The Five Virtues of a Wise Investor
Five Virtues of a Wise Investor #1: Curiosity For the next few blogs, I’ll be writing about a topic I think about a lot: The virtues that can make someone a great investor. I’ll share…
Why Avoiding Overconfidence is Critical to Investing
If you’ve ever played poker, you may have heard this: The worst mistake you can make when playing poker is to assume you are the smartest person in the room. Pokers experts say that overconfident…
3Q 2016: Quarterly Investment Letter
What Creepy-Crawlies Have in Common With the Economy Fun fact: There are approximately 8,000 species of centipedes and none of them have exactly 100 legs. Most have somewhere between 15 and 177 pairs of legs.…
Winning the Investment ‘Heptathlon’: Lessons from Dan, Dave and 1992
One of my most vivid memories of the Olympics as a youngster was watching the 1992 decathlon at the Barcelona games. For those who may not remember, a brief recap: Dan O’Brien was thought to…
2Q 2016: Quarterly Investment Letter
Just close your eyes and pedal! In June, I took a Backroads cycling tour of Washington State’s San Juan Islands. On the third day of the journey, trip leader Katie Roda described our trip in…
Looking Through the Lens of “The Martian”
One of my favorite movies of 2015 was “The Martian.” It combined science and determination with a good dose of humor. Interestingly, I think these elements are also present in a truly thoughtful investor. As…
Why Selling Your Business Can Be Much Harder than You Think
Maybe you’re getting itchy to do something new and more intellectually stimulating. Or perhaps you’re approaching retirement age and are ready to pass on your company’s reins to the next generation. It’s time to consider…
When the Best Investment Choice is to Say ‘No’
Most of the time, investors focus on actively considering options to add to their portfolios. Will this investment offer a better return? Will that choice balance out their risk a little better? It’s not as…
Steady As She Goes
Having just spent a family vacation week aboard a houseboat on Lake Powell out West, I realized something important: Driving a large houseboat is difficult. It’s nothing like driving a car. It actually requires a…
Should You Wait for Stocks to “Go on Sale”? Not Necessarily
There’s nothing shoppers like more than a good sale. Buying what you want at 10% off, 20% off or even a higher percentage discount feels like a rewarding experience--a conquest of sorts. When you bring…
