Motley Fool Interview

Posted on by fundooprofessor

Last October, Rana Pritanjali of Motley Fool reached out to me for an interview. Here is the transcript of the email interview which took place towards the end of November.

Part 1

Part 2

None of the stocks mentioned in the interview are being recommended for purchase or sale. Also, about the title of the interview, I wish Motley Fool had not called me some kind of a genius. I have done plenty of foolish things in my investment life and there’s no doubt that I’ll continue to do more foolish things. Keep that in mind, when you read the transcript. 🙂

 

Published by fundooprofessor

I am Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Flame University, Pune. Previosuly, I was Adjunct Professor at MDI, Gurgaon, where I taught MBA students two popular courses titled “Behavioral Finance & Business Valuation"(BFBV) and Forensic Accounting and Corporate Governance (FACG) for many years. I am also Managing Partner at ValueQuest Capital LLP— an investment advisory boutique which helps its clients invest their capital in good quality businesses.

16 thoughts on “Motley Fool Interview”

  2. Dear Mr Bakshi
    I think the mark of a genius is that he or she is humble. You are just being modest. The interviewer has rightly called you a value investing genius. If you were a stock I would be glad to buy a part of you. If Buffett had 1% of his net assets when he was 50 and compounded them in the next 35 years to become the number two in the world, I bet you can at least be the wealthiest in India in another 40 years, if not the world.
    Kudos to you as always for some precise and meaningful knowledge. I love the concept of averaging up. God knows how many buses I missed due to anchoring to my first cost bias. Thanks for it.

    1. Thanks Neeraj, but I have no desire to become the wealthiest even in my colony where I stay, let alone India. I do have a desire to become a better teacher every year.

      Remember this:

      “He that is of the opinion money will do everything may well be suspected of doing everything for money.” – Ben Franklin.

  3. Read through the interview prof. The part about brands like Relaxo being able to pass of increasing commodity cost was en lighting… So instead of worrying if the input commodities will go down or up.. it will be easier to ask if the cost can be passed on to the customer ! 🙂

  4. Best Part Of Interview which I Liked Most —
    “The second suggestion is to focus a lot on one’s mistakes. Making mistakes is OK. It’s part of life. Perpetuating them is not. So, just by focusing on one’s past mistakes, one reduces the chances of making them again. And the way to focus on them is to talk about them with your friends and trusted colleagues. You really have to, as Charlie says, rub your nose in them. If you want to become a learning machine, focus on errors of judgement.” Thanks lot Prof. For Selflessly & generously sharing the Wisdom with amateur learners like me.

  6. I believe the investment in airline industry is referring to Accelya Kale. I saw your fund is increasing the holding steadily in the latest annual report. What’s your opinion on Indigo Airlines or Interglobe as a company. Cycne.com

  8. Dear Mr Bakshi,

    It would be great if you can perform study on Jarden Corporation NYSE: JAH. This company has generated 55X return in last 15 years buying mundane businesses like playing cards, paper cups and plates, glass jars etc. under leadership of its chairman Martin Franklin.
    He is outsider type CEO with focus on disciplined acquisition using combination debt and equity.

    Thanks,
    Pranshu

  9. Prof, for the benefit of your virtual classroom students, could you share the Valeant Pharmaceutical case study. I’m pretty sure there’s a lot of vicarious learning in that study.

      1. Thanks Prof. May I request you to share some learnings from this case anyway? I understand you might be busy but just curious to know what exactly are the lessons to be learnt from this case, particularly since a reputed and experienced fund like Sequoia is involved.

        You may choose to not answer this question since I understand it is a controversial question to be asked on a blog. Thank you on behalf of all your virtual students, Sir 🙂

  10. Dear Prof Bakshi

    By averaging up aren’t you straying into growth investing territory. In my understanding of value investing – as per Dodd – is not about expectations but hard numbers – one looks at the intrinsic value of company, if the market price of stock below intrinsic value and margin for safety – its a value stock.

    The moment you stray into great company with high growth expectation – aren’t you changing the basic parameter for identifying value stocks.?

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