We want companies that have good businesses but are run by people who are not maximizing shareholder value. Those are our targets.
I find that writing about investments helps me think more clearly about them. The discipline of having to articulate your thesis forces you to confront the weaknesses in your argument.
The best investments require you to do something uncomfortable — to go against consensus at the moment when the consensus feels most certain.
Accountability is not a dirty word. Management teams that resist accountability are almost always hiding something — usually mediocrity.
We have made mistakes. Some were errors of analysis, some were errors of process, some were errors of judgment. The important thing is to identify which kind so you don't repeat the same one.
A catalyst is what separates a value investment from a value trap. Without it, cheap can stay cheap for a very long time.