The author of this book is Zhang Lei, the founder and CEO of Gaoling.
The text of the book is divided into three parts, 10 chapter. The first part is the process of finding value. In chapter 3, the author introduces his personal experience from childhood experience to NPC's exposure to investment, from attending Yale to accepting the enlightenment of value investment to founding Gao Ling. The second part, the concept and cultivation of value investment, introduces the investment concept and method that the author insists on, and his thinking on self-cultivation of value investors. The third part, the innovation framework of value investment, chapter 5, introduces the author's understanding of entrepreneurs, entrepreneurial organizations and talents, education and science. The appendix includes the author's speeches and articles over the years.
I have seen many works of value investment masters. The first part of this book made me understand some reasons why Zhang Lei became Zhang Lei. Secondly, the three parts are conceptually in the same strain as other investment masters' books, and the conceptual framework is quite complete. "My thoughts on investment" at the end of each chapter can be regarded as a summary of the main points of this chapter, and it is also quite intimate. This paper uses many detailed descriptions of companies and founders invested by Gaoling to support the conceptual framework. Some regrets are that the number of companies or founders involved is large, resulting in less pen and ink allocated to each case, which makes people feel that the details are limited. If we can add more ink to the specific details such as investment cases and team building (personally, we don't need too many examples, it is more important to go deep), and even add some failure cases or lessons to analyze the dynamic evolution of ideas, it will make the book by going up one flight of stairs.
The book impressed me as follows:
1. A person's knowledge, ability and values are hidden deep in his heart and truly belong to his "three fires": Zhang Lei was playful in primary school, with poor grades, but he loved reading all kinds of books. Some logical books inspired him to study hard and receive the best education. Inspired by the "three benefits" in the culture class, he summed up the "three fires" theory, which was also formed when he was young.
2. Childhood sensitivity to business: Zhang Lei lives near the railway station, and others may see the poetry in the distance, but at that time he saw the business in front of him. He mobilized his classmates to bring all kinds of picture books from home, "set up a stall" at the railway station and set up a "mobile borrowing station" for fellow villagers to borrow for free. Many successful entrepreneurs have this kind of childhood experience in business activities. It is worthwhile to cultivate children's sensitivity to business and encourage practice from an early age.
3. Job hunting is not only to find a job, but also to find the true self: Zhang Lei's summer internship failed because he did not follow the logical routine of the consulting company; Honestly admit that he didn't know, he got an internship in Yale Investment Office.
4. No matter what investment tools are adopted, the essence of investment is to discover and create value: any market and any form of investment is just an expression, and the core of value investment is business insight, that is, a deep understanding of people, business, environment and organization. If you can get the results of research and understanding through the secondary market, buy stocks and hold them for a long time; If there is no such listed company, look for the private equity market; If there is no private market, you can even find an entrepreneurial team to incubate.
5. Take history as a mirror, summarize from the beginning to the end, and deduce the future: study the most classic companies, and draw as many benefits as possible by analogy, while maintaining the intensity of research and making research a muscle memory. The attitude towards the research process should be to study business history with a pilgrimage mentality, learn how an enterprise rose or declined, and understand the elements of success or the premise of failure.
6. In-depth research and thorough research: The purpose of in-depth research is to focus on the transition from Wechat business's history, simplify it with oriental inductive thinking, and find truly valuable industries and business models, which will make or break. Thorough research means that the research done must be thorough and stand the test of time. Put forward all kinds of assumptions and questions, remind yourself that you must think clearly about all important premises and assumptions in your research.
7. How to choose time: The most expensive thing in investment is not money, but time. It is very important to manage time when investing. What kind of problems and who to invest time in are the basic factors that determine the success of investment. It is far more important to study big problems and pursue fuzzy correctness of big problems than perfect accuracy of small problems. Choosing a long-term person with correct values can often help you avoid many major risks and get unexpected returns.
8. About the moat: An open and vibrant moat may be the most important way to understand value investment. When you realize that an enterprise has a dynamic moat, investors can truly understand the essence of enterprise value creation. To some extent, the entrepreneurial spirit of creating value continuously and crazily is a moat that will never disappear.
9. Investment first principle: In the changing environment, identify the essential attributes of business, allocate good capital and good resources to the most capable enterprises, and help the society create long-term value. Based on the understanding of the fundamentals, we should look for companies with undervalued value and hold them for a long time, so as to obtain the return on investment from the value that the enterprise continues to create.
10. What is a reliable talent? First, what will you do when you are self-driven and honest with yourself and don't need to be trapped by money? The second sensitivity is actually a supplement to self-driving; Third, empathy is the key to cooperation; The fourth lifelong learning is actually self-driven. To put it bluntly, find your passion and find the meaning of your life. Only love can last.
1 1. What qualities do outstanding entrepreneurs have: big pattern, values superior to the first profit, commitment to uncertainty, insight into innovation, super execution and ultimate coordination ability.
12. How to succeed: If a person has rational curiosity, honest quality, independent thinking, plus some empathy, and a long-term struggle mentality, then whether he can succeed is only a matter of luck and the law of large numbers. In other words, it is only a matter of time before you succeed by doing something that makes you passionate over and over again and enjoying it.
The overall score of this book is 8.5, which is recommended to friends who are interested in value investment and philosophy of life.