Thread by @heymaxkoh

5 hacks to research a company with only 30 minutes daily:

I've been lucky to be financially free before age 30.

And I did it by investing in stocks...

While still working 9-5.

The secret?

Learning how to allocate my TIME to research the companies I invest in.

Here's how:

Quick back story:

Recently I got over a dozen DMs from people.

The #1 common question?

They wanted me to share my daily schedule with them.

I found it funny.

Turns out, they were interested in how I find time to invest and research my companies given I work in a 9-5 job.

I guess the better question to answer here would be:

"How do I allocate my time so that I can research companies?"

That's what I'll answer here.

But before that, in case you are curious...

here's what my daily schedule looks like on a weekday and weekend:

Weekdays

7am wake up. meditation

8am commute to work (listen or read some investing stuff)

9-10am Lift weights

10am-7pm day job

7pm-10pm dinner, meet friends and family, commute home

10-11pm: shower, wind down, some light reading and research

11pm sleep

As you can tell...

I spend little time on research during the weekdays.

This is because my 9-5 job takes up almost all my time.

But weekends is where I focus more.

Here's roughly how I spend my Sat and Sun:

Weekends

Lift weights (1 hour morning)

Reading and company research (2 hours)

Writing my own thesis and notes (1-2 hours)

That's about 4 hours of deep work per day.

The rest of it I spend with family and friends.

Relaxing and enjoying life.

Now that we've got that out the way...

Here's 5 simple hacks I personally use to research companies, with only 30 mins per day:

1. Focus on primary information sources first.

Primary sources of information are:

- annual reports
- earnings transcripts
- CEO interviews

Why do I focus on this?

Because I have limited time.

So I have to decide what to focus on and what to pass on.

I focus on the primary information because it's more accurate

It helps me form my own judgments.

This helps me get the info I need...

without being overwhelmed by articles, analyst research reports etc.

I still read those...

but only after I have consumed the primary info

2. Match task to time

This is my secret for researching companies despite a packed schedule.

For example:

If I'm eating dinner alone and I know I will take 30 minutes for this...

I listen to a CEO interview that I know will take roughly that time.

If I'm commuting to work...

I will read the earnings transcripts or a longer deep dive article by someone else covering the company.

I even listen to stuff when I'm washing the dishes!

That's how I continually "find" time to research a company.

3. Find Fintwit detectives

This is actually the biggest benefit of Fintwit...

I can get research on a company by other shareholders of the company who do the digging.

For example:

$PTON is a company I follow.

So I follow someone like Bob Treemore and add him to my list.

Doing so allows me to get up to date facts on a company...

Which I will not have the time to do so.

Caveat here is that:

I only do this step after I completed my primary research as mentioned above.

I do this so it doesn't colour my judgment or influence me.

4. Use tools to do the job

For example:

I use pocket so I can read earnings transcripts on my phone in a readable way.

And I can make highlights of stuff that stand out to me.

So I can extract them later and make notes.

Another example:

I use Otter.ai to transcribe CEO interviews that don't have transcripts.

This allows me to read them when I'm on the commute to work.

Since I read faster than I listen...

This helps me learn about a company with these small pockets of time.

I actually wrote an earlier thread on how I use tools to research companies.

You can check it out here:

https://twitter.com/heymaxkoh/status/1450490758696427526?s=20

5. Take starter positions to get skin in the game

This doesn't really help you save time in any way.

But I found this is a good kick in the butt.

If I just set a goal to learn more by reading annual reports...

I usually get lazy and procrastinate.

How do I overcome that?

I buy a small % of the company just to get skin in the game...

So it changes my mentality.

It can be as small as 0.5-1% of my total portfolio, or even less.

Or even just buy 1 stock.

It makes me feel vested.

I become more energized to research the company.

I pay more attention.

And I focus better.

This changed the way I read and listen to the interviews and transcripts.

It has helped me research my stocks better in a short time.

If you enjoyed this, follow me here at @heymaxkoh

I tweet about how I attained financial freedom before 30, by investing in great companies.

Also if you'd like another time-saving hack, check this out.

I explain how I read an annual report in 1 hour:

https://twitter.com/heymaxkoh/status/1451134420358860808?s=20

Recap of the 5 hacks:

1. Read primary information first

2. Match task to time

3. Find fintwit detectives

4. Use tools to do the job

5. Take a starter position