I recently watched an HBO documentary called “Becoming Warren Buffett,” which features the life of the man himself. The show gives viewers an extensive look at Buffett’s achievements, struggles, and challenges with his career, and probably more importantly, with his personal relationships.
Buffett started making money at a young age selling gum door to door, and delivering newspapers. He began trading stocks in his early teens and started college when he was only 16 years old. Today everyone knows him as the investment guru who is currently worth about US $72 billion, which makes him the second richest person in the world, right behind his close friend, William. 🙂
The documentary covers his family background and personal relationships. It felt like I was watching an honest biography about Warren. For the first time ever I got an inside look at the day to day events and lifestyle choices of Warren Buffett. It has been a real eye opener! For example on his way to work in the morning, he often stops by a McDonald’s and orders a Sausage McMuffin.
Doh! 
No wonder I’m not rich yet. This whole time I’ve been ordering the Bacon ‘N Egg Bagel like a peasant. If only I had known his secret earlier. 😛 Below are some other important lessons I learned from watching “Becoming Warren Buffett.”
- Live close to work. It takes Warren only 5 minutes to drive to his office everyday. And he’s been taking the same route for 54 years! Not wasting much time on commuting is why he gets so much done.
- Be smart. Warren admits that he’s wired in a way that gives him an advantage over others when it comes to understanding businesses. He was always good with numbers starting at a young age and learning about the financial markets comes easily to him. Unfortunately for some, intelligence is largely genetic.
- Read a lot. Every day Warren goes to work and reads books, newspapers, financial reports, or various other material for 5 to 6 hours.
- Have role models in your life. In the documentary Warren said, “the best gift I was ever given was to have the father that I had when I was born.“
- Develop your own inner scorecard. Don’t let other people’s standards and expectations define who you are or what makes you succeed or fail.
- Learn from people you trust. Business partner Charlie Munger helped Warren realize that in order to build immense fortune, it’s better to look for great businesses at reasonable prices rather than okay businesses at cheap prices.
- Develop focus. Warren believes this is the most important quality to have if you want to be successful.
- Have patience. The biggest factor to making money is time. Warren says you don’t have to be smart to become wealthy. You just have to be patient. 🙂
If we keep in mind these simple guidelines from Warren then I’m sure his wisdom will have an impact on our lives. Depending on different sources, Warren appears to have either an ISTJ or INTJ personality type. This mean he is a rational planner who likes to keep to himself most of the time. As an INTJ myself I understand what it’s like to live inside one’s own head sometimes. It’s probably why I can relate to his investment philosophy. 🙂
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Random Useless Fact:
It was a good documentary. I found it bizarre what he buys for breakfast depending on the markets and the amount of money his wife puts in the cup. I think he does that every morning.
I wonder what he does on weekends in terms of a typical day?
At a previous job, I used to buy the 6X710ml bottles of coke or pepsi on sale and sell them up to people at work. I would get up to a 52% return. I would also buy cans of pepsi or coke when on sale and then sell them to people at work for $0.75 or 2 for $1.25.
I’m glad you liked it too. 🙂 I thought it’s kind of sad that Warren’s ability to be such a great investor might also be what caused the emotional detachment from his family. His natural tendency to be super rational and objective towards what’s going on around him could also make it difficult to connect with the people around him.
“His natural tendency to be super rational and objective towards what’s going on around him could also make it difficult to connect with the people around him.”
Why does he get a pass on this? He’s super smart so its okay that he neglects his family?
Why would being smart relieve someone of having to care about his loved ones?
Since I’ve got some days off coming up this weekend with no plans I think I’ll check out this doc. Thanks for the info!
I think you will enjoy it. 🙂 It’s surprising to me how he eats McDonalds and drinks Coca Cola so frequently, yet he still looks pretty good for an 86 year old, lol.
I watched this last week with my parents. I’m a big Buffett fan, but I thought the documentary was a bit of a sleeper. The beginning, seeing him drive to McDonalds was my favorite part. I was surprised how much access they had to him.
Maybe it’s because I know his story so well, there wasn’t a lot of new information for me. It also didn’t focus much on his top investments and why they were so successful. But I would recommend it for anyone interested in him.
-RBD
I liked the part where he goes to McDonalds and mentioned the stock market is down that day so he decides to order the cheaper breakfast option, lol.
I’m a big Buffett fan, read most of the books that talk about him and know his story pretty well, interested to see how well the documentary handles that.
If you do, make sure to watch the whole thing. I like the song Buffett sings at the end.
I like the line “we look for extraordinary companies at fair prices, rather than fair companies at extraordinary prices”
Me too.
What struck me was how utterly selfish he was as a father, choosing his career over parenting in such a pronounced way. I get that his piles of money obviously provided a better life for children, but that shouldn’t be his primary contribution to fatherhood.
I noticed that too. Warren claims that he reveres his father. So it’s odd that he didn’t show more time and attention in raising his own children.