separate average performance from exceptional performance.

Framework
27 June 2026

Taxes, Compounding, and the Bigger Picture: Why Long-Term Investors Should Focus More on Business Quality Than Tax Fears

Charlie Munger once observed that trying too hard to minimise taxes is one of the great standard causes of really dumb mistakes. On deferred taxes, opportunity cost, and why business quality should dominate tax fears.

Framework
26 June 2026

The Three Enduring Paths to Stock Market Alpha

Why most long-term investment success comes from only a few sources. Almost every successful strategy is a variation of one of three approaches: quality at a fair price, deep value, or event-driven special situations.

Framework
25 June 2026

Investing Is Non-Linear: Why the Biggest Rewards Often Arrive Much Later Than Expected

One of the hardest truths in investing is that success rarely happens in a straight line. On why patient investors sometimes appear lucky, the cost of selling too early, and why the largest rewards go to those right and patient enough.

Behaviour
24 June 2026

Value Investing Is Not Dead — We Simply Disagree on What Value Investing Means

Every few years, someone declares value investing dead. Before deciding, we should ask a simpler question: what exactly is value investing? On the four schools, from cigar butts to Munger's wonderful businesses.

Framework
23 June 2026

The Emotional Price of Long-Term Investing: Understanding Warren Buffett's 50% Rule

You've got to be prepared when you buy a stock to have it go down 50% or more and be comfortable with it. On Buffett's 2020 lesson about temperament, financial and psychological preparation, and the difference between price and value.

Behaviour
21 June 2026

The Cost of Being Early: A Common Mistake in Deep Value Investing

Deep value investing is one of the most psychologically difficult approaches in investing. On the Warner Bros. Discovery position, the cost of buying too early, and why the difference between a good and exceptional outcome often lies in execution.

Behaviour
20 June 2026

Charlie Munger's Value Investing versus GARP Investing: Similar Roads, Different Destinations

A Munger-style portfolio and a GARP portfolio can look remarkably similar on the surface while being fundamentally different underneath. The stock may be identical, but the investment thesis is not.

Framework
19 June 2026

The Discipline of Waiting (Part II): Why Great Businesses at 6x Cash Flow Are More Common Than Most Investors Think

Part II of a two-part series. Great businesses become available at ordinary prices more often than most investors believe — not on a schedule, and almost always wrapped in fear, controversy, or a temporary setback.

Framework
18 June 2026

The Discipline of Selectivity (Part I): Why Great Investors Wait, Concentrate, and Act

Part I of a two-part series on selectivity and patience. Investing success is not measured by activity, but by the quality of a few exceptional decisions.

Framework
17 June 2026

Letting Winners Run in an Uncertain World

Why great investors accept what they cannot predict. The goal of investing is not to forecast with precision — it is to identify situations where the odds are favourable and allow time to work. On Pabrai, Buffett, Munger, and the superpower of patient uncertainty.

Framework
16 June 2026

Selling Into Euphoria: Why Value Investors Must Sometimes Walk Away From Their Biggest Winners

Taking a 1,485.57% gain in Micron and redeploying capital before the crowd discovers that cycles still exist. On valuation discipline, the distinction between cyclical businesses and true compounders, and the seductive danger of recency bias.

Portfolio
15 June 2026

Why I Have the Greatest Respect for Charlie Munger

Reflections on integrity, wisdom, humility, and the pursuit of lifelong learning. Among all the investors, business leaders, thinkers, and intellectuals I have studied, Charlie Munger stands alone as my greatest role model.

Letter
13 June 2026

The Greatest IPO in US History and Why I Still Won't Buy It

SpaceX raised $75 billion at a $1.77 trillion valuation — the largest IPO in US history. As a value investor, I have no intention of participating. On why great companies are not always great investments, and where the real opportunity may lie.

Case Study
12 June 2026

The Best Investments Are Usually Obvious: Why Great Investors Look for One-Foot Hurdles Instead of Seven-Foot Walls

The stock market does not reward complexity for its own sake. It rewards correct decisions. On Buffett's one-foot hurdle philosophy, the seduction of analytical sophistication, and why the easiest opportunities are frequently the best ones.

Framework
11 June 2026

The Amazing Thing About a 98% Error Rate

Why having the stock of one extraordinary business in a portfolio can make an entire investment career. On Mohnish Pabrai's Walmart thought experiment, the power law of wealth creation, and the hidden cost of selling winners too early.

Framework
10 June 2026

When Blood Is Not Yet in the Streets: A Disciplined Framework for Deploying Capital During Market Corrections

Why I am still waiting despite a nearly 7% Nasdaq decline. A drawdown-based framework for staggered capital deployment — and why genuine opportunities are usually born from much deeper pessimism than we are currently experiencing.

Portfolio
9 June 2026

Bottom-Up Fundamental Analysis Long-Term Investing versus Top-Down Macro Investing

The list of world-famous long-term investors is remarkably long. The list of truly exceptional macro investors is surprisingly short. Why it is easier to forecast a great business over a decade than the global economy over twelve months.

Framework
8 June 2026

Many Investors Are Currently Chasing the Same Crowded Opportunities

Capital flows toward what has worked best recently. For long-term investors, the more interesting question is where capital is not going — and why the most rewarding opportunities are often found where few people are looking.

Markets
7 June 2026

On TSMC: A Multibagger Identified Years Ago, Yet Never Bought

Errors of omission can be far costlier than errors of commission. On correctly identifying an exceptional business and then never buying it — the hidden risk of following elite investors too closely.

Case Study
6 June 2026

On Tencent, Alibaba, Adobe, Nike – A Note on Holding Through Drag

Investing literature is full of stories about buying great businesses. Much less is written about the far more uncomfortable reality of owning them after they disappoint you. Four positions, four theses, and the discipline of not selling in panic.

Portfolio
5 June 2026

The Three Pillars: Patience, First Principles, and Business Quality

The dominant driver of long-term investment outperformance is not prediction. It is process. A practitioner essay on why patience, first-principles thinking, and business quality form the foundation of durable wealth creation.

Framework
3 June 2026

The Power of Two Decimal Points (And Why I Stopped Using Them in Assessing Intrinsic Value)

Precision and accuracy are not the same thing. A DCF model can output $142.37 while the underlying assumptions remain deeply uncertain. Why I stopped using two decimal points in valuation — and kept them in performance reporting.

Framework
2 June 2026

Berkshire Hathaway: A Note on the Inaugural Position

Why Berkshire Hathaway Class B was the first international stock purchased for the family portfolio in March 2021, what the position has done since, and why it is a holding I do not intend to ever sell.

Portfolio
30 May 2026

Where Is the Stock Market Going? A Better Answer Than a Guess

The honest answer is: I do not know. But not knowing where the market is going gives you no licence to ignore where it currently stands. On the difference between predicting and paying attention — and why calm by itself is not enough.

Markets
30 May 2026

The Real Reason Why Many Investors Can't Copy Buffett and Munger Successfully

Concentration magnifies both intelligence and mistakes. Buffett and Munger concentrated because they had earned the right to concentrate through decades of accumulated learning, experience, and demonstrated judgment.

Framework
29 May 2026

The Five-Year Mark: What a Medium-Term Track Record Can and Cannot Tell You

A five-year window is long enough to feel like proof, yet often too short to prove skill. What a medium-term track record can reveal — emotional discipline, repeatable process, cost efficiency — and what it cannot.

Portfolio
28 May 2026

The Gap Between Knowing and Doing: Why Discipline Is Underrated

After enough years in markets, one realises investing is less constrained by lack of information than by lack of discipline. On intellectual humility, behavioural execution, and why temperament frequently dominates raw intelligence.

Behaviour
28 May 2026

Letter to Readers: Five Years Into Managing my Family's Net Worth

A multi-generational mandate, no redemption pressure, and the structural advantages of permanent capital. Five years in — on patience, humility, and why long-duration investing remains surprisingly unglamorous.

Letter