Wednesday, October 23, 2013

The Outsiders: Lot of Good Investors Recommending This Book

Just want to do a short post about a previous post I made.  Looks like quite a few investors have been recommending the book "The Outsiders" by Thorndike.  Here are a couple links:

http://brooklyninvestor.blogspot.com/2013/10/a-really-great-book-outsiders.html

http://www.longleafpartners.com/commentary_news/audio

The first one is to the Brooklyn Investor Blog and he gives Warren Buffett credit for recommending the book.  The second is to Southeastern Asset Management in which Mason Hawkins mentions the book in one of the audio snippets.  As I mentioned before I thought it was an excellent read and would highly recommend it.

If you would like to buy the book please click on the link below and it will take you to my Amazon Store. You will NOT be charged extra for going through my store.

The Outsiders: Eight Unconventional CEOs and Their Radically Rational Blueprint for Success

Sunday, October 20, 2013

Book Review: Only the Paranoid Survive

I finished reading “Only the Paranoid Survive” by Andy Grove a few weeks ago, but I am just now taking the time to write about it.  It’s been a little busy.  I thought it was a good book, certainly worth reading and would put it on my electives list for those that want to be knowledgeable investors. 

In the book Andy Grove discusses strategic inflection points when a 10x change occurs.  For example, a 10x change happened in the music industry when Napster and other download sharing sites showed up.  Andy Grove went through a 10x change at Intel when Japanese competitors came in and started taking share in the memory business. Throughout the book Grove discusses how painful it was to go through the change and how they went through the process.  He also provides other examples, insights, experiences, and advice.  I think it is helpful for investors as we should always be on the lookout for companies/industries that could or are experiencing a 10x change as most investors should avoid them.  It also may be useful to help determine which companies are most likely to survive and/or thrive once a 10x change occurs. 
Only the Paranoid Survive