A week ago, @SagaPartners said something that's stuck with me:
"A potentially great idea is when no one agrees with you. A potentially bad idea is when no one agrees with you."
I've thought about some ways to help investors think about these two conundrums ...
[THREAD]
1/ Determine what you are disagreeing over.
If you're on two different "logic" planets, the argument will fail because nobody's gonna listen from that starting position.
Find common principles on why you're wrong and go from there.
2/ Give fair weight to your "opponents" POV and credentials.
If you're pitching a media stock and @AndrewRangeley is ripping it to shreds, that matters *WAY MORE* than say, someone like me who has issues with one or two points.
Respecting intellectual authority can only help
3/ Establish what "matters" and "doesn't matter" in your long-term thesis.
If someone disagrees w/ you over something that, in your opinion, is immaterial to the LT thesis, let them know and take that into consideration.
If you're right, their argument is (almost) worthless.
4/ Find patterns in various disagreeing arguments.
Reach out to a few investors to "red-team" your pitch. If you notice each of them bring up the same major red flag, mark it. It's probably worth a serious review.
Does everyone notice the major A/R ballooning? Dig in.
5/ Let Risk Management Have The Ego
Understand that you could be as wrong as pickles on a PB&J, but let risk management take the ego.
If you size properly, you can take the various red flags, because if you're wrong, the position size won't kill your whole portfolio.
6/ Be Quick To Say "You're Right, I Was Wrong"
I know, it sucks admitting you're wrong. Especially in today's age with social media and permanent records of bad stock picks.
Admitting fault isn't a knock on your ability. In fact, it says more about you positively than u know
7/ Continue To Seek Feedback
There will always be someone that disagrees with you. This is GREAT because that means there's always something to learn.
Constantly seek those that think differently about an idea, theme, or industry than you.
Learn why they think that way.
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