Other[Music][Music]today's guest on zin vesting podcast istoday's guest on zin vesting podcast istoday's guest on zin vesting podcast is monish pibrai monash is the managingmonish pibrai monash is the managingmonish pibrai monash is the managing partner of the prabrai investment fundspartner of the prabrai investment fundspartner of the prabrai investment funds he's well known for his buffett-likehe's well known for his buffett-likehe's well known for his buffett-like style and investing and he's astyle and investing and he's astyle and investing and he's a quote-unquote shameless cloner so todayquote-unquote shameless cloner so todayquote-unquote shameless cloner so today i'm hoping to talk to monish about hisi'm hoping to talk to monish about hisi'm hoping to talk to monish about his investment philosophyinvestment philosophyinvestment philosophy his backgroundhis backgroundhis background and his wonderful philanthropicand his wonderful philanthropicand his wonderful philanthropic endeavors the dakshana foundation soendeavors the dakshana foundation soendeavors the dakshana foundation so welcome monishwelcome monishwelcome monish
Questionerthank you lauren it's a pleasure andthank you lauren it's a pleasure andthank you lauren it's a pleasure and honor to be with you i have ahonor to be with you i have ahonor to be with you i have a lot of respect for you as alot of respect for you as alot of respect for you as a as an investor and i think as one of theas an investor and i think as one of theas an investor and i think as one of the very few women investors and that'svery few women investors and that'svery few women investors and that's wonderful to see
Questionerwell now there are awonderful to see well now there are awonderful to see well now there are a few of us you have a daughter in thefew of us you have a daughter in thefew of us you have a daughter in the investment industry is that correctinvestment industry is that correctinvestment industry is that correct
Questioneryeah but still very underrepresented andyeah but still very underrepresented andyeah but still very underrepresented and i think actuallyi think actuallyi think actually women i think temperamentally makewomen i think temperamentally makewomen i think temperamentally make better investorsbetter investorsbetter investors there is some evidence to suggest thatthere is some evidence to suggest thatthere is some evidence to suggest that returns from women are actually higher
Questionerreturns from women are actually higher due to the low turnover and portfolios managed by women which is often attributed to a lack of confidence or overconfidence bias on the male side which is very interesting but since you since you brought up women and investing tell me how you got your daughter interested in investing
Questioneryou know i have two kids two daughters i never ever tried to influence either of them to go into investing or become investors or even spend much time talking about investing and such what i always encouraged them to do and what was my focus ice focus when they were growing up is that we wanted them to own in and focus on what they thought was their natural calling and i thought my job as a parent was to help in the discovery of that calling i just assumed that it's not going to be investing and then the younger one
Questionerinvesting and then the younger one doesn't have much interest in investing as much monsoon actually surprised me when she expressed an interest and then she went to work for a asia hedge fund and then actually when i started to look at how she approached things i actually found that her approach was actually superior to me
Other[Laughter]
Questionerhow is that well i mean i think that i think there are inborn traits and then there are what i will call learned traits i think in investing if you if you try to go against what is your natural great natural temperament that's an uphill battle you know who vr is what are traits are and all of that that is hard coded at the age of five or six so between our genetics what happened the first five or six years of our life we are at age of six and the age of 96 is not going to change so basically if what a hyperactive
Otherso basically if what a hyperactive person needs a lot of a lot of action person needs a lot of a lot of action person needs a lot of a lot of action generally speaking you're not going to generally speaking you're not going to generally speaking you're not going to do really well in do really well in do really well in value invest value invest value invest i think monsoon has what i know this is i think monsoon has what i know this is i think monsoon has what i know this is she has traits she has traits she has traits that are much stronger in her that are much stronger in her that are much stronger in her than they are in me one trait is than they are in me one trait is than they are in me one trait is she hates to she hates to she hates to sell anything sell anything sell anything she absolutely hates to trade which is a she absolutely hates to trade which is a she absolutely hates to trade which is a great trait great trait great trait the second trait the second trait the second trait is is is she's very biased towards very high she's very biased towards very high she's very biased towards very high quality quality quality so so she she she she wants to she wants to she wants to find and buy these find and buy these find and buy these extremely high quality businesses extremely high quality businesses extremely high quality businesses and then never touch them and then never touch them and then never touch them and what could be simpler and what could be simpler and what could be simpler well that those those are really great well that those those are really great well that those those are really great personality traits it reminds me of a personality traits it reminds me of a personality traits it reminds me of a quote from one of your favorite books a quote from one of your favorite books a quote from one of your favorite books a hundred to one in the stock market hundred to one in the stock market hundred to one in the stock market by thomas phelps and he has a great by thomas phelps and he has a great by thomas phelps and he has a great quote i can't recall it right off the quote i can't recall it right off the quote i can't recall it right off the top of my head but it's about the top of my head but it's about the top of my head but it's about the tendency for investors to sell tendency for investors to sell tendency for investors to sell investments too soon and that you should investments too soon and that you should
Questionerinvestments too soon and that you should leave them in the portfolio i think ileave them in the portfolio i think ileave them in the portfolio i think i think that quote is that quote isthink that quote is that quote isthink that quote is that quote is something likesomething likesomething like every sell decisionevery sell decisionevery sell decision is an investing mistakebasically basically his i guess wherebasically basically his i guess wherebasically basically his i guess where he's coming from he's saying lookhe's coming from he's saying lookhe's coming from he's saying look if you bought it rightif you bought it rightif you bought it right it would never need to be
Questionerscott and i have gone back and look atscott and i have gone back and look atscott and i have gone back and look at looked at all of our buy and selllooked at all of our buy and selllooked at all of our buy and sell decisions over the course of our historydecisions over the course of our historydecisions over the course of our history and i would say the most common error weand i would say the most common error weand i would say the most common error we makes in selling securitiesmakes in selling securitiesmakes in selling securities so i do think there's a lot of validityso i do think there's a lot of validityso i do think there's a lot of validity there and it's just really exciting thatthere and it's just really exciting thatthere and it's just really exciting that your daughter has gone into theyour daughter has gone into theyour daughter has gone into the investment business she was at dalton iinvestment business she was at dalton iinvestment business she was at dalton i believe and now has launched her ownbelieve and now has launched her ownbelieve and now has launched her own fund drew investment fund and i wish herfund drew investment fund and i wish herfund drew investment fund and i wish her a lot of successa lot of successa lot of success it gives me great joy to see the two ofit gives me great joy to see the two ofit gives me great joy to see the two of you together at different investmentyou together at different investmentyou together at different investment conferencesconferencesconferences as you know or you may know that my dadas you know or you may know that my dadas you know or you may know that my dad really influenced me and we're terrificreally influenced me and we're terrific
Otherreally influenced me and we're terrific friends so it's wonderful to see that relationship and another father-daughter team so to say if you don't and yeah and actually this is a dimension to our relationship that i never expected right i mean that was not part of the game plan you know like i think that monsoon and high have have been in different you know we visited a lot of companies together i used to just take her along like you know one time i was going to china to speak at peking university i think 2017 or something and i asked her if she wants to come you know i always think you could move in terms like a china trip for and guy was coming there too and then uh at the folks at peak university they arranged a translator and a guy who knew maota really well and at that time i had an investment in aotai so we flew to middle of nowhere in china from beijing
Charliemiddle of nowhere in china from beijing and he spent a day at maotai and and you know the the thing is that i had bought maotai many years before that monsoon went and bought maotai after the trip and i i thought it was really expensive at that point you know and and such but you know she bought it and then later there's a short maybe a year or so to that trip leeloo called me and said look i know when we bought bow tie we were going to hold it forever but there's stuff going on it needs to be sold so he said i just want to let you know that i'm going to be selling and i've already been selling and so on so i said well if god is selling then who am i leeloo calls you and tells you to sell you might want to think about it well one femto second second after that call i placed my multi cell orders none of this data meant anything to months
Charliemeant anything to months i i talked to her about it it just bounced off and till today she has not sold maokai and as it turned out i think zidoo and i saw that like 700 or 800 900 rmb per share it's over two thousand per share now okay so whatever was bothering him didn't seem to affect the core franchise the way he thought it might might have affected it monsoon i think when she went to that trip and she saw the place i mean it was very it was extremely clear on that trip that this was a very very special business this was a business where the cost of goods sold was less than two dollars and the selling price was like twelve hundred dollars this incredible business and um and uh she she understood that she didn't care what i was saying and she didn't care what dilu was saying and she still owns it
Questionerwow so she had the conviction to stand
Questionerwow so she had the conviction to stand pat very strong conviction yeah it was very strong conviction yeah it was really surprising for me to see that was really surprising for me to see that was really surprising
Questionernow manish my guests may not know that in 2007 you purchased a lunch with warren buffett for about 650 000 you were the top bitter and i believe you took your girls with you on that lunch so how how old would the girls have been at that time they were 10 and 12 years old at the time
Questionerand i i actually think it was the absolutely perfect age it just happened they were at that age i had been trying to win that auction for a few years and i kept failing and then he finally prevailed in 2007. and basically i think that so when we had that lunch they sat on either side of of warren and you know he was having a lot of like side conversations with the two of them like i think he he pulled out a johnny rockets card from his wallet
Otherrockets card from his wallet and he shows it to both of them and says look i this the holder of this card is entitled to lifetime free burgers and johnny dawg for him and his friends i i mean he must have made some offer to buy the business it didn't work and maybe they gave him that car to the consolation prize i'm not sure what the steve but then he says that there's a johnny rockets in irvine when i come to irvine we're going to go to johnny rockets and we're going to order one of everything from that you know because it's all free oh my goodness anyway i mean i think the the thing is that one of the things he said to them at the lunch was he said that the most important decision you will make in lives is who you decide to marry and and you know they were not a married medieval age at that time right well they still remember that really clearly
Warrenthey still remember that really clearlythey still remember that really clearly and uh and that had that sentence hadand uh and that had that sentence hadand uh and that had that sentence had a much greater impact on them thana much greater impact on them thana much greater impact on them than one million other sentencesone million other sentencesone million other sentences their mom and i have said to them welltheir mom and i have said to them welltheir mom and i have said to them well that's a lot of pressurethat's a lot of pressurethat's a lot of pressure i think they have weld on that sentencei think they have weld on that sentencei think they have weld on that sentence quite a bitquite a bitquite a bit in the yearsin the yearsin the years and i think they're both veryand i think they're both veryand i think they're both very they're very smartthey're very smartthey're very smart about their their dating choicesabout their their dating choicesabout their their dating choices
Questionerwell that's that's very good i willwell that's that's very good i willwell that's that's very good i will advise the same of my girls that'sadvise the same of my girls that'sadvise the same of my girls that's really good advicereally good advicereally good advice
Questionerare you actually uh yeah it's i think iare you actually uh yeah it's i think iare you actually uh yeah it's i think i think like i said you know just if ithink like i said you know just if ithink like i said you know just if i ignore everything else about the lunchignore everything else about the lunchignore everything else about the lunch that alone is worth many timesthat alone is worth many timesthat alone is worth many times
Questionerabsolutely what what other valuableabsolutely what what other valuableabsolutely what what other valuable advice did you take away from the lunchadvice did you take away from the lunchadvice did you take away from the lunch
Questionerwell you know uh warren you know one ofwell you know uh warren you know one ofwell you know uh warren you know one of the things you know this year forthe things you know this year forthe things you know this year for example was the last year the lunch wasexample was the last year the lunch wasexample was the last year the lunch was auctionedauctionedauctioned and this year it went for the lowlyand this year it went for the lowlyand this year it went for the lowly price of like 19 or something
Questionerprice of like 19 or something
Questionerone of warren's big focuses at these lunches is that he wants to make sure that the winners or the buyers of these lunches feel that they got a bargain so he tries really hard to try to add as much value as he i mean i'll give you another example i'll be very direct someone invited me a lunch they had one with eric schmidt you know they're usually the ceo right we met eric in on the google campus we went to the cafeteria and then went to like a private conference room i mean you know there's no comparison between the two he's a he's a very good guy but this ethos of wanting to have the winner think he got a bargain was not part of the equation in his mind i don't think it'll be part of the equation that most people you know offer his charity lunches but so one of the things warren said to us when we started he said look
Ted Weschlersaid to us when we started he said look i have nothing going on all afternoon i'm here with you guys for as long as you want and he says when you're completely bored of me and you want me to leave just let me know and i'll leave okay so he didn't set a time frame to the lunch after about two hours and 45 minutes you know we said you know i think we were the ones who ended the meeting not here the lunch covered i think later i made some notes i think 54 different questions a very wide ranging set of topics yeah tremendous tremendous value addition like i mean i think like one other thing he would he would take anything i mentioned or anything any of the people asking questions mentioned and he would try to answer it in a way that would add tremendous value so we i would add i'd ask these you know a very kind of basic questions i said
Questionera very kind of basic questions i said looklooklook i don't know what happened to ricki don't know what happened to ricki don't know what happened to rick i knew he was with you guys in the 70si knew he was with you guys in the 70si knew he was with you guys in the 70s we knew that three of you did a bunch ofwe knew that three of you did a bunch ofwe knew that three of you did a bunch of deals together in the 60s and 70s but hedeals together in the 60s and 70s but hedeals together in the 60s and 70s but he kind of fell off the face of the earthkind of fell off the face of the earthkind of fell off the face of the earth after thatafter thatafter that so i asked him what happened to rick areso i asked him what happened to rick areso i asked him what happened to rick are you in touch with it he says oh yeah i'myou in touch with it he says oh yeah i'myou in touch with it he says oh yeah i'm in touch with drake i play bridge within touch with drake i play bridge within touch with drake i play bridge with him all the time i justhim all the time i justhim all the time i just you know i get holiday cards from himyou know i get holiday cards from himyou know i get holiday cards from him all of that right yeah and and then heall of that right yeah and and then heall of that right yeah and and then he proceeds to talk aboutproceeds to talk aboutproceeds to talk about the 73-74 periodthe 73-74 periodthe 73-74 period rickrickrick got margin calls it was a big drop ingot margin calls it was a big drop ingot margin calls it was a big drop in the stock market at that time by thethe stock market at that time by thethe stock market at that time by the estrangsestrangsestrangs rick was forced to sell his berkshirerick was forced to sell his berkshirerick was forced to sell his berkshire hathaway shareshathaway shareshathaway shares to warren at the time forto warren at the time forto warren at the time for forty dollars a share which is whereforty dollars a share which is whereforty dollars a share which is where they were changing hands at that timethey were changing hands at that timethey were changing hands at that time which is now over four thousand i meanwhich is now over four thousand i meanwhich is now over four thousand i mean and uh and and you know he he said lookand uh and and you know he he said lookand uh and and you know he he said look if you're even a slightlyif you're even a slightly
Questionerif you're even a slightly above average investor and you spend less than you earn and you use leverage you cannot help but get very wealthy that's true i mean just think about that you know that how simple is that right take out leverage from the equation be patient and you just you know go at it one one day at a time and compounding works it does the magic ingredient is time i always tell investors we have some control over the rate of return not as much as we'd like but that that magic ingredient really is time and if you remove leverage from the equation you're taking away something that could pos potentially take you out of the game which is not helpful when you're trying to compound but compounding is truly magical now i know that what came out of that lunch you have a special friendship with charlie munger correct well i think the lunch was like buy one
Questionerwell i think the lunch was like buy onewell i think the lunch was like buy one and get inyou knowyou knowyou know when i was when i was you know waitingwhen i was when i was you know waitingwhen i was when i was you know waiting for the lunch and i talked to my wifefor the lunch and i talked to my wifefor the lunch and i talked to my wife and you knowand you knowand you know she said well you know this is like youshe said well you know this is like youshe said well you know this is like you knowknowknow kind of a bit ridiculouskind of a bit ridiculouskind of a bit ridiculous and uh but you want to do it go for itand uh but you want to do it go for itand uh but you want to do it go for it right and later she said you know otherright and later she said you know otherright and later she said you know other than marrying me it was the best thingthan marrying me it was the best thingthan marrying me it was the best thing you're dead you know like the smartestyou're dead you know like the smartestyou're dead you know like the smartest thing you ever did so anywaything you ever did so anywaything you ever did so anyway the thing is that yeah warren was jokingthe thing is that yeah warren was jokingthe thing is that yeah warren was joking at the lunch i mean i think whatat the lunch i mean i think whatat the lunch i mean i think what happened is i i mentioned to warren thathappened is i i mentioned to warren thathappened is i i mentioned to warren that my wife my ex-wife now but my wife atmy wife my ex-wife now but my wife atmy wife my ex-wife now but my wife at the time harina she was obviously a fanthe time harina she was obviously a fanthe time harina she was obviously a fan of his but her true love and life wasof his but her true love and life wasof his but her true love and life was charliecharliecharlie and warren got really competitive andand warren got really competitive andand warren got really competitive and and he saidand he saidand he said that well you know charlie's is reallythat well you know charlie's is reallythat well you know charlie's is really old boring guyold boring guyold boring guy i mean the two of us i'm far morei mean the two of us i'm far morei mean the two of us i'm far more and you would not really enjoy hangingand you would not really enjoy hangingand you would not really enjoy hanging out with charlieout with charlieout with charlie and he said just to prove that i'm gonna
Ted Weschlerand he said just to prove that i'm gonna set upset up both of you guys to meet charlie for lunch and then you're gonna know who's the who's the more interesting guy so i thought he's just you know kind of joking about it right and then couple of days later i get a copied on an email from warren's assistant to charlie's assistant basically saying hey i met this couple and they were wonderful and i really enjoyed meeting them and i think you'll enjoy meeting them and they seem to have the miss misunderstanding that you're more interesting than me that is also going to get cleared up when you meet them please set up to meet them for lunch okay so then then we met charlie for lunch and the funny thing is i found the munger lunch way more interesting than the buffet really you know i think the thing is that warren still has a veneer of diplomacy
Otherdiplomacydiplomacy sure eating anyone i think he justsure eating anyone i think he justsure eating anyone i think he just assumesassumesassumes if he meets anyone everything's in theif he meets anyone everything's in theif he meets anyone everything's in the public thoughpublic thoughpublic though yesyesyes and charlie actually really doesn't haveand charlie actually really doesn't haveand charlie actually really doesn't have those fingers so it's like what you seethose fingers so it's like what you seethose fingers so it's like what you see is what youis what youis what you so i found the conversationso i found the conversationso i found the conversation much moremuch moremuch more you knowyou knowyou know kind of without boundaries with charliekind of without boundaries with charliekind of without boundaries with charlie and and it was just wonderful so andand and it was just wonderful so andand and it was just wonderful so and then you know we hit it off and then ithen you know we hit it off and then ithen you know we hit it off and then i started tostarted tostarted to meet him every month for lifemeet him every month for lifemeet him every month for life dinner usually at his place after that idinner usually at his place after that idinner usually at his place after that i think histhink histhink his i used to meet him for la of a bridgei used to meet him for la of a bridgei used to meet him for la of a bridge lunch and bridge on fridays at the lalunch and bridge on fridays at the lalunch and bridge on fridays at the la country club and uh basically i was acountry club and uh basically i was acountry club and uh basically i was a substitute so when one of the old peoplesubstitute so when one of the old peoplesubstitute so when one of the old people could get out of bedcould get out of bedcould get out of bed they'd call me so i told them listen youthey'd call me so i told them listen youthey'd call me so i told them listen you call me thursday night or friday morningcall me thursday night or friday morningcall me thursday night or friday morning and i'll just drive over i don't needand i'll just drive over i don't needand i'll just drive over i don't need advance so those use those bridge andadvance so those use those bridge andadvance so those use those bridge and lunch afternoons used to go from like tolunch afternoons used to go from like tolunch afternoons used to go from like to about five or six pm
Questionerabout five or six pm and the funny thing is you know rick goran was one of the rich partners and so rick would show up and so now i got all my questions about rick answered directly by him wow
Questioneryeah it was really surreal because i'd be sitting there at the la country club and sitting across from me charlie and rick
Otheri'd like i have to pinch myself
Questioneri agree i would have to pinch myself um i definitely think you got your money's worth out of that lunch with friendships that have been with you for many years and lots of contacts i'm sure you've learned a lot from from all of that
Questioneri wanted i was hoping you could share a bit with the audience about your childhood you grew up in india correct
Otheryeah i grew up in india that's right in mumbai and delhi
Questionerand what year did you leave india
Otheryeah so i left india when i was 16. i spent
Otheri spenti spent about two yearsabout two yearsabout two years in dubaiin dubaiin dubai finish high school in dubaifinish high school in dubaifinish high school in dubai then after that actually i tried to gothen after that actually i tried to gothen after that actually i tried to go back to india for college butback to india for college butback to india for college but there were strikes and such in thethere were strikes and such in thethere were strikes and such in the college i joined and so my my dad wascollege i joined and so my my dad wascollege i joined and so my my dad was very keen that we should go to the u.svery keen that we should go to the u.svery keen that we should go to the u.s for our education so came back to dubaifor our education so came back to dubaifor our education so came back to dubai and then applied to u.s university soand then applied to u.s university soand then applied to u.s university so basically last a year but then i i camebasically last a year but then i i camebasically last a year but then i i came to south carolina after that for myto south carolina after that for myto south carolina after that for my undergradundergradundergrad
Questioneryes as always i i will always rememberyes as always i i will always rememberyes as always i i will always remember that about you that she went to clemsonthat about you that she went to clemsonthat about you that she went to clemson in south carolina i don't know why justin south carolina i don't know why justin south carolina i don't know why just like you i'm from the deep sideso funny i have been to clemson once toso funny i have been to clemson once toso funny i have been to clemson once to watch a football game it was a big dealwatch a football game it was a big dealwatch a football game it was a big deal but tell me a bit about your parents inbut tell me a bit about your parents inbut tell me a bit about your parents in india what were they like
Otherso both myso both myso both my parents have passed awayparents have passed awayparents have passed away you knowyou knowyou know obviously we all look look up to ourobviously we all look look up to ourobviously we all look look up to our parents as role models all think that weparents as role models all think that weparents as role models all think that we had thehad thehad the most of us think we had the greatest
Questionermost of us think we had the greatest parents i think in my case i was especially blessed there were a couple of things that happened i would say more than blind that way but it happened by accident so my dad was this entrepreneur who was really really good at identifying offering gaps in the market and creating businesses that went after those niches and and he was extremely good at starting from zero like all the businesses he started they were usually after bankruptcy he had no money and he would magically get things going with nothing and but he was also an eternal optimist and so the common theme in all these businesses was that they would he would usually be right about the opportunity some of these businesses scaled to a few hundred employees but he was he would always try to grow as fast as possible they were always very highly levered
Otherthey were always very highly levered with almost no equity with almost no equity with almost no equity and then and then and then when the first headwinds showed up when the first headwinds showed up when the first headwinds showed up it would crumble like a house of cards it would crumble like a house of cards it would crumble like a house of cards and what was amazing about both my and what was amazing about both my and what was amazing about both my parents is that you know they were one of their vices were they were very poor of their vices were they were very poor of their vices were they were very poor saber so pretty much spent saber so pretty much spent saber so pretty much spent whatever they whatever they whatever they earned earned earned and so when the bad times came there was and so when the bad times came there was and so when the bad times came there was no money for rent or groceries or no money for rent or groceries or no money for rent or groceries or anything they would literally hit bottom anything they would literally hit bottom anything they would literally hit bottom business going away business going away business going away meant that we directly personally had a meant that we directly personally had a meant that we directly personally had a lot of financial issues after the age of lot of financial issues after the age of lot of financial issues after the age of i think 11 or 12 my dad i think 11 or 12 my dad i think 11 or 12 my dad started treating my brother and me as started treating my brother and me as started treating my brother and me as his his his kind of de facto board of directors kind of de facto board of directors kind of de facto board of directors and and when especially when the and and when especially when the and and when especially when the business was in trouble business was in trouble business was in trouble a weed we'd have we'd sit down at night a weed we'd have we'd sit down at night a weed we'd have we'd sit down at night and we'd have to figure out and we'd have to figure out and we'd have to figure out how to make it last for one more day how to make it last for one more day how to make it last for one more day and then we'd make it last for one more and then we'd make it last for one more and then we'd make it last for one more day and then the next night we'd
Otherday and then the next night we'd try to figure out how to make it last for one more day again right so i and when i was 15 or 16 i started going on sales calls with him so i felt like i had several mba before i was 19. and i never realized actually that a couple of quirks in the way you know how human the human brain develops it's the most underdeveloped organ when we are born because the birth canal is too narrow so brain is actually the fastest growing organ in the first five or six years of life and and then from the age of about 10 or 11 till about 20 there is a culling of neuron connections so the brain actually cuts down the number of connections in that period and it's ideally set up in that age to specialize so the problem that we have in our education system is in a modern u.s education system from 11 to 18 you are the opposite of a
Otherfrom 11 to 18 you are the opposite of a specialist you are required to be a generalist you know generic kind of high school curriculum and all of that right and you get these people like warren buffett the gates or michelangelo who by weird circumstances start specializing at 10 11. i mean i think i think gates had done more than 10 000 hours of programming before he was 19 or 20. and buffett bought his first stock at 11 and i think you you also did that and so in my case what happened is that accidentally i had a lot of business acumen developed in that period of time which was outside of the school curriculum right none of this part of the school curriculum and later what i found is that when i became an engineer and i was working at this you know telecom equipment company i would ask my boss and i was a like a r d you know hardware software design
Otherd you know hardware software design engineer i would ask my boss all theseengineer i would ask my boss all theseengineer i would ask my boss all these questions about the business end of thequestions about the business end of thequestions about the business end of the of the stuff we were doingof the stuff we were doingof the stuff we were doing and he would just say that's not ourand he would just say that's not ourand he would just say that's not our concern that's these other guys inconcern that's these other guys inconcern that's these other guys in marketing andmarketing andmarketing and sales and whatever else we are justsales and whatever else we are justsales and whatever else we are just to design this product and deliver it into design this product and deliver it into design this product and deliver it in this timethis timethis time and i found that ridiculous i said welland i found that ridiculous i said welland i found that ridiculous i said well i want to know the big picture i want toi want to know the big picture i want toi want to know the big picture i want to knowknowknow you know what the economics i hear andyou know what the economics i hear andyou know what the economics i hear and how much money we're going to make andhow much money we're going to make andhow much money we're going to make and all of that and i found it like bizarreall of that and i found it like bizarreall of that and i found it like bizarre that they were like these 200 engineersthat they were like these 200 engineersthat they were like these 200 engineers working on stuff and no one had anyworking on stuff and no one had anyworking on stuff and no one had any interest in any of that andinterest in any of that andinterest in any of that and i actually then switched after about twoi actually then switched after about twoi actually then switched after about two and a half years i switched to theand a half years i switched to theand a half years i switched to the business sidebusiness sidebusiness side and of course knowing the engineeringand of course knowing the engineeringand of course knowing the engineering was a big advantage but then i couldwas a big advantage but then i couldwas a big advantage but then i could finally start seeingfinally start seeingfinally start seeing the whole picturethe whole picturethe whole picture and i found i i didn't realize at theand i found i i didn't realize at the
Otherand i found i i didn't realize at the time that very few people could crack businesses or business models as quickly as i could and it was because of that time when i was a teenager and so if you try to spend that time in your 20s or 30s you would probably spend five times the amount of time or even more and still not get to the same benefit as what you would get in your teen years
Questioneryeah that's a very interesting childhood i'm sure that a developed you in many many ways and so at clemson you were in you studied engineering and then left to go work for an i.t consulting firm but in 1991 started your own business with 30 000 from your 401k and 70 000 on credit card debt and sold that nine years later for 20 million dollars which is just incredible did your experience as an operator affect your investment philosophy and strategy i'm assuming it did
Questionerstrategy i'm assuming it did well at that time you know when i started my business in 91 i had not yet heard of warren buffett and i did not even know what investing was what i understood when i started my business was i i had all my models for my dad and i knew how to get a business off the ground with zero money you know i mean i can still do that so my my dad used to joke and say he says you can put me naked on a rock with nothing and i will start a business you know and so basically the i would say the frameworks and mental models i used at that time but things i and you know what i what what is so natural to me about that is again what i found is a a lot of entrepreneurs don't know how to do that and and i later learned that all these things i can take for granted there because i had this you know front row seat at a time when my brain was
Otherrow seat at a time when my brain was justjustjust wired to absorb really fast and my dadwired to absorb really fast and my dadwired to absorb really fast and my dad had repeatedly given us thesehad repeatedly given us thesehad repeatedly given us these lessons like i remember the very firstlessons like i remember the very firstlessons like i remember the very first businessbusinessbusiness he started washe started washe started was sellingsellingselling magic kits by mailmagic kits by mailmagic kits by mail this was likethis was likethis was like 1962 or something and basically it was1962 or something and basically it was1962 or something and basically it was even before i was born but he hadeven before i was born but he hadeven before i was born but he had explained what he had done he said lookexplained what he had done he said lookexplained what he had done he said look i took 250 rupees i hadi took 250 rupees i hadi took 250 rupees i had and i placedand i placedand i placed an ad in a magazine called illustratedan ad in a magazine called illustratedan ad in a magazine called illustrated weekly of india it's a really smallweekly of india it's a really smallweekly of india it's a really small display addisplay addisplay ad no more than like you know four inchesno more than like you know four inchesno more than like you know four inches by two inches or something explainingby two inches or something explainingby two inches or something explaining that you could order these magic kits bythat you could order these magic kits bythat you could order these magic kits by mail and you know you could learn tomail and you know you could learn tomail and you know you could learn to entertain your friends and stuffentertain your friends and stuffentertain your friends and stuff stuff andstuff andstuff and he said thathe said thathe said that from that ad a bunch offrom that ad a bunch offrom that ad a bunch of inquiries came in a bunch of peopleinquiries came in a bunch of peopleinquiries came in a bunch of people wanted to buy itwanted to buy itwanted to buy it andandand when the dust settledwhen the dust settledwhen the dust settled he was left with 1400 rupees so he puthe was left with 1400 rupees so he puthe was left with 1400 rupees so he put in 250in 250in 250 he sold a bunch of these kits andhe sold a bunch of these kits andhe sold a bunch of these kits and including the cost of goods sold
Otherincluding the cost of goods soldincluding the cost of goods sold including his profit was 1400 rupees soincluding his profit was 1400 rupees soincluding his profit was 1400 rupees so then he saidthen he saidthen he said i said okay i'm gonna place another adi said okay i'm gonna place another adi said okay i'm gonna place another ad you know another 250 rupees andyou know another 250 rupees andyou know another 250 rupees and boom he was he was in business right andboom he was he was in business right andboom he was he was in business right and and he didn't have any expenses becauseand he didn't have any expenses becauseand he didn't have any expenses because he was he's still at his job he washe was he's still at his job he washe was he's still at his job he was running this from his home my motherrunning this from his home my motherrunning this from his home my mother wouldwouldwould pack everything to be shipped outpack everything to be shipped outpack everything to be shipped out and you know soand you know soand you know so i i understood howi i understood howi i understood how he got all these businesses off thehe got all these businesses off thehe got all these businesses off the ground with nothingground with nothingground with nothing so it's really easy toso it's really easy toso it's really easy to to do that in the it business you knowto do that in the it business you knowto do that in the it business you know it's a capital like business it's fineit's a capital like business it's fineit's a capital like business it's fine not not a problemnot not a problemnot not a problem
Questioneryes and you talk about some of theseyes and you talk about some of theseyes and you talk about some of these business models in your book the dondobusiness models in your book the dondobusiness models in your book the dondo investor i should tell my listeners thatinvestor i should tell my listeners thatinvestor i should tell my listeners that monish has published two books the dondomonish has published two books the dondomonish has published two books the dondo investor the low risk value method toinvestor the low risk value method toinvestor the low risk value method to high returns and mosaic perspectives onhigh returns and mosaic perspectives onhigh returns and mosaic perspectives on investment investing and they're bothinvestment investing and they're bothinvestment investing and they're both wonderful books and and worth reading so
Questionerwonderful books and and worth reading so when you sold your business how did you become acquainted with the warren buffett style of investing and berkshire hathaway
Questioneri started the business in 91 in 94 i accidentally heard about buffett i was just looking for some book to read on the way back from vacation in london i picked up one of peter lynch's books and i was really intrigued and i wanted to kind of explore that area and then i read a second book and then i was out of peter lynch books yeah and in the second book he was talking about this guy buffett in kind of reverential terms and then i started to dig into who this warren buffett was and i was really lucky because the first two or three biographies on him had just come out i read those then i got to the berkshire letters and then that opened up this whole big world
Questionerworld and the big aha moment that went off for me when i read all that was i said the framework that my dad and i used to start and run a business is really the same mental models you do you use to figure out whether an investment makes sense or not it's really the same the difference is that when you're doing it in terms of you know creating or running a business is you have a lot of operational heavy lifting to do whereas in investing you just have to do the analysis and and you're done someone else does all the lifting and i i always i knew that i enjoyed this process of figuring out these offering gaps in the market but i i found that you would spend like two three percent of your time figuring out the business strategy or the direction of your startup or whatever and then 95 97 98 percent of the time is the heavy lifting to make it happen
Questionerheavy lifting to make it happen and i enjoyed the 95 98 but i really really enjoyed the two or three percent so what i realized when i read about buffett is i said wow this converts the two percent time to 80 percent and you don't have to get your hands dirty so i said this and you know i my my dad passed away soon after that i never really got a chance to discuss the model with him i wish he knew about these things because the two the two are very interrelated you know and you know buffett said i'm a better investor because i'm a businessman right and you have a better so basically yeah anytime i'm looking anytime i'm looking at a business or an investment i put myself in the shoes of the operator right and i look at that business through the shoes of the operator the shoes and the ceo and say okay what are the two or three variables that
Questionerwhat are the two or three variables that drive the outcome here okay and are those two or three variables predictable and because no ceo runs a business through a spreadsheet they've got the models in their head they've got relatively simple models i mean they've understood exactly what their competence is what their you know competitive advantages and all of that and they just hone in on that and keep going and as long as you as an investor can get to the same models that the ceo is using to run the business you have a basis to figure out where it's going to go
Questionervery interesting there's so many fascinating things occurring in today's markets and that economy today that it's really hard to choose one topic to discuss today on the call we've got asset bubbles unwinding inflation geopolitical chaos like many of our guests you've been an active investor for decades now and have
Questioneractive investor for decades now and have the benefit of historical perspective do you see an opportunity brewing for value investing and where are you finding opportunities today
Todd Combsyeah i mean i think what what i think is useful for investors is to ignore the noise all this macro stuff going on is really hard to forecast and predict i mean if you just you know go back three years i mean who would have thought we'd have a pandemic and who would have thought that russia is going to invade ukraine and you know all this you know huge stimulus causing all this inflation all these things are not on anyone's radar you know and here we are so i think i think the macro stuff is really hard to predict or you know have any kind of a basis for at the same time if you look at a for example a business like multi or starbucks you know or microsoft
Otheryou know or microsoft you know they are going to transcend all this you know they are going to transcend all this you know they are going to transcend all this you know you know you know all this stuff is mickey mouse mouse all this stuff is mickey mouse mouse all this stuff is mickey mouse mouse noise for starbucks you know noise for starbucks you know noise for starbucks you know what what matters with starbucks is you what what matters with starbucks is you what what matters with starbucks is you know do they still delight their know do they still delight their know do they still delight their customers customers customers you know and those the micro aspects of you know and those the micro aspects of you know and those the micro aspects of what happens what happens what happens around the business around the business around the business trump whatever macro stuff is going on trump whatever macro stuff is going on trump whatever macro stuff is going on right microphone right microphone right microphone so the important thing always i think so the important thing always i think so the important thing always i think is to is to is to focus on focus on focus on specific specific specific businesses within your competence and so businesses within your competence and so businesses within your competence and so on one of the things one of the things i on one of the things one of the things i on one of the things one of the things i realized in the last few years is realized in the last few years is realized in the last few years is i started going to i started going to i started going to turkey turkey turkey in in in istanbul in turkey istanbul in turkey istanbul in turkey about four years ago about four years ago about four years ago and i made uh i made a few trips in fact and i made uh i made a few trips in fact and i made uh i made a few trips in fact earlier this year i spent like three earlier this year i spent like three earlier this year i spent like three weeks in istanbul in an airbnb which was weeks in istanbul in an airbnb which was weeks in istanbul in an airbnb which was really good and i started visiting really good and i started visiting really good and i started visiting different businesses basically different businesses basically different businesses basically in in in in istanbul there's a there's a good in istanbul there's a there's a good in istanbul there's a there's a good friend of mine who's a friend of mine who's a
Questionerfriend of mine who's a you know hardcore gram oriented value investor and he had come to my annual meeting and we became friends and so on so i just told him in 2018 listen i just want to visit every company that you have an investment in you know because i i saw that turkey was very unstable and people were exiting and so on i found a few amazing businesses there where you know the core business is great and people have fled because of macro so i would say probably like 97 or 98 percent of listed businesses in turkey i think are un investable because it's what crazy inflation and all that but there's a there's a sliver two or three percent that transcend all that and they're extremely cheap and so so in that case i would say some understanding of where to fish i found useful i think we do really well on our turkey investments yeah it's interesting you know uncle
Questioneryeah it's interesting you know uncle john john templeton was well known for coming out with these big calls and they sounded like macro calls but really he was just focused on areas and regions around the world where he found companies trading at depressed valuations so is that how is that similar to how you allocate capital you're looking at valuations to tell you where to invest in the world
Todd Combsyeah i don't i you know what i did with turkey is not the way i usually approached it you know though i think that that's a that's a good way to approach it i never really well i used to be a purely us investor when i started and i was that way for a long time and then i was starting to find that it's getting harder to find american businesses that you know fit kind of competence and valuations and so on and so i i noticed for example in 2012
Todd Combs2012 when i invested in fiat chrysler you know it was it was based in italy it know it was it was based in italy it know it was it was based in italy it traded traded traded at a much lower valuation than ford or at a much lower valuation than ford or at a much lower valuation than ford or gm gm gm for no good reason you know there was no for no good reason you know there was no for no good reason you know there was no logical and in fact i what i realized is logical and in fact i what i realized is logical and in fact i what i realized is it was a vastly better business than it was a vastly better business than it was a vastly better business than those other two businesses a much better those other two businesses a much better those other two businesses a much better leader leader leader so i said wow this is like so i said wow this is like so i said wow this is like i mean just to give you a sense at that i mean just to give you a sense at that i mean just to give you a sense at that time fiat chrysler market cap was five time fiat chrysler market cap was five time fiat chrysler market cap was five billion billion billion and their revenues were 135 billion and their revenues were 135 billion and their revenues were 135 billion okay and so they were trading at like okay and so they were trading at like okay and so they were trading at like you know less than four times i mean you know less than four times i mean you know less than four times i mean less than uh four percent of revenue less than uh four percent of revenue less than uh four percent of revenue inside that five billion was eighty inside that five billion was eighty inside that five billion was eighty percent of ferrari percent of ferrari percent of ferrari which now alone is 40 billion which now alone is 40 billion which now alone is 40 billion you know oh ferrari was this itty-bitty you know oh ferrari was this itty-bitty you know oh ferrari was this itty-bitty thing inside that and they spun out thing inside that and they spun out thing inside that and they spun out they sold these parts businesses i mean they sold these parts businesses i mean they sold these parts businesses i mean anything they spun out was sold for the anything they spun out was sold for the anything they spun out was sold for the billions billions billions and all of that was in that fiber you
Otherand all of that was in that fiber you know it was just crazy the jeep franchise and the ram franchise and all of that so yeah so you get you sometimes get these weird thing and in the case of turkey you know it was very extreme like in 2019 we we made an investment in this company where which is the largest warehouse operator in turkey you know 12 million square feet there were like about 100 warehouses very prime areas in istanbul and around you could go to any real estate broker show them that portfolio and they would tell you in their sleep in six months they could liquidate the whole thing for something like a billion dollars because there's like you know at the time into 2019 i think liquidation value was like 900 million or a billion there was 200 million of debt so about 700 million that and the market cap was 20 million and i mean like you know you were buying
Questionerand i mean like you know you were buying at three percent of liquidation value at three percent of liquidation value at three percent of liquidation value i'm not even getting to intrinsic i'm not even getting to intrinsic liquidation liquidation liquidation they've actually increased the they've actually increased the they've actually increased the value of the business in in dollars value of the business in in dollars value of the business in in dollars since then you own a third of that since then you own a third of that since then you own a third of that business now business now business now wow wow wow ridiculous value and it's gone up like ridiculous value and it's gone up like ridiculous value and it's gone up like four or five times at dollars four or five times at dollars four or five times at dollars in the last few years but still cheap in the last few years but still cheap in the last few years but still cheap but the thing is that but the thing is that but the thing is that i would never find anything like that i would never find anything like that i would never find anything like that here here here sure right it just feared things where sure right it just feared things where sure right it just feared things where the the the the turks the local turks are gamblers the turks the local turks are gamblers the turks the local turks are gamblers i mean the chinese are gamblers but they i mean the chinese are gamblers but they i mean the chinese are gamblers but they got nothing on the turrets okay i did got nothing on the turrets okay i did got nothing on the turrets okay i did not know that not know that not know that you know i met a i met a cfo a very you know i met a i met a cfo a very you know i met a i met a cfo a very large turkish large turkish large turkish in uh in istanbul and he's telling me he in uh in istanbul and he's telling me he in uh in istanbul and he's telling me he says says says you know every country has a national you know every country has a national you know every country has a national game game game he said like you know in russia the he said like you know in russia the he said like you know in russia the national game chess and the u national game chess and the u national game chess and the u the national game is poker the national game is poker the national game is poker and in china the national game is bakara
Warrenand in china the national game is bakara and in china the national game is bakara so he says do you know what the national so he says do you know what the national so he says do you know what the national game in in turkey is i said why don't game in in turkey is i said why don't game in in turkey is i said why don't you educate me you educate me you educate me he said the national game in he said the national game in he said the national game in turkey is backgammon turkey is backgammon turkey is backgammon so he said chess and purely skill so he said chess and purely skill so he said chess and purely skill uh-huh vocalist kill and luck uh-huh vocalist kill and luck uh-huh vocalist kill and luck he says he says he says backgammon is pure luck pure luck backgammon is pure luck pure luck backgammon is pure luck pure luck yeah there's no skill okay yeah there's no skill okay yeah there's no skill okay and so in turkey you have these and so in turkey you have these and so in turkey you have these these these these parlors parlors parlors where these men go and spend the whole where these men go and spend the whole where these men go and spend the whole afternoon playing baccarat wow okay yeah afternoon playing baccarat wow okay yeah afternoon playing baccarat wow okay yeah and and that is when they talk about the and and that is when they talk about the and and that is when they talk about the turkish market they don't talk about turkish market they don't talk about turkish market they don't talk about investing in the market they talk about investing in the market they talk about investing in the market they talk about playing the market so playing the market so playing the market so 80 of the turkish market is held by 80 of the turkish market is held by 80 of the turkish market is held by insiders or foreigners insiders or foreigners insiders or foreigners that doesn't trade much though 20 that's that doesn't trade much though 20 that's that doesn't trade much though 20 that's held by locals held by locals held by locals it turns over every nine days it turns over every nine days it turns over every nine days oh my goodness uh the entire 20 turns oh my goodness uh the entire 20 turns oh my goodness uh the entire 20 turns over every nine days over every nine days over every nine days and most turks invest in the local and most turks invest in the local and most turks invest in the local market market market they want to invest at ten o'clock and
Questionerthey want to invest at ten o'clock and be done by two o'clock goodness wow they want to buy by 10 and sell by two and make their eight percent or whatever and then do the same thing the next day
Questionerwell that is certainly not investing the templeton way so john talked about holding it back to 200 years there's a quote my bastard he said you know the stock market is a mechanism to transfer wealth on the active to the inactive yeah
Questionerthat's a great i don't think warren has been to turkey who understands turkey but i think it fits that i mean i was what i was shocked at is this 20 million i thought i wouldn't even get 50 000 of star okay because i said this would be some illiquid nonsense that i'm never going to buy right and there's massive unbelievable volume i was shocked at the moment oh that's very interesting
Otherwe're seeing lots of opportunities in
Questionerwe're seeing lots of opportunities in international markets i mean international markets are very depressed compared to the u.s market are you still allocating capital to india
Otheryeah we i mean i got a little bit fight track because you couldn't go anywhere for a couple of years no no i can't really invest in india or turkey or anywhere until i meet the you know kick the tires meet the management right so that was really kind of cabashed with the the pandemic and now we are getting back on track i haven't had any new investments that have come up in india i i found a couple of great businesses in turkey earlier this year so that is i mean i i actually think that if i were if i were starting out with a small amount of capital i would put all my time and energy into turkey yeah because that's just the way that market is i mean you know we have like there's a
Questionerlike there's alike there's a there's a company i don't have anthere's a company i don't have anthere's a company i don't have an investment in this company yet butinvestment in this company yet butinvestment in this company yet but if i will but there's a company calledif i will but there's a company calledif i will but there's a company called dogus automotive that imports all the vwdogus automotive that imports all the vwdogus automotive that imports all the vw brands into turkey they have a monopolybrands into turkey they have a monopolybrands into turkey they have a monopoly ononon volkswagen and porsche and bentley andvolkswagen and porsche and bentley andvolkswagen and porsche and bentley and all the other brands that vw hasall the other brands that vw hasall the other brands that vw has and you know the car business is uselessand you know the car business is uselessand you know the car business is useless but the car dealership business is greatbut the car dealership business is greatbut the car dealership business is great especially the parts and service youespecially the parts and service youespecially the parts and service you know that doesknow that doesknow that does exceptionally but because they areexceptionally but because they areexceptionally but because they are a sole importera sole importera sole importer nobody competes with them on the pricenobody competes with them on the pricenobody competes with them on the price of a new vwof a new vwof a new vw you know i mean they and they have ayou know i mean they and they have ayou know i mean they and they have a veryveryvery great relationship with vw so what i'mgreat relationship with vw so what i'mgreat relationship with vw so what i'm saying is thatsaying is thatsaying is that that's kind of like one of thosethat's kind of like one of thosethat's kind of like one of those franchises that just does and you knowfranchises that just does and you knowfranchises that just does and you know 14 market share14 market share14 market share of vw brands in turkey so it's justof vw brands in turkey so it's justof vw brands in turkey so it's just you get these businesses and they'reyou get these businesses and they'reyou get these businesses and they're trading at like three times earningstrading at like three times earningstrading at like three times earnings type things and it's really goodtype things and it's really good
Questionertype things and it's really good very very interestingvery very interestingvery very interesting i would love for you to spend just ai would love for you to spend just ai would love for you to spend just a minute or two talking about yourminute or two talking about yourminute or two talking about your philanthropic endeavors uh the docphilanthropic endeavors uh the docphilanthropic endeavors uh the doc shawna foundation which i have been veryshawna foundation which i have been veryshawna foundation which i have been very impressed with you kind enough to sendimpressed with you kind enough to sendimpressed with you kind enough to send mememe your annual report every year which isyour annual report every year which isyour annual report every year which is really well done and producedreally well done and producedreally well done and produced if you could tell everyone what theif you could tell everyone what theif you could tell everyone what the dakshana foundation is what your goal isdakshana foundation is what your goal isdakshana foundation is what your goal is how you became inspired to fund thehow you became inspired to fund thehow you became inspired to fund the dakshana foundation and the importantdakshana foundation and the importantdakshana foundation and the important work you're doing in indiawork you're doing in indiawork you're doing in india
Otheryeah well i think you might find a lotyeah well i think you might find a lotyeah well i think you might find a lot of this resonance with your with yourof this resonance with your with yourof this resonance with your with your grand uncle you knowgrand uncle you knowgrand uncle you know he he did a great job with philanthropyhe he did a great job with philanthropyhe he did a great job with philanthropy and i think the issue is thatand i think the issue is thatand i think the issue is that if ifif ifif if if you are any good at investing likeif you are any good at investing likeif you are any good at investing like buffett says you can't help but get richbuffett says you can't help but get richbuffett says you can't help but get rich and at the end we can't take it with usand at the end we can't take it with usand at the end we can't take it with us and actually giving it to your geneand actually giving it to your geneand actually giving it to your gene large inheritanceslarge inheritanceslarge inheritances to your gene pool is just going to do
Questionerto your gene pool is just going to do more harm than good yeah like i think buffett says if you're jesse owens son you know the sprinter it's okay to start hundred meter dashes at the 10 meter line but not at the 40 meter line right you're not going to become a great sprinter starting at the 40 meter line and so if you're going to not give it to your gene pool and you're going to you know give it back to society i really was disillusioned when i started looking a few years back i said okay if i had to do this today who would i give the money to because i really wanted to just write a check and i really found that chat most charities have really great hearts but they are not they don't have great heads they don't understand social return on invested capital and how to measure outcomes and all those sorts of things right and so i was actually really forced to
Otherand so i was actually really forced to touch start dakshina out of like necessity because i said i nearly need to learn this piece and become good at it so that i'm 70 or 80 and you know losing half my marbles i'm not you know just looking to write a big check and be done because i will probably do a worse job then than today and so dakshina was really set up as a way to experiment and and hopefully if the wealth grew to scale up over time and so we we identify very gifted but really poor kids in india and we try to get them admitted into the iits which is the kind of the mit of india right well these schools are really good but they're and they're almost free to attend they're subsidized by the government but they're very difficult to get into and it had turned into such that unless you were middle class or higher more like upper middle class you really
Questionermore like upper middle class you really couldn't afford the coaching and the prep to take the exam and so even though the government set it up to be egalitarian across you know the you know make it for all the people it really became became for middle class and higher and so what we did is we basically leveled the plane field we identify really poor kids and then we basically bring them in for one or two years for intense prep and it's been it's worked really well the iits have like a one one and a half percent admit rate and we have like a 70 80 success rate unbelievable and now how many kids do you work with every year we typically take about a thousand kids a year and about seven or eight hundred of them get to the promised land and even the rest of them they get to second-tier colleges which are also pretty good do you have a particularly and inspiring
Questionerdo you have a particularly and inspiring story to share with us about one of your students that you've helped along the way
Otherwell no every year i visit the poems of the scholar so we have we have many many stories but we have we like there's one one kid who's now in mountain view with google and uh you know when when he was growing up his dad his dad is a tailor but he's a tailor kind of in a slum of hyderabad and and he's kind of like an entrepreneur so you know just depends on whether he got any tailoring jobs that day or not so sometimes they would go to bed they would have is some boiled rice and sometimes when they go to bed they couldn't even have boiled rice like they'd go to bed hungry right sometimes he got sent back from school because they couldn't pay the school fees which was 20 rupees 20 rupees is 25 cents you know monthly school fee of 25 cents
Questioneryou know monthly school fee of 25 cents
Questionereven that his parents couldn't pay
Questionerand this is a private school or is this
Questionerthe school through your foundation no
Questionerthese this is like a like a government
Questionerright again but private is also very
Questionerlow-end private yes but private schools
Questionerare very common in india even uh very
Questionerpoor children attend private schools in
Questionerindia
Questioneryeah and uh and so
Questionerwe we he cleared our tests and then
Questionertook him on and you know the iits they
Questionerhave about 1.3 million kids who apply to
Questionerget in or like 15 000 seats
Questionerthere's a very tough entrance exam and
Questioneryou get ranked like rank 1 2 3 and so on
Questionerhe was ranked 63. so 63 out of one and a
Questionerhalf 1.3 million
Questionerand and then he went to iit bombay
Questionercomputer science and then when he was
Questionergoing to graduate
Questioneriii i told him listen just send your resume
Questionerto google by email
Questionerand just make sure you just put your iit
Otherand just make sure you just put your iit rankrankrank forget everything else just think yourforget everything else just think yourforget everything else just think your iit rank that's itiit rank that's itiit rank that's it over that google is reading it it'sover that google is reading it it'sover that google is reading it it's probably iit grad anyway yeah and uhprobably iit grad anyway yeah and uhprobably iit grad anyway yeah and uh skype and then they brought them overskype and then they brought them overskype and then they brought them over and the thing is that you know so hisand the thing is that you know so hisand the thing is that you know so his family used to be in likefamily used to be in likefamily used to be in like on in a good month like 70 a month twoon in a good month like 70 a month twoon in a good month like 70 a month two dollars a daydollars a daydollars a day thingthingthing yeah i mean i think he's he's risen soyeah i mean i think he's he's risen soyeah i mean i think he's he's risen so much now he's like level sixmuch now he's like level sixmuch now he's like level six i thinki thinki think like north of three or four hundredlike north of three or four hundredlike north of three or four hundred thousand a yearthousand a yearthousand a year wow what a six it's like it's not evenwow what a six it's like it's not evenwow what a six it's like it's not even like even he cannot he says like thelike even he cannot he says like thelike even he cannot he says like the first paycheck he gotfirst paycheck he gotfirst paycheck he got exceededexceededexceeded the sum total of all paychecksthe sum total of all paychecksthe sum total of all paychecks or savings of his family for likeor savings of his family for likeor savings of his family for like decades you knowdecades you knowdecades you know
Othermonish that's really a wonderful storymonish that's really a wonderful storymonish that's really a wonderful story and i i think it's such a great thingand i i think it's such a great thingand i i think it's such a great thing that you're contributing back throughthat you're contributing back throughthat you're contributing back through the dakshana foundationthe dakshana foundationthe dakshana foundation and if my listeners want to learn moreand if my listeners want to learn moreand if my listeners want to learn more about dakshana about your books aboutabout dakshana about your books about
Otherabout dakshana about your books about your investment funds your investment funds your investment funds what is the best way they can contact what is the best way they can contact what is the best way they can contact you what is the best way they can learn you what is the best way they can learn you what is the best way they can learn more more more the best way is to go to god google the best way is to go to god google the best way is to go to god google god google will tell you god google will tell you god google will tell you okay okay okay well ultimate god there you go you heard well ultimate god there you go you heard well ultimate god there you go you heard it from from the horse's mouth go to it from from the horse's mouth go to it from from the horse's mouth go to google and it will direct you to monash google and it will direct you to monash google and it will direct you to monash
Otherbonus you've been very kind to my bonus you've been very kind to my bonus you've been very kind to my husband and i over the years you're husband and i over the years you're husband and i over the years you're always so friendly always so friendly always so friendly include us and so many things and i include us and so many things and i include us and so many things and i can't tell you how much we appreciate it can't tell you how much we appreciate it can't tell you how much we appreciate it it has been a pleasure it has been a pleasure it has been a pleasure having you on today it has been a having you on today it has been a having you on today it has been a pleasure getting to know you and pleasure getting to know you and pleasure getting to know you and your beautiful daughter i haven't met your beautiful daughter i haven't met your beautiful daughter i haven't met the other one but i'm sure she is the other one but i'm sure she is the other one but i'm sure she is beautiful as well beautiful as well beautiful as well thank you so much and i look forward to thank you so much and i look forward to thank you so much and i look forward to seeing you maybe in omaha next year seeing you maybe in omaha next year seeing you maybe in omaha next year
Otheryeah and i think for me uh lauren the yeah and i think for me uh lauren the yeah and i think for me uh lauren the thing is that i thing is that i thing is that i learned so much from sir john and it was learned so much from sir john and it was learned so much from sir john and it was uh very special to
Questioneruh very special touh very special to have your friendshiphave your friendshiphave your friendship and you had a you know you obviously hadand you had a you know you obviously hadand you had a you know you obviously had a great connection with your dad who's aa great connection with your dad who's aa great connection with your dad who's a very good investor but also with yourvery good investor but also with yourvery good investor but also with your great uncle and i think justgreat uncle and i think justgreat uncle and i think just to be able toto be able toto be able to you knowyou knowyou know interact with someone whointeract with someone whointeract with someone who knew him so wellknew him so wellknew him so well it's just wonderfulit's just wonderfulit's just wonderful
Otheroh thank you i really miss him a lot butoh thank you i really miss him a lot butoh thank you i really miss him a lot but feel like i'm helping keep his legacyfeel like i'm helping keep his legacyfeel like i'm helping keep his legacy alive throughalive throughalive through my work as chairing the john templetonmy work as chairing the john templetonmy work as chairing the john templeton foundation so i'm deeply involved in hisfoundation so i'm deeply involved in hisfoundation so i'm deeply involved in his philanthropic effortsphilanthropic effortsphilanthropic efforts and just trying to keep a good thingand just trying to keep a good thingand just trying to keep a good thing going sogoing sogoing so thank you so much for those kind wordsthank you so much for those kind wordsthank you so much for those kind words and and for joining me todayand and for joining me todayand and for joining me today
Questionerall right that sounds great thanksall right that sounds great thanksall right that sounds great thanks thanks