Warren Buffett talk at University of Florida

One of the things I love about Warren Buffett is how he is able to articulate his investing methods so clearly. He is able to extract the most important parts of a situation, and present it in a concise, humorous manner. Another great thing about him is how he gives useful ways of thinking about important issues. Here’s a video of a speech he gave at the University of Florida about 10 years ago, which showcases both of these qualities. Its a great video, but some parts are rather finance driven. If you’re not interested in finance, then just watch the first 11 minutes or so.

Some parts that I thought were interesting:

Reiterating what someone else said about hiring people,

“He looked for 3 things in hiring people. He looked for integrity, intelligence and energy, and he said that if the person didn’t have the first thing, then the latter 2 would kill him. Because if they don’t have integrity, you want them dumb and lazy, you don’t want them smart and energetic.”

Interesting question,

“If I granted you the right to buy 10% of one of your classmates, for the rest of his or her lifetime…which one are you gonna pick?…..Who would you short 10%?” [You would pick them based on qualities and behaviors: things that you can change]

On using leverage,

“To risk something that is important to you for something that is not important to you is foolish. You only have to get rich once.”

On designing a good social system,

“Let’s just assume it was 24 hours before you were born and this genie came to you and he said…you design the world you get to live in…there is a catch. You don’t know whether you’re gonna be born black or white, rich or poor, male or female, infirmed or able bodied, bright or retarded….what kind of world are you gonna design?”