3 Useful Ideas — Investing Is Not A Side-Gig
Take Action When You Spot A Rare Opportunity. Get A Trainer.
Every Sunday I share 3 Useful Ideas to help you pursue a rich life.
This week:
Investing Is Not A Side-Gig
Take Action When You Spot A Rare Opportunity
Get A Trainer
I am thrilled to be part of the Zero1 Network by Zerodha. You can find all past editions here. Also check out my Master of the Deal podcast and the M&A This Week newsletter.
Let’s dive in 👇
(1) Investing Is Not A Side-Gig
I have long believed that investing, in equities in particular, is a full-time job. You cannot be looking at stocks moving up and down on your screen, and read the recommendation of a research analyst to invest your hard earned savings with conviction.
“A great company is one that’s going to remain great for thirty years. If it’s only going to be a great company for three years, it isn’t a great company. - Warren Buffett”
How can you find such a great company? And how do you build that conviction to pull the trigger when you know that you have found a rare opportunity?
Well… you got to read. A LOT! And think. A LOT!
Warren Buffett: “I don’t think we’ve ever gotten an idea, in forty years, from a Wall Street report. But we’ve gotten a lot of ideas from annual reports.”
Charlie Munger: “What I find is that it takes a long time to read the annual report even if it’s a comparatively simple business, because if you really are trying to understand it, it’s not a bit easy.”
Warren Buffet: “On average, in a business we’re really interested in, even though we know what to skip and what to read, it’s going to be forty-five minutes or an hour on a report. And if there are six or eight companies in the industry, that’s six or eight hours, perhaps, and then their quarterly reports and a lot of other things. The way you learn about businesses is by absorbing information about them, thinking, deciding what counts and what doesn’t count, relating one thing to another. That’s the job. And you can’t get that by looking at a bunch of little numbers on a chart bobbing up and down or reading market commentary and periodicals or anything of the sort. That just won’t do it. You’ve got to understand the business. That’s where it begins and ends.
If you have a job, how on earth are you doing all this work? You cannot!
So what do you do to put your money to work? How do you get rich by letting your money work as hard as you do at your job?
You need to either:
Invest in index funds (this way you are at least making average market returns. In India this is about 12% per year.)
Invest with a fund manager (with the hope that you make much more money than the index. 80%+ of fund managers do not beat the index!)
My hero is NOT Warren Buffett because I know I cannot be as good an investor like him. My hero is DICK HOLLAND, the man who gave Warren Buffett his money and became so rich because of him that he had to give away tens of millions of dollars.
Investing is non a side-gig. Either get rich slowly but surely through an index, or find yourself a Warren Buffett to give your money to for twenty years.
(2) Take Action When You Spot A Rare Opportunity
When you are in a position to (1) know that you're sitting on a huge opportunity (2) you better take action.
Huge opportunities, by definition, mean that they are rare. If they are so big and everyone knows then chances are that you are late to the party. But in a lifetime, if you're looking, you will find them a handful of times. I like to say that:
"to catch a huge wave, you have to be in the water. If you're looking out from the shore, with binoculars, it will come and go, before you can ever get to it."
Let us assume that you have spotted a huge opportunity. The door that no one else sees is in front of you. All you have to do is walk through to the other side. Do you have the confidence to pull the trigger? This is where your conviction comes in. Most people mull over this decision for too long. They just cannot get out of status quo. If it feels like you are gambling your life savings on one-move, then don't do it - that is just stupid! But if it feels like the worse case scenario gets you in a better position then you are currently in, then what are you waiting for?
I see huge opportunities and I take action when I do. The right decisions and the ability to take on the worse case scenario if I am wrong, still sets me up for huge wins. I won't lie - when things don't go my way, I do question myself. But more often than not, I come out on the other side with more - more real-world experience, more relationships, more money, more proof of my capabilities.
I can bet that there are huge opportunities that only you are uniquely qualified to identify because of who you are and what you do. When you find them, don't hold yourself back.
(3) Get A Trainer
The best in the world have trainers. Virat Kohli, Roger Federer, Lebron James, Lionel Messi, Eluid Kipchoge. Irrespective of whether it is an individual sport like running and tennis or a team spot like soccer and basketball, trainers are there to ensure that these athletes are physically and mentally in the best shape of your life.
You can argue that they are professionals. That it is their job to train. I would counter with the fact that if you are not in the best physical and mental shape of your life then you are not doing the best work you should do - no matter what you do.
If the best in the world train, you should too.
This is what I told my 74 year old dad before I got him a trainer. I have been seeing his health slowly decline because he just does not have the discipline required to move or exercise. The day after he fell when climbing the stairs, a trainer who has experience working with the elderly turned up. I paid him for the month in front of my parents so that they knew that there was a financial commitment that cannot be reversed. And now, every morning, at 8.30am, I see my dad slowly regaining his strength and mobility, one stretch and set at a time.
You have the responsibility to yourself, your family, and your company, to be in your best physical and mental shape. Not looking after yourself should be a crime!
Get a trainer. Rain or sunshine, turn up, everyday!
👋 I’m Harsh. I build businesses and share useful ideas to help you pursue a rich life. Read by 7000+ founders and CXOs. If you’re curious about what I’m building, here’s where I spend most of my time:
Ideals VDR - We are the world’s most secure and highest rated Virtual Data Room provider. Used by investment banks and companies to share confidential documents. Watch the short demo.
Happy Ratio - Tired of overpriced meals, energy crashes, and decision fatigue. Get 40 chef-made meals + unlimited barista-level coffee for just ₹8,999/month. Feel full, stay sharp, and save money — every single day. Cancel anytime. Explore our subscriptions.
Marcellus Investment Managers - Where my personal investments compound. Their philosophy of investing in clean, honest, cash rich businesses let’s my money make money for me while I sleep.
Harsh Batra (Connect with me on LinkedIn)