
Ignoring the Wiggles - loyalelectron
http://themacro.com/articles/2016/02/ignoring-the-wiggles/
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trjordan
I'm sitting at SaaStr Annual, a conference with predominantly SaaS founders,
sales & marketing types, and VCs. There's a lot of talk about the recent
motion, especially among VCs.

One of the things I'm struck by is not that the wiggles actually matter, but
sentiment matters. Because it's a frequent topic of conversation, it's an easy
thing to bring up, and without some knowledge and context, it's a strike
against you. Does that matter to your business or your clients? No. Does it
matter to the person you're talking to right then? A little. And if you're
trying to get them as a customer or advisor or mentor or whatever, you're a
bit more in the hole, because you chose to ignore the fact they're thinking
about the wiggle. It's not important to you, but it's important to them.

So don't focus on the wiggle, but don't ignore it. Internalize what has
changed, respond appropriately, and know that you can move past it.

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minimaxir
The difference between long-term investors and startup founders is that no
sane long-term investor puts all their money and resources into one asset.

Startup founders do not have diversification or a fallback, and it's humanly
fair for them to be concerned when things are on a serious downtrend with tech
stocks.

~~~
ISL
A young Warren Buffett had 75% of his allocation in GEICO.

If you're _certain_ something is going to go up in the long term, it makes
sense to buy as much of it as you can. You must be certain, and you'd better
be right about being certain.

A Buffett-favored aphorism: "Too much of a good thing is wonderful."

If your goal is substantially different performance from a market average, a
concentrated position is the ticket. But, unless you're really good, the best
you'll do, on average, is average, in which case you'd do better by buying an
index.

~~~
tyre
His GEICO investment was about more than just him believing in GEICO. It was
much more brilliant than that.

Insurance companies are wonderful to own because you get access to their
capital. They have tons of floating capital that's held in reserves, from
premiums, until it needs to be paid out for claims.

GEICO was a perfect investment for a young Buffet because he exchanged cash
(liquidity) for _even more liquidity_.

~~~
dripton
Young Buffett didn't buy GEICO, the company. He just bought some of its stock.
So he didn't get any extra liquidity.

Older Buffett bought the company.

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ratfacemcgee
i was hoping this would be about the kids band - I've been ignoring them my
whole life

