Title: A parable of greed: my introduction to investing
Dear fellow toastmasters and guests,
There are long stretches of my life during which I feel no progress and being stuck. But out of no where comes a short spark that has changed my life for the better ever.
Back in 2016, my weekends were free, and I had nothing much else to do, so I attended an event on investing, a subject I knew very little about, but enough to know its importance and I needed to learn more about it.
The event was very casual. Just a handful of us, sitting in a small circle , talking about business news, latest trends, new developments, asking each other questions, brainstorming, discussing ideas. No lecture, no test, no standard answer. No formulas, no spreadsheet, no models. The group spoke in plain English, explained things very clearly, avoided difficult words, discussed concepts and ideas in fundamental ways that even a new comer like myself who do not know the background can take away some novel concepts and insights. There may sometimes be boring questions, but never boring answers and something new is always around the corner. I found the atmosphere mentally stimulating; learning to invest has become enjoyable, fun and a way to nurture my curiosity on how the world actually works, and as a side effect being more open-minded.
The event host is a big Fan of Warren Buffett. Who is Warren Buffett?
Warren Buffett is a very famous American Businessman and investor. He and his partner Charlie Munger turned a nearly bankrupt textile company - Berkshire Hathaway -? into hundreds-billions conglomerate. They are self-made billionaires who work and learn everyday until 90+ . They explain things in simple terms, avoid complicated language, and are willing to share their wisdom in writing for decades and recently on live-stream videos. Buffett once said that public speaking has been a very valuable skill for him. Thus, I joined toastmaster back in 2016.
This group basically practises the same principles and shares the same attitude towards receiving, learning and sharing. With every weekend gone by, these conversions, starting from early morning til later afternoon, had taught me that investing is exciting, interesting, mental stimulating and profound.
Since then, I have read many investment books across a variety of topics that they recommend.
For those who are not yet convinced how interesting and profound the world of investing is , I am going to share with you a parable of greed.
Once upon a time, a businessman and his assistant arrived in a very small town and spread the word to the towns people that the man was willing to buy monkeys for 100 each. The people knew there were many monkeys in the nearby forest and immediately started catching them. Thousands of monkeys were bought at a price of 100 and placed in a large cage. Unfortunately, for the towns people, the supply of monkeys quickly diminished to a point where it took many hours to catch even one.
When the man announced the news that he would now buy monkeys at a price of 200 per monkey, the towns people redouble their efforts to catch monkeys. But after a few days, the monkeys were so hard to find that the towns people stopped trying to catch any more. The man responded by announcing that he would buy monkeys at 500 after he returned with additional cash from a trip to the big city.
While the man was gone, his assistant told the towns people one by one: “ I will secretly sell you my monkey for 350, and when he returns from the city, you can sell them to him for 500 each.
The towns people bought every single monkey, and they never saw the man or his assistant ever again.
Although this parable is short, it is full of meaning. It talks about the deception of the businessman and his assistant, the cunning strategies and the trap, the greed of the towns people, the joy of making money, what is cheap and plentiful can become scarce and expensive when conditions change.
I hope this parable won’t just be my introduction to investing. May it be yours too.
2nd draft
Title: A parable of greed: my introduction to investing
Dear fellow toastmasters and guests,
Once upon a time, a businessman and his assistant came to a small town and started buying monkeys for 100 each. Many monkeys were in the nearby forest and the towns people started catching and selling them in large numbers. Very soon, the monkeys became scarce.
In response, the businessman raised the price to 200 . The towns people redoubled their efforts to catch more, but soon after, monkeys became so hard to find that the towns people stopped trying to catch any more. The businessman responded by announcing that he would buy monkeys at 500 upon his return from the big city.
While the businessman was gone, his assistant told the towns people one by one: “ I will secretly sell you my monkey for 350, and you can re-sell them to him for 500.
The towns people bought every single monkey, and they never saw the businessman or his assistant ever again.
Back in 2016, my weekends were free, and I had nothing much else to do, so I attended an event on investing, a subject I knew very little about, but enough to know its importance and I needed to learn more.
The event host was a big Fan of Warren Buffett. Back then, I did not even know who Warren Buffett was. For those of you who don’t know him, he is a very famous American Businessman and investor, a self-made billionaire who work and learn everyday until 90+. What made him special is his willingness to share his wisdom and knowledge.
The event was very casual. Just a handful of us, sitting in a small circle , talking about business news, latest trends, new developments, asking each other questions, brainstorming, discussing ideas.
No lecture, no test, no standard answer. No formulas, no spreadsheet, no models. The group spoke in plain English, explained things very clearly, avoided difficult words, discussed concepts and ideas in fundamental ways that even a new comer like myself who did not possess any background could take away something. Sometimes, there may be boring questions, but never boring answers.
Something new was always around the corner. I found the atmosphere mentally stimulating; learning to invest became enjoyable, fun and a way to nurture my curiosity on how the world worked. As a side effect, it made me more open-minded. These experiences taught me the value in receiving knowledge and learning new things, but also the importance of giving back and sharing what I learned.
Many years have gone by since my first encounter, I have been reading a lot on investing and practising my investing skills. Buffett said: The rich invest in time, the poor invest in money. I have acted like a rich person.
Making good investment decisions requires a proper understanding on a wide range of disciplines. For example, understanding management helps me understand how companies are run. Basic understanding on technology helps me learn how to do things better. Studying great and profound changes in societies helps me see where I am and where I may be heading, how markets are shaped and reshaped throughout the ages.
Taking one step further, I have been sharing at a local book club.
From the book “high output management”, I have learned the company headache - bridging the gap between those who have the power to make decisions and those who have the knowledge to do so - and its proposed solution.
From the book “ only the paranoid survive: how to exploit the crisis points”, I have read the experience of what it was like to be the decision maker during a crisis. I have learned how to approach these inevitable changes and how to navigate through them, to rally support, and to lead a new vision for moving forward.
From the book “algorithms to live by: The Computer Science of Human Decisions”, I have shared some tips for making decision in a static and dynamic environments, human-human interactions and in the midst of uncertainty.
From the book “The rise and fall of American growth: the standard of living since the civil war”, I have shared what life was like from 1860-the present in America. There are generational changes, massive technological revolutions, unimaginable improvement in the standard of living, and disappointing growth.
Along the journey, I have slowly and painfully developed my own sense of what investing really means. It is to make sound decisions and act boldly when an opportunity presents itself. Borrowing a Buffett’s quote:“The most important investment you can make is in yourself, nobody can tax it or take it away from you”
In the years ahead, I am going to have a a lot more learning to do, a lot more mistakes to make, a lot of more ideas to share.